This film was recently voted as one of the most violent films of all time by a survey sponsored by Entertainment Weekly. After seeing the film in class I am sure that everyone now understands why it was regarded as such a violent movie. The movie follows white suburban family living in California during the 80’s and 90’s. Derek played by Edward Norton gets mixed up with the wrong idea of how society should treat minorities because his father was killed by one while trying to save him. This film is not only violent, but also ground breaking in its depiction of extremist racism. Its un-politically correct story displays the utter social ignorance that infests the uneducated youth of America.
There were a lot of things going on in the world during the making of this movie which inspired its racial storyline. The Rodney King beating that was a huge debate in the late 90’s was at its peak interest. When Derek sticks up for the police officers who violently beat Mr. King, it went against the cultural norm, but it did express some issues that maybe some of the people were thinking. This was a highly publicized trial that was in the news all across our country. It shows how powerful the media can be in American culture.
Another issue shown in the film was equal opportunity employment, which gives racial minorities jobs over more qualified individuals in order to decreases the gap between whites and other races. They attacked how less qualified individuals were given the jobs based on there ethnicity. This is a very interesting debate, because the rule is biased against whites. We still see this in much of out jobs today. One of my friends was a teacher for the Omaha public school system and he could not get a promotion unless he was a minority, a woman, or a disabled person. The government gives these jobs to less qualified people to uphold a standard of mixed race in public environments.
America is also being over run by illegal aliens, which the movie touched on. Derek attacks a store with his gang just because they employed Mexicans who were here illegally. This type of violence is not the way to solve the problem. The issue still affects the way of American life. The next president of our country may be chosen because of his stance on this very subject. The state in which this movie took place, California, has the highest rate of illegal immigrants in the workforce, than anywhere else.
This movie does show different aspects of racism, violent crimes, and social ignorance that people in general try to avoid in conversation. The part where they are eating dinner and break out into an argument over these issues is something that I don’t see happening in this part of the country. These are issues that are on everyone’s minds, but most people do not take up the extremist position like the white supremacist gang in the movie. I believe those people are considered social outcasts in this country just like the rest of the racial gangs in the US.
The movie does show how tragic it is to be hateful all the time. We see that in the end of the movie, hate does not pay off. There must be a way for the American people to come to a resolution without violence, because violence breeds ignorance.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
The Motorcycle Diaries is a biographical film about Marxist Che Guevara. When I first saw this film a little over a year ago, I did not know this was based on a man's life journey across South America. This film tells the story of his experience from traveling across the country as a young man. We begin to see the encounters that shaped him into a revolutionary. He grows into a more mature man during the film, and he is changed by the end of the film. In the beginning he wants to meet women and be a famous traveler, but near the end he is fighting for the rights of the less fortunate. For whom this film is about, it is very interesting at how non-political the story is.
It is hard to believe that someone would embark on this journey on a rickety old motorcycle. Even when the events took place the bike was in horrible condition. This shows us the rebellious nature of Che and his friend Alberto. They were very much unprepared for the harsh road ahead, as well as the trouble and hard ach they would get into along the way. They are always running out of money and somehow still surviving. This is a movie that inspires people to be true to themselves in life and never stop fighting for what you believe in. They never gave up and finally reached their destination in the end.
The geography we see in the film is very true to the country during those times. Some of the most amazing film shots of parts of South America were shown in this film. We saw the Andes Mountains as they took a boat down the river. We also got to see Machu Picchu, the “Lost City of the Incas”, which was visually breathtaking. The film also showed the Amazon River near the leper colony. I realized that much of the South American landscape is unlike anywhere else in the world.
Most of South America was in poverty around these times, except for the rich plantation owners. We see a lot of poor immigrants in the film, as well as some racism toward other South American cultures. I found that in the 1960’s and 70’s the U.S. aligned military dictatorships in displaced or overthrown governments in many South American countries. Also around this time Che became more of a Marxist leader and lead some Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. It’s interesting that this young man is portrayed as such innocent person in this film, which means that it may be supporting Marxist beliefs.
It is hard to believe that someone would embark on this journey on a rickety old motorcycle. Even when the events took place the bike was in horrible condition. This shows us the rebellious nature of Che and his friend Alberto. They were very much unprepared for the harsh road ahead, as well as the trouble and hard ach they would get into along the way. They are always running out of money and somehow still surviving. This is a movie that inspires people to be true to themselves in life and never stop fighting for what you believe in. They never gave up and finally reached their destination in the end.
The geography we see in the film is very true to the country during those times. Some of the most amazing film shots of parts of South America were shown in this film. We saw the Andes Mountains as they took a boat down the river. We also got to see Machu Picchu, the “Lost City of the Incas”, which was visually breathtaking. The film also showed the Amazon River near the leper colony. I realized that much of the South American landscape is unlike anywhere else in the world.
