Justin H. Min and Ally Maki Talk “Taboo” Discussions Around Representation and Dating In Shortcomings
This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
A struggling California filmmaker contemplates his romantic future when his girlfriend moves to New York for an internship in Shortcomings. Pop Culture Planet’s Kristen Maldonado spoke with Justin H. Min and Ally Maki about the film, including representation versus quality and interracial dating.
Shortcomings begins with Ben and Maki coming out of a movie theater and questioning the quality of Asian-led film they’ve just watched versus the representation it portrays. “It's a very touchy taboo subject in our community. It's still really difficult to talk about because we've had so few swings at the bat in terms of our community. So when something comes out, we feel obligated to support it because there's so few of those things out there,” Justin H. Min told me. “Yet it's difficult because we can't sometimes have honest conversations about these things because it felt it feels like a disservice to our community. The conversation that Ben and Nico have after that screening I've had so many of those conversations with people in the community but again it's a difficult thing to talk about because there's so few things out there for us to really get behind.”
Ally Maki agreed: “It just goes back to kind of scarcity in general. It does create these interesting worlds where, can you be honest about things? And, if you are, what happens? Are you not being supportive? But again it's not really anyone's fault because if there's only one project you can't expect everyone to like it, you know? The art is objective, so I think it just means we are lacking representation and we need more of it.”
The film also finds both Ben and Maki exploring their relationship, as well as relationships with white counterparts. “These are again conversations that have been swirling in our community for so many years. I mean, the whole idea of white male-Asian female, Asian male-white female interracial dating dynamics and relationships is a very hot button issue in our community. It's very complex. It's very steeped in racism and exoticism and all of these things,” said Min. “It's not a thing that you can have an easy one sentence answer for. There's so many factors of things involved in these things and I don't think our movie is ever trying to say anything which way about it. It’s just trying to reflect some of these real honest conversations that people are having in our community about these things.
Shortcomings isn’t necessarily looking for a solution, but more for transparency in discussing these ideas. “I think what's great about this movie is it is so messy and it's not trying to wrap up anything in a little, tiny, beautiful bow,” shared Maki. “I think Randall [Park] talks about this a lot, of if it brings up uncomfortable feelings then that's okay. We need to sit in that discomfort and see what happens and talk about it and open up these discussion. Hopefully that's what this movie does.”
Maki loved that this role allowed her to release some emotions she’d been holding onto for quite a while. “For me, the standout was definitely our scene at the end. It was like eight or nine pages and it was definitely an actor's dream. It is something that I will always remember,” she told me. “It is so meaty and so rich and it feels like everything that Miko has always wanted to say but also everything that […] I have always wanted to to play and emote and how I felt for so long. It just felt like this almost therapeutic experience mixed with huge challenge.”
Meanwhile, Min enjoyed the “challenging” theatrical elements they tapping into while filming. “Thinking back now, I feel like a lot of Ben and Miko’s stuff were a lot of one-shotters. There's a scene right after we come back from the theater where we're sort of still arguing and we're coming into our apartment. That was all shot in one sequence and it was so technical,” he said. ”Ally’s taking off her jacket and I'm taking off my shoes and the camera is sort of moving with us. We had to rehearse it a number of times and we were only given one take because it's a one-take shot. Things like that were so challenging but also so fun. It felt like theater […] just to get to stay alive and present in the moment and work with the camera as we're moving was a lot of fun.”
Maki continued: “There's so many scenes that feel felt theatrical in a sense. Like even in the end when you confront Leon, that was also just like living and breathing city vibes where it wasn't going to stop. There was so much of that and credit goes to Randall and our amazing DP Santiago [Gonzalez] who created some incredible and interesting shots.”
Shortcomings is playing in theaters.
