Faithful Friday: Angel Studios did it again with “Sight”
By: Debbie Waltz
Sight is the inspiring true story of Ming Wang, (played by Terry Chen) a poor Chinese immigrant who flees Communist China to become a successful eye surgeon in America. Though successful in this career, Ming finds it difficult to connect with people on a personal level. All that changes when he meets Sister María (Fionaula Flanagan) and her charge, Kajal (Mia SwamiNathan.) He feels for the girl, especially hearing of where she came from and the situation that led to her blindness. Found on the streets of Calcutta, India, Kajal begged for money to support herself and her family among other people with disabilities or of limited means. The doctors were even more shocked to learn that the child had not been born blind, but her stepmother had caused the blindness by pouring sulfuric acid directly into her eyes. (In Calcutta, people believed street beggars received more if they were genuinely blind.)
Moved by the child’s story, the team is determined to help her see; they perform all the tests to proceed with the surgery. His partner in the laboratory, Misha Bartnovsky (played by Greg Kinnear) reveals the disappointing news; the damage is irreversible in her left eye, leaving them to question whether it is ethical to operate on her only “good” eye. (What makes one eye better than the other if she is still blind? You may wonder. First, Kajal is only 6 years old and has only one percent left of vision in her right eye. Skipping all the medical jargon, her eyes haven’t had time to develop fully.) Ming delivers the news to Sister Maria, who urges him to reconsider.
“Kajal was born in the poorest slum in Calcutta. She has traveled across the world just for a chance. Even a slim chance..”
Working late into the night, Ming is startled to see a young girl roaming the laboratory halls. She seems vaguely familiar- almost the spitting image of his childhood friend- Ling. He races after her, but she’s too quick and vanishes as if in thin air. He doubts his decision and calls to schedule Kajal’s surgery.
This starts Ming thinking about his childhood in Hangzhou, China in 1968. As a young boy, Ming has always dreamed about following in his father’s footsteps and becoming a doctor; this has not only been a tradition among the Ming men, but he’s always wanted to help people heal and recover from their injuries. Despite his humble upbringing, Ming’s parents always encouraged him to follow his dreams. They brought home used laboratory equipment to promote his interest in the sciences.; His father encouraged Ming to study hard and continue his education. He did, despite escalating political tension.
The day of her surgery arrives, and their hearts sink with disappointment at discovering irreversible damage caused by excessive blood in her eye. There was no way to know about this except doing exploratory surgery. They are all upset and disappointed by the outcome. After digesting the news for a few days, Ming can’t stop thinking about the young girl’s case.
Flashback to 1974 – Ming is in school learning about the Great Wall of China when rioters interrupt the class. They say school is canceled indefinitely; the students will soon be called into service if their demands are unmet. Outside, they are forced to throw their educational books into the fire. Talking to his father, Ming learns the rioters believe they can create a whole new China by breaking everything down and starting over again. “They don’t understand what makes China great is its traditions because people believe in honor and sacrifice..” his father explains. Still, he wonders how he will become a doctor if the school is shut down.
Back in the present, Ming is invited to Misha’s anniversary party. Still stung by the disappointment of Kajal’s surgery, he keeps to himself at the bar. His friend does his best to cheer him up, encouraging him to think outside the box and let go of any preconceived expectations he may have. When that doesn’t work, he leaves him alone. When a fellow patron asks his opinion of the Chinese food he ordered, he is once again reminded how different he is- adding to the preconceived stereotypes of Chinese people. He still offers his opinion on the food the man ordered- accidentally overlooking the green sauce on the man’s plate. He realizes this moment too late, resulting in the paramedic being called.
Bonding over the whole ordeal, the female owner, Anle (played by Danni Wang) introduces herself and says she is known to be a good listener. Ming opens up to her a little, telling her there are just some things he can’t get over in his past.
“Who says you have to get open them?” counters Anle., “A wise person once said: The present is made possible by the past..”
Taking her words to heart, Ming goes home and tries to do more research, but it’s futile. Finally, he gets distracted when he finds an old erhu ( Chinese instrument) in his bedroom closet.
Flashback into the past: Tensions grow as Ming’s parents become more and more concerned with their children’s safety in school. They come to the hard conclusion that they will no longer attend school, but focus their attention on learning the Chinese instrument. (This is because you need an education to get any type of job or career, but learning an instrument enables one to join the troupe.)
So, with the help of Ming’s father and Lill’s father, he switches focus to learning to play the instrument He quickly learns that playing music is more than just playing the right notes, but playing from the heart and understanding the emotion behind the music..
While playing Ah Bing’s song “Two Springs Reflect The Moon” Ming is told to reflect on its origins. Though he understands the composer is blind, it differs greatly from living with blindness firsthand. For example, Lilli’s father knows what it is like to see. Until his accident, he knew what his wife’s and daughter’s faces looked like. Ah, Bing didn’t have that luxury since he was born blind, so he had to imagine what it looked like- all in his mind.
” Ah Bing imagined beauty even though he could not see it. It is because of this I have hope to hang onto. He did not give up on life because he could not see it..” Lill’s father explained.
One day during a rehearsal, a rioter comes up to them and asks what they are doing. He explains that there is no need for the arts. When Lill’s father tries to defend them by saying Ming was just playing and dancing for him, the Rioter asks to see the instrument. Rather than risk anyone getting hurt, Ming obliges. In one fell swoop, he breaks the instrument over his knee. Sensing increasing tension, Lill’s father says something about the government to distract the rioters from the children. It worked but they began taunting him. Soon, they became angry and began beating him as well. In all of this, Lill’s father urges them to flee. They do so, but when they return home the news is not good. Her father has died and Ming’s family takes her in.
“What happens when we die? Is it just darkness?” she asked when they were in bed that night.
