Greater Philadelphia Film Office
Cindy (25-35 years old, Asian woman)
Cindy is about to turn 30 years old and has just decided to “take a break” from grad school. Secretly she knows that returning on time may push her over the edge.
After an exhausting semester, she is losing sight of the ground. She is feeling impulsive, reckless even. She knows her grandmother is not doing as well as she used to, but appreciates that she has always been a tough, independent old broad, and so chooses not to worry too much.
She is much more concerned with raiding her grandmother’s medicine cabinet for some controlled relaxation. And once that’s all sorted, maybe getting a little extra dopamine from the cute college student next door.
When she was young, she used to spend the summers with her grandmother, but has not done so in over a decade. Being back makes her feel like a child again, ready to be languid and spoiled with treats.
Grandma Jung Ja (65+ Asian woman)
80 years old, give or take, but who’s counting? This tough cookie loves her independence, fresh fruit, and white lies.
Having been the oldest child of 6, and later on the mother of 3, she long ago decided that children should usually be deceived. Bedtime stories can be altered to scare kids into doing what she asks, and the grosser the better.
She has always had a cutting sense of humor, sometimes straying riské. However as she has grown older, people have generally stopped laughing at her deadpan humor and started thinking she’s serious. In her advanced age, she starts to mix together silly jokes, warped bedtime stories, and the folk tales that her own grandmother had told her. The punchlines don’t land quite like they used to.
In her youth she was impulsive, scrappy, tomboyish. She grew up during the start of the Korean War in the rural south, and has been left with lingering anxiety from the trauma of war. She wanted to be reckless with her youth, but was just rarely afforded an opening. Now, she likes to gamble online.