Mei Tomko | July 18, 2023

*SPOILERS INCLUDED

Joy Ride is a 2023 film, marketed as a raunchy adventure comedy, that follows four Asian American women traveling to China on a business trip and in search of one of their birth mothers. One of the women is a transracial transnational adoptee from China who grew up in suburban Washington in a white family. There are themes of Asian diaspora, identity, belonging, and Asian female sexuality throughout the movie. Because I am a transracial transnational Chinese adoptee, I will be focusing on Audrey’s adoptee identity and the telling of her transracial adoptee story. All opinions are mine.

The Good: Identity Struggles and Birth Moms

To start, I was pleasantly surprised that Joy Ride touched on the complexity of transracial adoptee identity, such as Audrey:

• expressing she does not feel like she belongs anywhere
• having no interest in searching for her birth mother (whereas other adoptees are interested)
• displaying internalized racism by choosing to sit with the only non-Asian person on a train and having “never dated an Asian guy before”
• feeling imposter syndrome of not being “Chinese enough” when visiting China
• finding comfort in Asia because “everyone looks like me”
• wondering what her life would be like if she grew up in China
• being told by Chinese American friends and people in China that she is “basically white” or not “Asian enough”

Transracial and transnational adoption is a complex and messy process resulting in even more messy and complex messy emotions for some adoptees. Because so many transnational and transracial adoptees are adopted by white families living in predominantly white areas, many experience internalized racism and struggle with their racial identities throughout their lives. They are often told that they are not “xyz enough,” such as Lolo telling Audrey that she is “basically white,” because transracial adoptees often grew up without access to their birth culture, community, and/or languages. Audrey pushes back though, asserting that “I am Asian,” and seeks to further define what that means to her throughout the film.

Additionally, I was moved by Joy Ride’s humanization of Audrey’s birth mother. So often, birth mothers are an illusive figure either demonized for relinquishing their child or thanked for “giving her child a better life.” Audrey’s birth mother recorded a video for Audrey expressing her deep love for her and hope that she grew up well. This scene was healing for me personally and I can imagine for other adoptees as well who may long to hear that from their own birth mothers or families. Offering Audrey’s birth mother agency allows many to have a better idea of how complicated the decision to relinquish a child is and the impact it can have on both adoptees and birth families.

The Bad: Representation in the Face of the Korean Culture Wave

SPOILER ALERT ABOUT THE PLOT TWIST