For Izzy

"Carefully monitor your supply of prescription medication..."

"Dede I'm sorry I cannot help you please try again..."

"Always take your medication exactly as prescribed by your doctor..."

"Searching for drug interactions..."

This video is for the

customer service people at Shield Health,

cuz I just had the most horrendous

experience at the doctor's office today

so I'm going to put it on the Internet and maybe

it's going to go viral and we can all do

something about the American healthcare industry or...

"never change your dosage without talking to your providers..."

So... so...

So I went in to get my Oxycontin refill today

but there's a new doctor

who lectures me like it's a crime

to be in fucking pain for a long time

wants to upsell me on therapy unrelated to my pain

then ask me all these questions like I was insane

warning me about "my overall health condition Ms Chow, so how about you come in for

more exams how about a week from now?" I mean give me my fucking Oxy already.

Or perks even better or whatever to cope

do you want me to start shooting up that dope?

Cuz I'm in huge pain got a lot of

shit to deal with right now so stop

guilt tripping me you fucking racist cow

because my last name is not Chow

I mean how can you not get it right

it's Dede Cheung. My name is Dede Cheung!

My name is Dede Cheung, a former photojournalist.

I was snapping photos for the Times in the city of LA,

When my Friday paydays began to slowly fade away,

You see the newspaper business had a best before date,

And now my ass is on

the street like expired mayonnaise,

Which put a damper on my wedding plans,

oh and by the way, yes I am gay.

"When has Dede Cheng ever paid for brunch?"

"Never!"

She changed the locks on our doors two

weeks before our big day,

"What part of no do you not..."...

I begged her to reconsider but I guess it was too late,

Contributing my broke ass to the unemployment rate,

I guess it's not an attractive trait she wished in a soulmate,

So eight years from our loving first date,

She insinuate, incriminate,

disseminate with full hate and eviction

notice to terminate our relationship

like that, devastate, exterminate, pixelate you bitch!

Moving on without me,

The world is moving on without me...

The camera is my lens with which I saw the world,

but now the ground beneath me

spins as my lens swirled and twirled,

Searching for a subject, the reason to

frame a shot, the present tense a mystery

as I lose my train of thought,

Watching time accelerate, I contemplate what it's

like in Heaven's Gate, mood swings I

cannot regulate, a pain I can't eradicate,

but these pills I need to medicate,

eventually I'll de-toxicate, but first I

need to concentrate to get my shit in a

fucking better state! I'm fucking genius!

Dede Cheng one, healthcare industry zero.

As a high functioning addict for many years,

I wanted a fresh start.

I needed to get the fuck out of LA.

So I swallowed my pride, I asked my mom if I could borrow

some money to travel... with the promise

that I would pay her back. But instead,

she quits her job, moves to LA on some

kind of rescue mission.

I wasn't proud of what I chose to do as a

young woman. But seeing you... my own daughter...

Making the same sorts of bad decisions.

I was born in Hong Kong.

Mom and dad were investment bankers.

When they divorced, they put me into

a boarding school in Connecticut while

agreeing to share custody over the holidays.

Dad often canceled our plans until he stopped calling.

Oh one time, I lied to my mom that I was

going to be with my dad for a few weeks

during summer and ended up getting high

on every Schedule One Narcotic I could

get my hands on while backpacking across Europe...

Before overdosing on horse tranquilizers in Amsterdam.

Not recommended.

First thing tomorrow I'm going to the methadone clinic.

What is this huh?

- What the? - Why do you have two cell phones?

Seriously mom, what the fuck are you doing

going through my stuff?

You really think I don't know how all this works? Don't lie to me.

Ok well I'm not selling drugs

or turning tricks if that's what you're imagining.

Then why do you have two fucking cell phones?

Whatever. Stop trying to break me down.

Nobody asked you to come here so why

don't you just leave me alone.

Hey, Laura. Come back. Hey. Get back.

Come here. Hey come back. Where are you going?

You know what mom this is the first time I've done fine without you.

Hey hey hey! Sorry. Sorry.

Sorry. Let's go, come on.

My name is Laura Yip. My dad's name is Peter,

my mom's name is Margaret.

My dad said she died of a heart failure when I was just a baby,

I look like my mom, her photos are really pretty.

I don't want to do this.

Well you were here on time so we have to now.

Okay.

I like to rhyme just like my friend Dede with the blue hair.

She and her mom Anna moved down the street to us.

Dede's pretty just like her mom.

Oh Laura go wash up we have a big day ahead. Okay?

I saw this movie where the camera goes in the shower.

It's supposed to be scary.

Okay, play your camera later, okay?

Now go wash up. Give me the camera.

- No! - Come on.

- Give it back! - Listen. Go wash up.

No, give it back!

Give it back!

I left school really early, because the kids would often tease me.

Keeping up with me was hard, so fitting in was hardly easy.

But the teacher said I was disruptive. If Margaret was alive,

She would defend me like a mama bear,

allowing me to choose thrive. Roar.

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay.

Hurry up okay?

Hi babap.

Hey listen I'm sorry about what happened earlier.

Yeah.

Can you pass me the Chan's invoice?

My dad is the best,

he's the best, he's the best.

Spent a lot of time at home, just me and my dad,

he taught me all about accounting, more than any college grad,

So I can help him with his clients, a lot of them are tax cheats,

but my dad still finds a way to sneak in the legitimate receipts.

Analyze and prioritize, organize and classify,

the order of accounting, shelters me from any strife.

So I can focus on drawing cartoons and shooting videos,

the library of my life.

I never taught her.

Never ever would I place her in a special school or

some group facility.

I felt like a kid all the time.

It's been a long time since I felt like that.

I felt at ease with them right away,

like an old friend who I could talk

to you about anything.

I never had dreams.

So I have no regrets.

Hey, you say thank you auntie Anna.

Thank you auntie Anna.

You're welcome. Dinner will be ready soon, okay?

Lucky girl. Now you have two cameras.

Hmm yeah.

I've got my meeting and then I'm seeing my sponsor.

Friggin' relax.

Today's my birthday.

- Happy birthday. - When's your birthday?

Uh, December.

Forever in December...

My dad got me a rhyming dictionary birthday in May.

I like wordplay.

- Okay? - Yay.

Where you going? We should be friends.

Maybe later babe. I got adult stuff to do.

I'm an adult.

- Hey Laura. - Bye.

Time to eat.

We're going to be friends.

Hey Laura. Okay, how about just have an orange then?

Sit here, you can watch TV, huh? Take the control...

- So. Nothing to watch? - It's okay.

You gotta eat something. You want to come, sit with us?

Fine.

Tell you what. This time you're going to sit

a little closer to daddy okay? Come on.

Okay, how about I have this,

and you eat that. You eat that too.

No.

Hey you got to eat something.

- Hello. - Not now, please.

My dad says you have a Panasonic.

I want to see your lens kit.

Hey hey! Those are important. Don't do that.

I do a lot of filming. My hands are steady like a Steadicam.

I log my footage every day

and have it organized and metatagged. Now with

the GoPro I'll double my footage.

Don't touch this! God, it's not like I have

a need for an intern.

I can be your intern.

Now I'm your friend and your intern. I want to