When the trailer for the 
movie “Us” came out on Christ-
mas Day, it seemed to shake 
up the nation. Not only did the 
film itself just look horrify-
ingly good, but it was also very 
refreshing for Black people 
around the country.
After many questions about 
the film’s premise, Jordan Peele 

has stated that the film has 
nothing to do with with race, 
contrary to his Oscar-winnin-
gOscar winning 2017 film Get 
Out. At a screening of the Us 
trailer, Peele told the audience 
that it was very important for 
him “to have a Black family 
at the center of a horror film”. 
Black people in this genre are 
very rare to see, so having an 
entire black family as the cen-
ter of the film is exciting. 

Courtesy of Universal Pic-
tures
Having Black main charac-
ters of any film will send the 
masses of the Black population 
running into the theater spend-
ing their coin out of support. 
But this film, in particular, in 
particular is refreshing because 
of the fact that the main 
characters are what seems to 
be a normal Black family. We 
are so used to seeing Black fam-

ilies with a parent missing (usu-
ally the father) because they 
are in jail or just missing for a 
reason that is never explained. 
Sometimes we see a single Black 
mother who has been made into 
the popular Black stereotype of 
the “welfare queen”. When we 
do see a middle class, nuclear 
Black family, there seems to be 
one family member (usually the 
daughter) who is unrealistically 
lighter than the rest of the fam-

ily.
Based off of the trailer, the 
film Us will feature a dark-
skinneddark skinned, middle-
classmiddle 
class 
suburban 
family who is able to be friends 
with white people while still 
listening to music such as The 
Luniz’s “I Got 5 On It” during 
family time. This is extreme-
ly refreshing for 21st century 
Black families who live in the 
suburbs and, have white friends 

and acquaintances, but are also 
still very aware of their Black 
identities. 
While I do think that it is 
important for there to be mul-
tiple representations of Black 
people in televisions and mov-
ies just like how there are in 
real life- the good, the bad, and 
the ugly- I think that this movie 
will be a positive representa-
tion of how a lot ofmany Black 
people live today. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, January 28, 2019 — 3A

What are the places 

that have molded 

you into the person 

you are today?

At the beginning of each 
of my semesters at Michigan, 
I’ve consistently felt the same 
uncomfortable 
cacophony 
of 
emotions. On one hand, I’m 
thoroughly bored by the end 
of break and am pining for the 
semester to start. I feel excited 
about the thought of getting 
back on campus, seeing lots of 
old friends, meeting new people 
and also getting busy again. But 
then as the first day of classes 
comes around the corner the 
feeling of excitement is often 
replaced with stress and anxi-
ety as I start to remember what 
a busy college semester feels 
like and how meeting new peo-
ple proves to be harder than it 
sounds.

The transition between break 
and a busy college semester usu-
ally starts with the awkward 
round of icebreakers that one 
is bound to participate in the 
majority of their classes. This 
is usually when you get to find 
out interesting facts and talents 
about your peers such as “I like 
hummus”, “I’m double-jointed 
almost everywhere in my body” 
or even “I learned how to ride a 
bike without training wheels”.
Like many on campus, I have 
spent the last few days trying to 
make my “fun fact” something 
that will make people laugh 
at the moment, but also some-
thing that people won’t strictly 
remember me by. But during 
these painstaking ice break-
ers, one question that is a little 
more difficult for me to answer 
is “Where are you from?” This 
is usually a question that people 
don’t struggle with, but person-

ally it means a lot more than 
just the name of the city where 
I was born or where I went to 
high school. It means: what are 
the places that have molded you 
into the person you are today?
Ann Arbor, Michigan and 
Bangalore, India are two places 
that are very dear to me. I have 
lived the majority of my life 
in Ann Arbor, but I can confi-
dently say that I wouldn’t be 
the person I am now without 
the three years I lived in India. 
In fact, looking back at it, as a 
first generation Indian-Amer-
ican immigrant, it meant a lot 
to me to have my own experi-
ence with India. Prior to that, 
hearing stories from my parents 
about their childhood, eating 
the Indian food my mom makes, 
waking up at 6 a.m. to talk to 
my grandparents and cousins 
on the phone and summer vaca-
tions to India were the extent 

