Film Blog #3 (To Kill A Mockingbird)

I'm really happy to be watching this movie again, at this point in my life (I'm thinking of re-reading the book as well). The first, and only time, I read the book/watched the movie, was in seventh grade. While there are a lot of things I took away from the book at the time, I feel like I appreciate it more fully now. I imagine that will become more true the older I get, the more intolerance and injustice I see and experience. It just resonates really strongly (especially considering how the trial ends) with how I've been feeling the past couple of years, this year in particular with everything that's been happening. The fact that it is still so relevant today speaks to both how well it addressed certain themes, and how far we've actually come as a society.

On the topic of the movie itself, "To Kill A Mockingbird" uses a child's perspective in a remarkable way, to get the audience to see things a little simpler. It provides both the opportunity to have certain things directly explained (the use of the n-word) and to be able to understand things in a different, "naive" light (the way we experience Boo Radley, for example, is different in Scout's POV then an adults, and offers much more acceptance). It still preserves the complexity of racial inequality with the results of the trial, but frames it in such a way where it kind of becomes very obvious how wrong this all is (again, because the kids so easily understand something is wrong, so too does the audience).
Honestly it makes the most of how it was written, eliciting very visceral reactions from myself and my peers. It shows the trial for exactly as unfair as it was. There isn't a turn of heart in the jurors, Tom doesn't magically get away, there isn't some kind of immediate action. But, it shows us reality. And, it shows an unrest in the children, shows how upset they are, especially Jem, at seeing this injustice. I think seeing things like that, really seeing how badly POC were (and are) treated in America was such a huge part of the civil rights movement.

I imagine that because film and literature serves as both a reflection and creation of culture, this novel had a lot of impact, much like "Selma" very recently has. And while this movie/book is fantastic, and addresses racial injustice in a fantastic way, I find it tiring. For me, the movie draws forth some frustrations, not because of what it says, but because of how it says it. I feel like it reinforces the racial imbalance in our country (which, as a discussion point is fine, but as a piece of film that can impact the thinking of people, is not) because it is a white narrative. Again, this is not to discount the book, but it is to acknowledge that for our current purposes, it is less useful. Many people, including myself, are very tired of having to watch a movie about what Black Americans experienced, told from the white perspective. Especially because there are so many black narratives out there that we never get to see, or that never reach the same sort of fame. And for the time period, right in the middle of the Civil Right's movement, I can understand that a black narrative maybe wouldn't have gotten the same traction or respect, but it almost feels unfair that a major american novel that talks about race was done from a white perspective while there were so many people of color speaking out about it. I don't know, I just think we need a new American classic that can better reflect and shape our current national feelings.



Also, I was thinking about what you said earlier, about how people were banning a book they've never read, which is a very scary thought. But, maybe they have read it. Maybe they read it, and just don't get it, or just don't care, or can't remove their head from their ass. I think that's scarier to me, to think that these people did read the book, and see how that word was actually used, and just don't get it. Scarier still if they just don't care. I don't think there's much more to the thought, but yeah.

Film Blog #2 (Precious)

Man. Precious was a really heavy film (I don't cry very easily and I don't think I've ever cried during a movie but like honestly this movie had me on the verge of tears at some points like damn). It just paints such a real picture of what this situation is like. Like often when we see portrayals of abuse it either paints the victim as very like...pathetic? I guess, or makes everything seem a lot more straightforward (as does the internet, I have often seen people saying "why don't they just leave!!!"...because it's not that easy. That's not how abuse works. It's a cycle, and it's scary). However, this film makes it so much more complex, and it portrays it the way I feel like it needs to be portrayed, and shows both the abuser and victim (and surrounding parties) in really complex ways. Precious, for example, is a firecracker of a girl. She yells at a classmate for disrespecting a teacher she had a crush on and assaults a girl in her GED class for calling her fat. it seems like, on the surface, that she is someone who demands respect and acknowledgment. However, the scene with her mother show this deeper aspect to it, show how this fierce young woman can become small and docile and scared in front of her mother. And this is true for me- I have seen too many of my proud, demanding, firecracker friends be wittled down in front of their abuser. You fall into a pattern of hoping things get better.  It's just good to see victims/survivors as more than just these people who aren't "smart enough" to get out.
The same thing goes for Precious' mother. We see the whole film scenes of her abusing and bad mouthing and using Precious- but at the end we also get a very...I'd like to say heartbreaking, scene of her mother breaking down because she had to choose between the man she loved and her child. She is given a chance to show that she is a more complex character than what we might have given her credit for. Not that this means she's forgiven, and not that it means that I necessarily empathize or sympathize with her, but it shows her, and abusers for what they are- human. it's easy to paint them as unforgivable monsters, but these people are human, which makes these situations so much more difficult.
It also makes us think more, specifically for me in the way Sarah and you were discussing in class today. I know myself very, very well, which is why thinking about what I would do in that situation is difficult. If I didn't know myself it would be easy. I know that I am generally pretty vocal about my beliefs and how we treat others, and very loyal to my friends and loved ones, and I have very strong convictions. However, I also know that it's hard for me to let go of people, and that i try too hard to please other people, and that sometimes I'm too passive to stand up for myself for fear of confrontation. So it'd be easy at a surface level to say "Oh I wouldn't have let that happen because I have strong morals and stand up for what I believe in," but that's not all of my personality and that's not how humans work. We're complex. Again, this movie creates such a complicated scenario that I respect.

Film Blog #1 (Rebel)

Anthony's film was very, very well made, especially considering budget and length constraints. He managed to recreate and modernize a film that is almost two hours in only 40 minutes. No matter any "errors" just that fact is very impressive to me.
There were a lot of conscious coloring/filter decisions that I think worked really well, and were pretty aesthetically pleasing too. There were a lot of dark filters applied with a blue-ish tint that kind of added to the whole angsty/melancholic feel of the movie. it also helped to make the creepy scenes even creepier.
Along the same vein, there were other video affects that were really well done. One scene that comes to mind immediately is when Dan and Mark's characters are watching "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" It's a medium shot of the two talking, and the part of "They Shoot Horses" where the woman is shot is over laid onto Dan's face while he's talking about death and happiness. One, it was just a really, really cool affect, and two, it helped emphasize what he was talking about and cast that event onto the characters itself (plus great foreshadowing). It was just a really smart choice.
The framing of shots was also impressive, as it helped increase the tension in the film, in my opinion. Often the people would be just slightly out of frame, and just slightly off from following the rule of thirds, or uncomfortably close, or from a strange angle, and it all helped the tense atmosphere created, and also the feeling fo something bein wrong and amiss.
The general feeling Anthony created through his different techniques communicated his message about angst really well, and made a very enjoyable film. Yeah, there were a few shaky parts, but how much was accomplished under the circumstances, and even out of context it was incredble. I thouroughly enjoyed it, and am very proud of my son for doing it!!