Baby Maya

Maya Lin was definately different than the other documentaries that we have watched in this class. I sat down expecting some action and emotion. Yes, there was emotion and controversey, but the way this director presented the situation lessened the intensity. The feelings that I got, were sympathy for her, but that went away rather quickly.

I did feel really bad for Maya when she was called a 'gook' that was designing the Vietnam memorial. People honestly just try to make things difficult to find conflict. It's insane. She was an innocent American that wanted to use her talent to benefit America and America was not welcoming. America means diversity and this movie showed judgement. The director did not focus on that as much as they did on the verterans opposing the memorial. The documentary spent the most time on this, but the intensity was not there. This was very different than Hearts and Minds in that sense and felt like it was just a story about Maya Lin starting her career that lend into a successful one. It was somewhat inspiring, but did not grab me like the other documenteries. I honestly got bored and it lost my attention. I truly enjoyed seeing her final products, but it felt like they were dragging it out. After Hearts and Minds, I was trying to pull out the rhetorical strategies, but I had such a hard time. Yes, some shots of her face were memorable and made us feel sympathy for her, but the power was not there. There were close ups of the conflicting men that made some of an impact, but I never got that emotional reaction that other directors were able to do. Between the dark lighting and the sensitivity of her voice, the documentary was just passive.

Even though I felt it wasn't as strong, I did enjoy learning about her and her story. She was a strong person and I was inspired. I felt I was learning about Maya more than the Vietnam memorial.