Found Review

We all want to know where and who we come from. Someone who is raised by their birth family can easily answer this question. Those who are adopted may not be able to come up with that same information as easily.

The 2021 Netflix documentary, Found, follows three young ladies who were born during the one-child policy era in China. Living in orphanages as babies because of their gender, they were each adopted and raised by Anglo-American parents. Finding each other via a DNA test, they travel to the land of their birth, hoping to find blood relatives.

This film is touching and beautiful. I felt for these young women, whose lives were forever altered simply because they were born girls and not boys. I loved their connection, it was the emotional throughline that kept me watching. Throughout the movie, I was crossing my fingers, hoping that their deepest wish would come true.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

Found is available for streaming on Netflix.

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The Super Bowl Halftime Show Was Amazing, But it Cannot Hide the NFL’s Racism Problem

Like many people, I watched last week’s Super Bowl for the Halftime Show. I’m not a fan of either team and to be perfectly frank, I don’t understand football.

From a personal perspective, I loved it. The artists who performed are ones that I grew up with. It was a lovely throwback to what I remember to be a simpler time. My only complaint is that Mary J. Blige was the only female headliner. But other than that, I was thoroughly entertained.

Charlie Kirk, however, was not entertained. He referred to the show “sexual anarchy”. He has yet to see his 30th birthday. I would have anticipated this kind of opinion coming from someone much older, not from a guy who only graduated from college a few years ago. But I expect nothing less from people who think like him.

As excellent as the performance was, it cannot hide the accusation of racism that exists within the NFL. The lawsuit against the league by Brian Flores, claiming sham interviews for several coaching positions based on skin color, speaks volumes. When most if not all of the workforce are people of color and upper management, are either close to or 100% Caucasian, that speaks volumes.

Games like the Super Bowl are supposed to bring us together. It is one of the few uniting forces in our otherwise divided nation. I just wish that the cracks were not revealed along the way.

The Antisemitic Graffiti at Miriam’s Restaurant Should Spur All of Us to Act

When the members of my family left Eastern Europe for America more than a century ago, they hoped that the antisemitism that forced them out of their homelands would not follow them.

They were wrong.

Last week, Miriam’s Restaurant, located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, was tagged via graffiti with the following line “Fuck Jews“.

As of Friday, the perpetrator(s) remain at large.

The message is clear. We are not welcome in New York City.

This is what I mean when I say overt Jew-hatred has returned.

There are now those who do not feel the need to attack Jews via dogwhistles or coded language.

They are happy and proud to publicly attack Jews as Jews. https://t.co/j2OKWYT2og

— Ben M. Freeman (@BenMFreeman) February 18, 2022

To say that I am scared shitless is an understatement. I was born and raised in NYC, as was most of my family. I shouldn’t be afraid to express who I am without fear of being attacked, but I am.

Whoever did this wants us to be afraid. They want us to cower in the corner, watching every shadow that goes by with heart-pounding anxiety.

I have every confidence that officials will do everything in their power to find whoever did this and make them pay. I also know that I will always be proud to be Jewish, regardless of someone else’s opinion.

What I love about this city is how colorful it is. We have everyone from everywhere. Our diversity makes us beautiful and powerful. But until we face this monster head-on, it will continue to nip at our heels.