Modest Heroes Review (Part 2)
- kkukonu1
- Nov 24, 2018
- 4 min read
I found myself empathizing with the storyline of Life Ain’t Gonna Lose, about a boy who is almost deathly allergic to eggs and how his allergy affects him and his mom. I’m allergic to peanuts and shellfish (fortunately, not deathly) and I can 100% relate to the struggle of not knowing what might be in different foods. Furthermore, it can also feel isolating as a child because it feels like you miss out on experiences with others. Of course, friends will still be supportive and inclusive; however, there’s also a sense of emotional detachment because you can’t enjoy certain foods with the people you care about. Since I can’t eat shellfish, I find enjoyment in watching mukbang videos of people eating lobster, crab, etc. because it somehow fills that emotional void I have.
BUT ANYWAY…
As much as I could empathize with the story, I also didn’t feel a powerful emotional resonance. The most significant observation I got from this story was how controlled the boy’s life is for a majority of the timeline, and then we see him kind of just accepting his allergy. He perceives his allergy as holding him back, especially when his mom reinforces and controls his environment as much as possible. With this kind of mindset, he hates eggs and I felt like he just wanted to reject it from his life because it’s the sole reason why his lifestyle is controlled.
However, when he accidentally eats ice cream with egg yolks in it, this is a moment where he’s claiming his own sense of agency and accepting that his egg allergy is part of him. Yet it does not define him or he shouldn’t allow it to dictate what he can and cannot do. This is an important moment for him because in the midst of the allergic reaction, he’s telling himself to push through and he will not die–he refused to die. He was his own hero, and I applaud him finding his strength and overcoming this episode.
The message was impactful, yet I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t feel emotionally connected to this story. You might think because I have a food allergy, I would be more inclined to enjoy the story–but I don’t know. It was missing something. One flaw I felt was the lack of building tension for the boy’s allergy attack. The moments leading up to it were very minimal, and once it happened, there wasn’t a huge climax. It was very sudden and felt rushed. I would have enjoyed it more if they had been building anticipation and tension beforehand gradually.
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The last short story of the anthology was Invisible, the story of an invisible man trying to be recognized by others–. Out of all three stories from Modest Heroes, I enjoyed this one the most because the concept of it was very fascinating and it made me want to learn more about this character and his backstory. The pacing and variety in tension and calmness was executed very well and I think it was successful in keeping the audience engaged.
The first interesting part of the story is that the character must be weighed down by a heavy object in order to stay on his feet. Once we figured that out, the tension built up quickly when he was rising without resistance into the sky–during a thunderstorm–and he’s struggling to hold on for his life. Internally, I was hoping that this dude would survive. But the curious part of me wondered what would have happened if he ascended into the heavens. Would he have died?
Fortunately, he does live. And seeing him sit alone in the rain was him and the audience settling their heart rates after that episode. This is also the first moment he receives recognition from an ordinary stranger–he can see him and also gives him a snack. At this point, I was waiting for the backstory of this main character–why is he invisible? Maybe he’s a ghost. Perhaps he is part of a Japanese legend. Who knows. I was waiting anxiously to know what was his story.
The producers built tension again when this character sped to save a young baby from getting hit by an oncoming truck. Both are safe, but we can see blood on this invisible man and the baby can see him! I liked that idea because even with the supernatural, babies have a stronger awareness for those things. Because of that, I thought the character is a ghost, but the blood says otherwise.
That was the ending, and I thought it was very weak compared to the rest of the story. I still wanted to know more about this character–those questions weren’t answered. I wasn’t satisfied with the lack of answers of who this person was. There should be a few questions an audience member has, but some level of satisfaction with it. If a story can do that, then I think it was successful. Invisible is so close to reaching that for me, but the ending and unanswered questions surrounding his identity weakens the story for me. Overall, it was still a well-done story that I hope gets further explored in the future!
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