Some short stories should stay in books & not be placed on celluloid, especially when you have no idea what the largely unlikable main character of The Princess of Nebraska is thinking or why she is doing so many unwise & obnoxious things. Instead we’re left to follow her all the while thing, “The hell?” How did she get to Nebraska from China? Why would a gay man sleep with her? (Maybe he is bi) Why is she such a jerk to the one guy who is nice to her? I don’t think that just saying that she is a pregnant teenager answers any of these questions. Maybe I missed it & these questions were answered, but it was not clear. These questions don’t have to be answered, but they can’t be unanswered AND have a story with no momentum and an unlikeable main character. There was a promising, but ultimately unfulfilled theme of authentic cultural identity–specifically what does it mean to be Chinese.