Online Response #4 - Not One Less

The hardship experienced by Wei Minzhi and her little class in the docudrama Not One Less portrays real-life experiences with the triumph and hopefulness that is inherent to children. As discussed in class, this children’s media serves as documentation by not representing trials through fantasy or metaphor, but by using the real world. However, as big and as scary as this world is, Wei proves that she has some sort of command over the world. As Hushpuppy insists in Beasts of the Southern Wild, despite all odds, “We’s who the earth is for,” Wei also portrays a tenacity and determination that she belongs in the world and that her journey is one that deserves attention.

Unlike the films that we’ve watched previously, Not One Less is focused on work and productivity. Wei, though only thirteen, has a job and has a primary concern with earning money and doing her job in a way that would make Teacher Gao proud. However, the film celebrates this labor. The most exciting and interesting moments of the film revolve around it—for example, the children have huge amounts of fun when they go and visit the brick factory and move the bricks. Later on, even when they’re in school, the novelty of using colored chalk makes the work exciting. Wei proves her place in the world and her own strength by enjoying this labor, working hard enough on it that it does, at some point, become enjoyable.

There is also dose of disenchantment in the film. Wei is not coddled or very appreciated, and she constantly faces adults who do not believe in her or her goals. The children defy her at first. Teacher Goa insists she is to young and under qualified to be a good teacher. The man at the train station mocks her idea of putting up notices to find the boy. The receptionist refuses to let her into television station. Unlike the adventures or inquisition emphasized in other children’s media, many of the door Wei tries to go through are closed—she does not have every opportunity. However, this disenchantment also serves to show the tenacity and value of hard work the film focuses on.

Children’s media as documentation shows that fulfillment and enchantment can be found in real life, even in hard situations, and that work and productivity can provide creativity and exploration. Not One Less  follows these ideals while insisting that these children, though outcast from the mainstream world, have their value and place in the world.