Kelly and Tony Part 2 & Rodriguez R.M. Gonzalez Asian American Autobiography

In the second part of Kelly and Tony, there were more conflicts between Kelly and Tony. Tony is so uneducated he doesn't see why school is important. Tony was raised to believe he was supposed to provide for his family. He doesn't see the importance of education. No one is on Kelly's side. She was trying to resist to being a part of Tony's family by not doing everything that is expected of her because she doesn't agree with their culture. Tony doesn't understand anything Kelly is going through. It seems like Tony planned for Kelly to get pregnant. Tony, on the other hand, doesn't seem to resist his culture at all. He's fully adapted to his culture. He doesn't try to do things for Kelly or to help Kelly. Both Tony and Kelly fall under statistics that we've talked about in class. Tony falls under the South East Asian Immigration laws, because he was convicted three times. Kelly got pregnant while in high school. There's a lot of culture struggles. Kelly trying to assimilate to Tony's culture and lifestyle. Tony was offered a standard education or he chose to participate in receiving a standard education leading him to the streets. I can relate to Kelly and Tony’s struggles because they both are trying to maintain their parent’s standards. Both Kelly and Tony are the eldest sibling in their family and they have the burden of being responsible of providing for their family. Of course, they have their own dreams and goals, but they have to use that to provide for their main family. Kelly doesn’t want to disrespect her mom or Tony’s parents, but she doesn’t want to go about her life in the way they want her to either. It’s a hard struggle, to pursue what you want to do or to do what your family expects of you. Tony doesn’t show any forms of cultural resistance at all because he hasn’t had any other experiences to show him what’s possible. One of my closest friends, who’s Filipino, was pregnant in high school. Although her immediate family, friends, and teachers knew, her mother did not want her to tell her relatives until after she graduated high school. Her mother didn’t want to be embarrassed. She had her daughter wait until July after she graduated high school which also happened to be her birthday month to tell the rest of her family at her graduation & birthday party. It’s easier to obey your parents than it is to branch out and do what you want alone because then you would have no support. You could also lose your family by not obeying traditional customs. Kelly, being an example by assimilating to Tony’s culture and quitting school to take care of her two children and her in laws even though that’s not her ideal choice.
This article made me think about the Fast and Furious franchise which I love. I acknowledge that not everything portrayed is authentic and accurate. There is a main Japanese male character who is knowledgeable, but still portrays stereotypes by being quiet and smart. One of the main factors contributing to the Import industry is sexualization of Asian women. Asian women are the main models for import shows and often advertise themselves to promote events. From my own knowledge the two main import models are Asian. The women are oversexualized to gain attention and promote the industry. The hypersexualization is for males, so males will buy more cars. There are examples of hypersexualized women in the Fast and Furious films. 



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