of my cultural exposure. But 
living in India really allowed 
me to relate to my family in a 
way that I hadn’t been able to 
before. It made it possible for 

my parents to share a lot of the 
same experiences that they had 
growing up in India. My parents 
showed me where they grew up, 
I participated in a lot of tradi-

tional festivals and holidays and 
I got to see my family a lot more 
often than I had before. Living 
in India gave me the opportu-
nity to explore my heritage in a 
way I wasn’t able to before.
It wasn’t really until after I 
moved back to Ann Arbor that 
I slowly started to realize the 
importance and the significance 
of my Asian-American identity. 
Before I moved, Ann Arbor was 
the only home I knew. In fact, 
while I was terribly homesick 
during my first month there, I 
made it very clear to all of my 
classmates that I bleed maize 
and blue. However, when I 
moved back three years later, I 
realized Bangalore had become 
a part of me that I couldn’t 
get rid of. I couldn’t pretend 
that I had never moved there. 
After all, I came back with a 
thick Indian accent and a com-
pletely different personality. It 

was the first time that I had to 
come to terms with and accept 
my cultural identity for it’s the 
one thing that makes everyone 
themselves and unique.
All of this would be really 
difficult and maybe even bor-
derline overkill to explain in 
an icebreaker on the first day 
of class. But the next time it’s 
my turn, I probably won’t try 
to make mine as short as pos-
sible in order to get to the next 
person. Sometimes what may 
seem like a “simple question” 
deserves a complicated answer 
and can reveal a lot about a per-
son. So please, if you have to 
take a couple of extra seconds 
during an ice breaker that’s 
already been going on for too 
long to represent where you’re 
from, please take them. We’re 
all ears.

Where are you from? It’s complicated

The Art of Being Self-Aware 

ARIELLE MCENTYRE
MiC Columnist

DEVAK NANUA
MiC Contributor 

CHARLES HARRIS
MiC Columnist

Why the “Us” Trailer is so refreshing for 
Black families

I guess looking up at the stars you get a sense of something much bigger 
than yourself.
You realize that in the grand scheme of things you’re not much but a speck in 
the universe.
But yet you sit and think for hours a day on how to change the world, or at 
least yours 
You know time is socially constructed, but live and die by it.
Spending a lot of it on what I hope gives you a fulfilling feeling deep inside 
 Even in the moments that you wish you could get back, because you believe 
it was time wasted, but in reality it wasn’t because here you are right here, 
right now. 
You start to realize that everything is connected, every small or big action you 
have done has put you in the exact spot you are in now.
Not a second too late, or early.
The butterfly effect starts to become very clear to you now.
So now you become mindful of every small action you do, hoping that at 
some point all the insignificant moments in your life start to culminate into a 
puzzle, if you will.
You live everyday with a limited perspective, until you have small epiphanic 
moments that broadens your perspective.
Ideals and situations that were once clouded, become clear as island water 
untouched by man.
Every breath you take, is much more refreshing because you realize the true 
value of every inhale and exhale.
The colors are more vivid, and purpose fuels passion.
The details of the hues become euphoric.
So now looking up at the night sky feels different, and the stars don’t feel so 
distant.
You realize that the grand scheme is made up of the small specks such as 
yourself,
And every person you come into contact with help you complete the bigger 
picture 
So the importance of traveling and meeting new people can’t be stressed 
enough
And having the right people around you is doubly as important. 
People come and go, and you have to learn a lesson from every situation 
you’re in.
The silver lining, is something I have an eye for; time doesn’t stop so we can’t 
stress trying to stop, reverse, or forward it
Every moment is a gift and a piece to your puzzle.

