The Courage to Compose Oneself

Abstract

Yellow Rose (2019) focuses on the life of Rose, an undocumented Filipina American teen who dreams of pursuing a country music career while growing up in rural Texas. Her dreams are interrupted when US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers arrest and deport her mother. The film captures the trauma of being undocumented, the precarity of youth when parents are unable to care for them, and Rose’s relationship to music as an allegory for the wish to be free from constraint. Through not only music but also the self-confidence that it requires, Rose forges a healthy self in light of the powerful structural forces that shape her life as undocumented in a hostile state. Music functions as a selfobject for Rose, who may find a path to citizenship through music and by developing healthy narcissism and a powerful, individual self who asserts not only belonging but also authorship and creativity.