Caught Between Cultures: The Asian American Beauty Dilemma is a documentary film directed, edited, and produced by Karis Lai, a HAAA intern studying History and minoring in Asian Studies. The film explores the tensions that East Asian American women face as they navigate conflicting beauty standards, featuring peer interviews, expert insights, and autobiographical stop motion.
The peer interviews shed light on the lived experience of grappling with unachievable ideals, addressing perceptions of the "Asian American ideal," personal attractiveness, and encounters with plastic surgery. Expert interviews provide a more systematic and specialized analysis of these themes. Karis uses an oral history method for both peer and expert interviews in crafting questionnaires and conducting interviews. In doing so, Karis' documentary not only gathers oral history but also becomes one, using layered storytelling to substantiate the themes in her film. Finally, autobiographical stop motion interweaves philosophical reflections, open-ended questions, and Karis’ personal experiences in order to tie together the film into a cohesive narrative.