AGE 16

A teenager grapples with poor body image and family conflict in her multigenerational immigrant family.

It’s 2000, and 16-year-old Chinese Canadian Rosalind, who lives in Toronto with her single mother, Lydia, is distressed about her weight. It doesn’t help that Lydia labels them “the fat family,” makes disparaging remarks about “big people,” and constantly comments on Roz’s body and food choices. When Roz, who dreams of showing up at prom skinny and wearing a stunning dress, decides to lose weight and Por Por, her maternal grandmother, suddenly visits from Hong Kong, Roz’s conflicts with her mother over her body only increase. Roz is further distressed by Por Por’s cutting remarks and the heightened domestic stress due to her disruptive presence in the household. Seamless flashbacks to both Lydia’s 1970s Hong Kong childhood and Por Por’s young adulthood in 1950s Guangdong, China, shed light on the body shaming and misogyny that they endured, showing the roots of their estrangement and the fierce (if misguided) love that’s still present. Learning about unspoken parts of their family history ultimately helps Roz, Lydia, and Por Por find some measure of peace and understanding. All three are sympathetically and fully portrayed, and Roz’s struggles unfold realistically. The largely monochromatic panels use a shifting color palette to cue each era, allowing Fung to integrate the three colors in a touching and symbolic way in this poignant story’s resolution.

An affecting story of family estrangement, body shaming, and the journey to self-acceptance.