Most of South America was in poverty around these times, except for the rich plantation owners. We see a lot of poor immigrants in the film, as well as some racism toward other South American cultures. I found that in the 1960’s and 70’s the U.S. aligned military dictatorships in displaced or overthrown governments in many South American countries. Also around this time Che became more of a Marxist leader and lead some Cuban and internationalist guerrillas. It’s interesting that this young man is portrayed as such innocent person in this film, which means that it may be supporting Marxist beliefs.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Beat the Drum (2003)
This film follows a young orphan boy, Musa, and his pursuit of happiness in modern day South Africa. The gripping reality is that he is growing up in one of the worst aids epidemics in the history of the world. His moral upbringing and desire for a good life for his family take him to Johannesburg, were it only seems to look darker for the young hero. Musa overcomes what seem like impossible odds to find a better life for himself. This is really an uplifting story for South Africans, in a time that is historically one of the worst for the young people of this country.
The most important issue in this movie is how HIV/aids are affecting their society. According to the South African National HIV Survey, it is estimated that over 340,000 people died of aids in 2006. This country has more people infected with the HIV virus than anywhere else in the world. This is depicted in the film with the sickness and deaths of many young people in the movie. The main problem that I saw in the movie with the epidemic is that most people infected with the disease are sexually active members of society. This means they are the main wage earners for their family in most cases. When they die, it leaves many children orphaned and lost in the poverty stricken country. Many of these children run the risk of having the HIV virus from their parents or contracting it on the streets of the city. This disease has really devastated this country. That is shown in the film by the death of people all the way out in the tribal areas of South Africa.
Another thing that is evident in the film is that the people did not want to accept this disease as the likely killer of so many. The healers and tribal leaders in the movie believe in different types of healing than that of modern medicine. Their society is living in belief of many farces about the disease and how it is treated. The fact that the movie says some people believe they can cure the disease by sleeping with a virgin is shocking. That would defiantly cause an even worse out come for the young women of the country. It also seems that in the poverty stricken areas rape, and crime is more prevalent. An interesting fact I found while researching this film is that many of the infected people of South Africa are treated at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitol, which is the largest hospital in the world.
There is so much tragedy in this film that it is hard to get away from, but I would like to talk about the landscape of the region. Much of the areas where Musa came from are shown as golden grassy areas where many of the people live of the land. We did not see much of this part of South Africa in the film Tsotsi. The city of Johannesburg looks like a more typical city in this film, where as in the other South African movie Tsotsi, it was shown as a darker place. We do see much of the same type of poverty stricken young gangs in the city areas though. There are so many poor and orphaned people that the government can not provide enough money to house or feed them all. We do see a much more prevalent role of the white man in this film, as the father of the young white lawyer deals with his own son’s death from aids. It still appears that they are a more honored person in the area, and own businesses or hold important roles in the city.
This is a very uplifting movie towords the end as we see a society come to grips with a disease that is taking over their country. They have finally come to accept that if nothing changes, they may all die from HIV/AIDS. We also see Musa find a home of his own, which shows the resilience of the South African society, and that if they find the honorable path, they shall be rewarded.
The most important issue in this movie is how HIV/aids are affecting their society. According to the South African National HIV Survey, it is estimated that over 340,000 people died of aids in 2006. This country has more people infected with the HIV virus than anywhere else in the world. This is depicted in the film with the sickness and deaths of many young people in the movie. The main problem that I saw in the movie with the epidemic is that most people infected with the disease are sexually active members of society. This means they are the main wage earners for their family in most cases. When they die, it leaves many children orphaned and lost in the poverty stricken country. Many of these children run the risk of having the HIV virus from their parents or contracting it on the streets of the city. This disease has really devastated this country. That is shown in the film by the death of people all the way out in the tribal areas of South Africa.
Another thing that is evident in the film is that the people did not want to accept this disease as the likely killer of so many. The healers and tribal leaders in the movie believe in different types of healing than that of modern medicine. Their society is living in belief of many farces about the disease and how it is treated. The fact that the movie says some people believe they can cure the disease by sleeping with a virgin is shocking. That would defiantly cause an even worse out come for the young women of the country. It also seems that in the poverty stricken areas rape, and crime is more prevalent. An interesting fact I found while researching this film is that many of the infected people of South Africa are treated at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospitol, which is the largest hospital in the world.
There is so much tragedy in this film that it is hard to get away from, but I would like to talk about the landscape of the region. Much of the areas where Musa came from are shown as golden grassy areas where many of the people live of the land. We did not see much of this part of South Africa in the film Tsotsi. The city of Johannesburg looks like a more typical city in this film, where as in the other South African movie Tsotsi, it was shown as a darker place. We do see much of the same type of poverty stricken young gangs in the city areas though. There are so many poor and orphaned people that the government can not provide enough money to house or feed them all. We do see a much more prevalent role of the white man in this film, as the father of the young white lawyer deals with his own son’s death from aids. It still appears that they are a more honored person in the area, and own businesses or hold important roles in the city.
This is a very uplifting movie towords the end as we see a society come to grips with a disease that is taking over their country. They have finally come to accept that if nothing changes, they may all die from HIV/AIDS. We also see Musa find a home of his own, which shows the resilience of the South African society, and that if they find the honorable path, they shall be rewarded.
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