Institute History
Description
There is a fat Chinese kid sitting on a dumpster outside of a Chinese restaurant, and he’s talking dirty to his egg roll. This is Ernest Chin. Ernest lives with his mother, his grandfather and his little sister in a sleazy, hourly-rate motel on a strip of bi-way in New Jersey. This is the family business.
Even though he’s only 13, Ernest has to take on the responsibilities of “man of the house,” with no father to do the job. After school, Ernest cleans all of the vacant rooms, making sure to flip the mattresses so the wet spots can dry. He also baby-sits his eight-year-old sister Katie, whose playground is the parking lot and whose favorite toy is a dirt-filled headless Barbie. And at night, Ernest watches the front desk to make sure that people pay for their three-hour check-ins.
Ernest’s mother is a battleaxe of a woman; she has to be, running her own business and raising two children. When she finds out that Ernest has won an honorable mention in a writing contest, she forbids him from going to the awards dinner in order to save the family from embarrassment. To her, winning an honorable mention means that you weren’t good enough to win.
Ernest’s only solace comes in the form of a 15-year-old girl named Christine, whose parents own the Chinese restaurant across the street. Ernest loves Christine. Christine thinks Ernest is a dork.
And then Sam Kim checks in. Sam, a charismatic Korean American man who has his whole life packed in the trunk of his car, has come to the motel to sleep with as many prostitutes as possible and hopefully forget about the crumbling life he has left behind. Sam sees himself in Ernest, a boy lost in the worst stages of pre-pubescence with nobody to guide him. He becomes inspired to take Ernest under his wing and decides to teach him the steps to manhood…in one night.