Annie,

You got me thinking about the laughter during the Sunday 7:15 showing of Victor Vu's FIRST MORNING. There was a lot of laughter at moments in the film that I don't think Vu intended for humor. Being that the film falls in the soap opera genre (and I do NOT mean that in a bad way as that description is often used; it's as valid a genre as any other), it can be overly melodramatic at times in trying to deliver its points. This arouses laughter in some people. Although some laugh out of condescension, I think some just laugh because they are witnessing a known trope in soap operas and they're actually laughing out of recognition for, or response to, the technique, even, at times, out of appreciation for the unique twist a director may put on that trope.


Even more interesting was the, for lack of a better word, 'self-reflective' laughter that occured at this screening of FIRST MORNING. There was the "self" of those who grew up in that community who recognized many of the signifiers of 'growing up Vietnamese-American' in Orange County, such as when the one main character comes out of the car w/ his homies and each is dressed in a white t-shirt. And then there was the "self' of the NAATA festival itself, that is, when the same character did the "Asian Squat" outside the restuarant while taking a smoke. Almost everyone laughed at this, and many probably laughed because it, beknownst or unbeknownst to Vu, referenced the very popular Short Film from last year's Fest, thats title escapes me, that dealt humoursly w/ that way of virtual sitting.