A-Town Boyz: A good eye-opener of the Asian American Dream

A-Town Boyz: A good eye-opener of the Asian American Dream

Cast: Harrison Kim, Jamy Long, Danny Eun, Eugene Chung, Hong J. Kim, Stella Eun, Sopeth Kheav, Joanne Norinh (as themselves)

Critic’s Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Director: Eunice Lau

Duration: 1 hour, 12 minutes

Genre: Documentary, Crime, Music, Drama

Language: English, Korean

Release Date: October 6, 2023

What’s it about?

Asian American youth struggle to balance life and aspirations in a hostile and bigoted Atlanta, Georgia.

Review

This is an incisive and relevant documentary which aims to highlight the plight of young Asian Americans. Born and raised in a country of immigrants, they try hard to embrace the U.S. but are often shoved aside, relentlessly targeted or treated as abhorred outsiders. In so doing, A-Town Boyz shows that it isn’t only the African Americans and Hispanics who are systematically subjugated and handed the short end of the stick. This documentary addresses the issues of racism inflicted on oriental groups by presenting the truth in a compelling manner.

The narrative mainly follows the lives of three people from the embattled ethnic community in Atlanta, Georgia. We are first introduced to two small-time gangsters – Harrison Kim and Jamy Long. Endeavouring to veer off this dangerous course, they initiate careers as aspiring rappers with the pseudonyms “Vickz” and “Bizzy”, respectively. This proves to be a somewhat promising avenue for showcasing their hip-hop writing and performing skills. Plus, this type of popular music is a mode for them to creatively vent their frustrations at surviving in volatile neighbourhoods. 

However, the pervasive stigma of being Asian deprives them of sufficient success, even in a thriving market. Meanwhile, the enforced loyalty to their gangs and the roles they are deputed within them, drags on. We next meet Korean mob boss Eugene Chung, alias “Big Brother”. His upbringing in persistently violent surroundings coerced him into leading a gang of his fellow-victims, which went on to execute his every vengeful order. Ironically, this came at the cost of Chung having to constantly keep his guard up and stay two steps ahead of his enemies and the police.

Vickz, Bizzy and Big Brother elucidate another source of abuse which shaped them into dysfunctional entities: their own parents. Interviews with Vickz’s father Hong J. Kim and music producer Danny Eun’s mother Stella, reveal that these migrants from Korea had to more than pay their dues upon landing on American shores. Even white-collar experience in their homeland didn’t save them from being reduced to doing manual labour in the Land of Opportunity. So preoccupied were these parents at building decent careers that they wound up ignoring their children. Thus, the youngsters turned to gangs for support and respect. But this kind of allegiance, as well as their proclivity for rebellious rap music, now makes them subject to racial profiling.

Director Eunice Lau who tasted modest success with 2019’s Accept the Call, shows that she is maturing as a storyteller. Lau effectively intersperses scenes of family-bonding and music-making with gangster procedurals and legitimate jobs. Lau also lets the characters speak for themselves without bombarding the viewers with too much information. However, the loud and grating interludes of hip-hop music might put off those who are not fans of the genre, or who are unwilling to accept its relevance to the story. Also, hard statistics about Asian Americans is sorely lacking in a movie that purports to be a voice for the whole community. Still, the character-arcs are portrayed in a sincere manner and the hopeful conclusion is sure to warm the cockles of one’s heart.