Netflix’s “I Am Vanessa Guillen” Illustrates Themes Spanning from Systemic Racism to Family Love
This powerful and heartbreaking documentary film tells the story of Vanessa Guillen, a U.S. soldier who mysteriously went missing - and her family will not rest until they have answers.
I Am Vanessa Guillen Documentary / Courtesy of Netflix
This documentary is one that moved me to tears and I learned so much about a system not many know about. “I Am Vanessa Guillen” is a documentary released on Netflix that tells the heartbreaking story of Vanessa Guillen, a United States army soldier who went missing from Fort Hood Texas in April of 2020. The film delves into the details of her disappearance and the journey her family members embarked on to gain justice and keep her memory alive. The film explores sensitive yet incredibly important topics of sexual harassment and assault within the military system, and the challenges Vanessa’s family faced in their process of trying to learn the truth and get to justice.
The film is incredibly touching and heartbreaking, as it highlights the emotional journey of Vanessa’s family, their determination to uncover the facts, and the public’s demand to make the military accountable for their failure to treat Vanessa and her family as they were supposed to. The documentary also serves as a tribute to Vanessa and her life story, as it also details her upbringing and why she was so passionate about joining the military. The filmmakers use a personal and humanistic approach to raise awareness about the broader issues surrounding sexual harassment and assault in the armed forces.
The documentary starts off in a lighthearted manner and chronicles Vanessa’s early life by including her family background, and why she dreamed of becoming a soldier and serving her country. She is portrayed as a bubbly and energetic person, who was good to everyone around her and carried a very positive spirit. Through the accounts of her family members and friends, it is incredibly clear what a positive influence she was and how much she meant to those around her. The film later delves into the tragic part of Vanessa’s story: her disappearance. Her family first notices she went missing and becomes concerned to the point of investigating her whereabouts and taking action to find her. The military offered little help as the family looked and researched tirelessly in the hopes of locating Vanessa, but they grew incredibly frustrated with the lack of answers. After months, her remains are discovered on the side of road, revealing the circumstances surrounding her death and breaking the hearts of all of her loved ones. One of the greatest shocks the film presents is how little the military system tried to find her and offered little support to the family. The question in her family’s mind was, why? Why would they not support the family of a soldier and instead make little to no effort in finding her?
The film also details how Vanessa was sexually assaulted in the military system and her mom describes her knowledge of the heavily male-dominated environment her daughter was in. They both knew the risks of her being there and the sexism being presented, but it didn’t stop Vanessa from pursuing her dreams of serving in the military. While this is heartbreaking, Vanessa’s story helped inspire other soldiers to step out and share their experiences with sexual assault and raise awareness about the issue particularly in the military system. Since the system is mainly dominated by men, there is little support or awareness for women to reach out for help or get justice if an assault were to happen.
Once the film established how Vanessa died and the injustice her family faced during and after her search for her, the story takes on an entire new energy. The documentary is a true example of how hope and progress can come from a tragedy like one that occurred to the Guillen family. Once the word got out of Vanessa’s story and the lack of support that the military provided, strong public outcry emerged and many protests began to take place in response to her case. There was gradually more pressure placed on the military to investigate her story and make drastic changes to their system in order for something like that to never happen again.
Her family became strong advocates for this issue and even her younger sister spoke at protests and to government leaders, pleading they do something to prevent sexual assault in the military system. The film displays the struggler her family faced in the pursuit of justice, and their ongoing efforts to reform the military’s handling of sexual assault harassment and assault cases. The film was beautifully done as it focused on the hope and fight the Guillen family carried with them after the tragedy in hopes of preventing a similar event form every happening again.
Another important note to keep in mind is the racism and systemic challenges the film presents. Vanessa’s family is Latino, and she was one of the very few Latinos serving in her branch of the military. She was also a woman, which presented numerous challenges for her to even gain her spot in the armed forces. The film discusses how racism within the military likely was a contributing factor to the lack of attention to her case and little support her family received after she went missing.
However, I thought it was beautiful and inspiring how despite the ignorance and oppression of the system, Vanessa’s family took matters into their own hands and fought on the streets, in courthouses, and online to spread the message of Vanessa’s story and advocate tirelessly to reach justice.
Their hope and determination is truly admirable and I found it very interesting how the film focused on the tragedy of the story but also all the good that came after. I believe the film is trying to the teach the audience that if there is an injustice in your life, you have to fight for it to be undone. There are times where taking matters into our own hands is the only way to get justice and improve the lives of others, and I love how the film focuses on the positive that those efforts can bring. The love that Vanessa’s family had towards her is evident through their actions, and it speaks volumes to the fact that love will truly make change and cause those to go to whatever lengths for those whom they care about.