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Re-imagining
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9
justify behaving as Cody's family does. Here it is a
will written before Joey was part of Cody's family
that provides Cody's sister with reasons to enforce
what she asserts were Cody's wishes, ignoring other
better evidence of what he would have wanted.
The film is full of tiny examples of how being part
of a dominant culture allows one the prerogative to
use law and custom to bolster norms that may well
contradict the purpose of those very laws and cus
toms. One can feel angry at Cody’s family members
and others in the film - I certainly did - but the film
does not turn them into cartoon villains. In a time of
pain and confusion, they merely reach for the tools
at their disposal to bring order to chaos, and the
power they have gives them the means to justify
actions they would not otherwise have taken.
As a result, Joey's dilemma seems all that much
more unsolvable. The groundwork laid in the film’s
early scenes establishes for us that separating Joey
and Chip is a tragedy, but in this time and place it
seems a truly unsolvable one.
Cody's never-updated will - an apt metaphor -
has left his sister in charge of his property and his
son, so she now wields the power to take away
everything that has meant home and family to Joey.
Joey's truth gives him no standing to assert it, and
O c to b e r 16, 2013
a succession of lawyers tell him he has no case.
And here is where the suspense comes in. After
months of banging on closed doors, Joey receives
an offer of help from a most-unlikely source: a
retired judge who seems a card-carrying member
of the good-ole-boys' club. Yet this good man
provides an extremely rare example of a person
who puts the law in a proper perspective, who
looks beyond the surface to its intended purpose,
and imagines how to use the law to move beyond
what currently seems possible to what is just and
true. It's the most inspiring legal story I’ve seen
since "To Kill a Mockingbird."
I wish I could find a way to make this film
required viewing for anyone who dares to opine
about gay marriage. More effectively than any
argument, Wang's inspired work invites you spend
some time sitting with the experience of an out
sider and contemplating what is really true about
his experience. It invites you to think more deeply
about the meaning of family. And particularly if
you are a lawyer or judge, it challenges you to look
beyond our collective failures of imagination to
where the law might also point the way. It's hard
for me to imagine a better investment of three
hours.
he ew lub
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the Oregon Court
o f Appeals and the first woman o f color to serve
11140 SE Powell Blvd
in that capacity. Her movie review column Opin
Live Music every weekend, good R&B, Blues and Gospel.
ionated Judge appears regularly in The Portland
Observer. You can fin d her movie blog at
Gospel every Sunday 3:00pm until 7: pm
opinionatedjudge.blogspot. com.
The Kirk Green Jam, every Sunday 8:00pm until 1:00am
T
N
C
R IB S
Everyone is Invited
October
6
8
1
Thomas Edison
Shows 1st Motion
Picture In 1889.
American Library
Association
Founded(1876)
1 Î
Margaret Thatcher
bom in 1925.
First Aerial Photo in
US Taken in 1860.
Molly Pitcher bom,
1754
World Habitat Day
Child Health Day
Alice Dalgliesh bom,
1893
*
Edward Ormondroyd
bom, 1925
J. Frank Duryea bom
in 1869
The Great Chicago
Fire started (1871)
yW
Columbus Day
Thanksgiving Day in
Canada
Lois Lenski bom, 1893
Mother-in-Law's Day
Theodore Roosevelt
bom in 1858.
Guggenheim Museum
Opens (1959)
Plush Animal
Lover's Day
Bill Gates bom, 1955
Statue of Liberty
dedicated in 1886.
Leonard Kessler bom,
1921
National Poetry
Day (England)
James Marshall bom,
1942
Henry Cavendish
bom in England in
12L
Ï
Eid al-Adha (Muslim
Holiday, 16th in
North America)
National Grouch Day
' ' '
Sir James Chadwick
(Discoverer of the
Neutron} bom, 1891
Crockett Johnson
bom, 1906
w
First Two-Way
Telephone Conver
sation in 1876
Leif Ericson Day
Moldy Cheese Day
The Count's Birthday
(Sesame Street
Character)
■
Dictionary Day
Noah Webster bom,
1758
World Food Day
Edward Ardizzone
bom, 1900
■ 2 2
-J 7
Black Poetry Day
San Francisco
Earthquake (1989)
'
National Nut Day
iPod First Revealed
(2001)
Red Ribbon Week
(Oct 23-31)
Matjorie Flack bom,
1897
Stock Market Crash -
1929(1929)
John Adams bom in
1735.
Emily Post (author)
bom, 1873
2
2013
€
L
Eleanor Roosevelt
bom, 1884
First Steam-Powered
Ferryboat 'Juliana'
began operations in
1811.
O
Halloween
Juliette Gordon Low
Bom in 1860, she
started Girl Scouting
in the United States
in 1912.
• 1 8
Mason-Dixon Line
Established(1767)
Puerto Rico Became
U.S. Colony In 1898.
Star Spangled Banner
First Sung In 1814.
Thomas Edison
Demonstrated
Electric Light
Successfully in 1879.
3
Pablo Picasso
Spain in 1881.
C H A M R fH
1 2
Farmer's Day
DiadelaRaza
(Mexico)
4
Bruno
Munaribom, 1907
Betty Lou's Birthday
(Sesame Street
Character)
National Bologna Day
United Nations Day
'
Hillary Rodham
Clinton bom, 1947.
Red Cross Organized
In Geneva, 1863.
Erie Canal Opened
(1825)
cc
Of COMMERCE
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