ShmoopTube

00:00

Thank you We sneak in bride and your family a

00:05

la shmoop Well millie minka wits is a must her

00:10

dad's dad came from russia her dad's mom from scotland

00:13

which is probably why her dad likes putting on a

00:15

kilt and playing chess so much Her mom has native

00:18

american blood but there's also some english in there Emily

00:21

has always struggled with her identity a bit she's nothing

00:24

like her friend colette and exchange student who's french through

00:27

and through or her friend paul who couldn't be more

00:31

australian if he wrestled crocodiles daily Even some of her

00:34

classmates who aren't total purebreds quote at least they don't

00:38

have quite as much going on is her family does

00:41

but the unfortunate thing is that millie resents her family

00:44

for being such a hodgepodge almost as if they came

00:46

from all over the place and crossed ethnic bloodlines just

00:49

despite their future offspring couldn't think it's fair that she

00:53

barely knows what holiday is to celebrate or what traditional

00:56

foods to be proud of or what in the world

00:58

her family's coat of arms looks like though she makes

01:01

a conscious effort to hide her background ashamed as she

01:04

is of her own family doesn't even invite any friends

01:08

over to her house afraid they're going to take one

01:10

look at our freakish mish mosh relatives and run screaming

01:13

for the hills But one day milly leaves some of

01:15

her homework at colette's house and collect runs it over

01:18

to the miko its residents so she can return it

01:20

amily isn't home but her mother invites colette in for

01:23

a sec and collects blown away by all the evidence

01:26

of millie's diversity the russian flag hanging on the wall

01:29

in her dad's office the full wall map of scotland

01:32

in the front entryway siri's of dream catchers in the

01:34

den showcasing her mother's ancestry and well okay so from

01:38

an interior decorating standpoint maybe it's a bit tacky but

01:41

we'll totally fascinating Millie is initially devastated when she learns

01:44

of her friends a infiltration into her home but her

01:47

attitude changes in a jiff once colette starts gushing about

01:51

how awesome her family is and how interesting it's history

01:54

her stupid family is just stupid french fine and all

01:57

but he's only got one nation shins traditions to celebrate

02:01

one nation's cuisine to pig out on at family get

02:04

together it takes some convincing but before long millie realizes

02:07

how good she's actually got it Her family's diversity is

02:09

open her eyes over the years to different cultures giving

02:12

her much broader and more intelligent worldview than many of

02:15

her less mudblood ish piers But it had never occurred

02:18

to her before How rare and important that perspective really

02:21

is not until colette forced her to look at things

02:23

in a different way and made her realize how much

02:25

pride she should be taking in her own family Okay

02:27

so yeah when you're a teenager being different isn't always

02:30

the greatest thing But what millie realized in that moment

02:32

is that well being different is really what gives each

02:35

of us our individuality and makes us interesting Of course

02:39

pure blood collette was just is proud of her family

02:42

despite the lack of ancestral diversity You know she did

02:45

lovingly refer to them as stupid once in a while

02:48

when it comes down to it It's not the particulars

02:50

of anyone family's journey that matters but simply that whatever

02:52

that journey wasit somehow ultimately resulted in you all the

02:57

different ethnic influences that had moulded million to the lovely

02:59

personable and open minded young woman's you have grown up

03:02

to be well They were to think for not turning

03:04

her into someone less million sh that evening to prove

03:08

to her family how much more she now appreciated them

03:11

He sat down for a game of kilted chess with 00:03:14.293 --> [endTime] dad

Full Transcript