Ming does not answer.
Following that incident, Ming is determined to do whatever he has to to protect Lilli. Even take her with them when he becomes a doctor.
“I will protect you,” Ming promises.
Even the most well-intentioned promises can be broken. Ming realizes that now. After Misha arrives at work early, Ming finally opens up to him about Lilli. He explained about the uprising in their town and how the rioters kept chasing after him and how he always escaped. But that wasn’t without its consequences. One day, the rioters find the two friends walking around town. They confront Ming about not wanting to join them. The leader relents, saying: “Fine, you’ve made your choice. I will leave you alone..”
A second later, he orders the two others to grab Lily and come along. Ming runs after them until two young men hold him back and start beating him.
“I could never find Lili again. There is some part of me that if I can help Kajal out of the dark. Somehow maybe, maybe I can help Lilli out of hers- wherever she is..”
“I’m with you, Ming. We can do this,” Misha replies.
So it’s back to the drawing board for Kajal’s case. They needed to promote healing in her eye with less scarring. But how? Thinking about her case one morning during his run, he was reminded of the night in 1975 when he raced to warn his parents and other university staff that rioters were coming to destroy the building. His mother rushed to secure the data while his dad hid his son in a closet.
Whatever you hear, don’t come out..” He warns before closing the door.
For hours he waited- in a closet with all these different laboratory tools and a few dead specimens, including what looked like a dead baby in a jar.
“Why don’t babies scar?” Ming said, arriving at the office. Unsure of where Ming was going with this, Misha threw out several answers, none of which were exactly what Ming was getting at.
“The placenta is what keeps babies healthy and facilitates healing.”
The research took off then. First, the team looked up previous studies that had been done on the subject; Then they conducted their own study using blind rabbits and their prototype of a placenta-infused lens. It worked. It was time to try it on Kajal. Excited to share the good news, Ming goes to the bar to see Anle and asks her out on a date.
Returning home from work in a flashback, we realize Ming has a job working at a shoe factory to help support his family in 1976. When he returns home, he learns the protesters have been arrested and he can pursue his education again.
There is only one problem. They are resuming college entrance exams, which means he must learn 3 grades in a matter of months. But his parents promise to help. After taking the test, Ming anxiously awaits the results. Unfortunately, the University of Science and Technology plans on only accepting 4 students from this province of China. He was one of them!
On an afternoon walk with Anle, Ming explained how he excelled at the University of Science and Technology, but when he transferred to the University of Massachusetts in 1982 to continue his education, there was a lot of culture shock. Not only did his whole family have to pitch in to purchase a one-way ticket, but Ming quickly learned that people in America dressed less traditionally than in China. This caused him to quickly ditch the suit and tie his parents bought him and look for a new wardrobe at the Salvation Army.
After Kajal’s surgery and subsequent recovery, everyone is anxious to find out whether the contact lens helped her eye heal. The day finally arrives and everyone is anticipating what the little girl will see for the very first time. Dr. Ming slowly unwraps her bandages and warns her the light might be too bright at first; so she should open her eye slowly at first. As she does so, he waits for her reaction.
Do you see the light?” Doctor Ming asks.
“No,” Kajal says left quite matter-of-factly.
“Nothing at all, Kajal?” Misha questions the girl again, sensing his partner’s growing disappointment.
“I can’t see anything,” she confirms.
Unable to face reporters, Ming goes home to lick his wounds. In a fit of frustration, he swipes everything from the table- including his research and his precious Chinese instrument. Weeks go by as Ming continues to isolate himself from friends and family. Unable to balance back from his failure, Ming questions his choice of career.
Flashback to 1986- Ming is excited about the prospect of taking his MCATs early. When he enters Mr. Scurry’s office, he doesn’t expect the reaction he receives.
“Don’t waste your time. Look, it’s hard getting into medical school from the States.. But you coming from China??”
From that point on, Ming is more determined than ever to prove him wrong.
Present day: Ming receives an unexpected visit from his father, where he tries to provide some encouragement. Since their brief discussion about the similarities between Kajal and Lilli, he knows his son is grappling with the inability to help them both; for Lilli, he was unable to keep her safe and for Kajal, it was to help her see again.
“I believed what you said [everything would be okay.] ” Ming says in frustration.
“A father’s duty is to protect,-to help his children be at peace..” he replies simply. He continues by explaining how his past with Lily has helped fuel his desire to become a doctor and help people out of their own darkness.
“Lilli wouldn’t want you to stop now..”
With that in mind, Ming tries his best to return to work. But when confronted with another potential placenta-infused lens patient, he doubts his ability but then he thinks of everything he went through to get the funds to pay for taking the MCATs himself (by taking on extra jobs and spending for the exam late into the night. ) As Ming gets back into routine, he calls Anla to apologize and pays a visit to Kajal at the local church. Kajal is leading a prayer group with a bunch of differently-abled students at the front of the church. Amazed by the girl’s resilience, he asked Maria’s opinion:
“This beautiful child makes them realize how blessed they are in life,” Maria says
“I’m sorry I could not help her, “Ming apologizes.
“Oh, I prayed for a miracle. Insisting to God that the restoration of Kajal’s physical sight would be the miracle. But look. Look what God uses when we refuse to believe there is no purpose. Kajal is the miracle. Saint Theresa of Calcutta said, “For love to be real, it must empty us of self, Kajal embodies this. She has moved beyond the tragedy of her past, and embraces the present with happiness and joy and love..”
Before returning to work, Kajal presented Doctor Wang with a small wooden cross. With newfound resolve, Ming is determined to try again with his next patient Maria. After a significant recovery time, everyone is anxious for different results. This time though, it is all about his patient rather than his institution’s fame and prestige.
The surgery is a success!