Interracial Sex And Marriage In “Never Forever”

Interracial Sex And Marriage In “Never Forever”

Interracial marriage may be the social institution that is least understood and most distorted by myth and bias. It should not surprise anyone that many of these biases are based on the racial divisions that permeate all aspects of our society. And although social science has studied practically every conceivable aspect of human relations, the interracial marriage remains remarkably understudied.

A Caucasian housewife Sophie, along with her husband Andrew Lee, a second-generation Korean American in New York, are forced to acknowledge that they are unable to bear children. Moved by her husband's despair, Sophie resolves to do whatever it takes to conceive a child and restore their relationship. Sophie initiates a bold and clandestine sexual affair with Jihah, an illegal immigrant from Korea, who bears more than a passing resemblance to her husband. Sophie proposes the relationship to Jihah as a business matter, to pay him for each meeting until she conceives. (Asian American International Film Festival 2007)

In this relationship, sex is tolerated as part of a business arrangement and personal feelings are forbidden. But Sophie soon finds this new arrangement spiraling into a situation that may actually destroy what it was meant to restore. In her attempt to give her husband what he wants most, Sophie has found herself led astray, distracted by her own desires, until finally, she embraces them.

Turning the table on interracial relationships, women's identity and self-empowerment, Never Forever gives us believable and strong performances that ring painfully true in our lives today, transcending the race divide that it kicks off from.An opportunity of circumstance culminates into the moment of self-discovery as Sophie defines her life beyond those around her -and it stirs the viewer with a chill and a nod. (amazon.com) When I spoke to Kim after the festival closing reception about her turn to narrative, she added to the Q&A that immediately followed the screening by explaining to me that it was only natural in line with the framework of the story — when the film is not a dialogue-heavy one as this is, it's important that concepts and ideas are conveyed through a straight-forward way of cinematic language, for example showing the isolation of Sophie from the Korean/Korean-American family through the church scenes — not necessarily as a critique on the church culture but rather as an observation and ...