This blog will be about redemption. What is redemption you ask, Redemption is forgiveness or absolution for past sins or failures. You will find that many people in prison seek to be redeemed from something. It's a place to think on what your life was worth or what you did to get in there. The Shawshank Redemption is a good example of redemption. I am going to try to make you better understand redemption and show you who was redeemed in the film.
At first I thought that the main character Andy Dufresne would be the one to be redeemed but as the film went along I realized that yes Andy did search to be redeemed but he didn't get redeemed. He helped people with their problems. He helped some of the prisoners pass high school. He remodeled the library after Brooks (the old librarian) killed himself. He did the guards taxes. After all of the things Andy did he was never redeemed. It could have been that he wasn't redeemed because he didn't actually kill anyone. He was the one truly innocent man in Shawshank. As much good that he did in Shawshank he didn't find what he was looking for. I believe that everyone in Shawshank that met Andy got something out of meeting him.
I believe that the one person that was truly redeemed was Red. Red was in Shawshank for about 40 years. In the movie you saw Red get rejected a few times and he always said the same thing. The last time though he was accepted and that time he talked all about regret and how it was just words. Red realized that when he did the crime he was young and stupid and every day since he got into Shawshank he regretted what he had done. Regret is feeling sad and repent for something that you did or something that had happened to you. Throughout the film you saw that Red didn't really have any hope and he didn't wish to be on the outside world. In there he was the man that can get just about everything but on the outside he was nobody just some felon. Andy always had hope and he wanted Red to have hope to because without hope you have nothing.
After Andy escaped from Shawshank Red started to realize that hope was something good to have. After Red finally got probation he got the same room as Brooks and the same job too. He thought of ways that he could get back into Shawshank and the only thing that kept him from doing it was the thought of seeing his friend again. After a little while Red left his job and the halfway house so he could do the one thing that Andy asked of him, to find what was hidden under a tree and under a rock. He found a letter and some money. The letter was from Andy and it said that Andy was glad that Red found his hope and he wanted Red to come down to Mexico to see him. Andy was the reason that Red got redeemed. Andy showed him what the meaning of life was and just because he had almost no chance of getting out of Shawshank that he needed to have hope. That is how Red got redeemed he just needed to find himself and to find the worth of his life first.
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Run Forrest Run!
In this blog I will be talking about the film Forrest Gump. Forrest Gump is an interesting character, he has some obstacles in his life but they don't stop him from having friends, loving for the first time, becoming rich, and finding his way in life. In this blog will be answering several questions that hopefully will make you better understand and interpret the film.
The first question "What is the theme of the film?" The theme of the film is different for everyone because its just how you perceive the film. What you through your eyes. I think that the theme is just because you have a disability or a different skin color doesn't mean you wont succeed and get far in life.
The second question "Why do you suppose this film lingers with those who watch it?" I think that the film lingers with those who watch it because it can relate to every person. There are people with different nationalities, disabilities, and personalities.
The third thing I have to talk about is the development of Jennies character in the film. Forrest is the main character but there are other characters in the film that are very crucial to the story. The stories of the other characters like Jenny and Lt. Dan can relate more to people than Forrest's story can. Jenny is Forrest's best good friend, lover, and mother to his son. Jenny starts off as a young girl that grew up in a bad environment which explains why she follows certain paths in her life. Through every decade of her life she goes through different changes. She follows different paths in her life that always lead her to Forrest and how he would try to understand/save her from what she was doing. In the end of the film Jenny finds her way back to Forrest and they have sex. Then she leaves like she always does. She later writes a letter to Forrest asking him to come see her. He goes to see her and he meets their son Forrest Jr. Jenny is clean now and is in the verge of making her way to being a good wife and a great mother. She tries to make up for her past decisions and become a better person for her family. Her decisions now don't change the ones she made in the past and one of her decisions changes her life forever and in her case forever isn't very long. After her passing Forrest and Forrest Jr. go on and work to live life without her.
Forrest helped many people in his life. Some emotionally, some physically, some mentally, and some all three. Some of the people he helped were in small ways but he "touched" everyone he met in some way some how. The people that he made a big impact on were Jenny, Bubba's family, Forrest Jr., and Lt. Dan. Forrest didn't always realize that he was doing what he was doing. He changed so many peoples lives in so many different ways. He gave Lt. Dan the will to keep fighting and hold onto his life because its worth something. He made sure that Bubba's family wouldn't have to work another day in their lives. Jenny most of all he changed her outlook on the world, he gave her the will to live and have an lead a great life.
Some people thought that they knew Forrest and that he couldn't lead a life outside of walking funny and saying all the wrong things. Forrest never followed the same path in his life. He never followed the status quo. He was a war hero and he was rich. he didn't have to mow lawns or buy a shrimping boat but he did it because he wanted to.
The first question "What is the theme of the film?" The theme of the film is different for everyone because its just how you perceive the film. What you through your eyes. I think that the theme is just because you have a disability or a different skin color doesn't mean you wont succeed and get far in life.
The second question "Why do you suppose this film lingers with those who watch it?" I think that the film lingers with those who watch it because it can relate to every person. There are people with different nationalities, disabilities, and personalities.
The third thing I have to talk about is the development of Jennies character in the film. Forrest is the main character but there are other characters in the film that are very crucial to the story. The stories of the other characters like Jenny and Lt. Dan can relate more to people than Forrest's story can. Jenny is Forrest's best good friend, lover, and mother to his son. Jenny starts off as a young girl that grew up in a bad environment which explains why she follows certain paths in her life. Through every decade of her life she goes through different changes. She follows different paths in her life that always lead her to Forrest and how he would try to understand/save her from what she was doing. In the end of the film Jenny finds her way back to Forrest and they have sex. Then she leaves like she always does. She later writes a letter to Forrest asking him to come see her. He goes to see her and he meets their son Forrest Jr. Jenny is clean now and is in the verge of making her way to being a good wife and a great mother. She tries to make up for her past decisions and become a better person for her family. Her decisions now don't change the ones she made in the past and one of her decisions changes her life forever and in her case forever isn't very long. After her passing Forrest and Forrest Jr. go on and work to live life without her.
Forrest helped many people in his life. Some emotionally, some physically, some mentally, and some all three. Some of the people he helped were in small ways but he "touched" everyone he met in some way some how. The people that he made a big impact on were Jenny, Bubba's family, Forrest Jr., and Lt. Dan. Forrest didn't always realize that he was doing what he was doing. He changed so many peoples lives in so many different ways. He gave Lt. Dan the will to keep fighting and hold onto his life because its worth something. He made sure that Bubba's family wouldn't have to work another day in their lives. Jenny most of all he changed her outlook on the world, he gave her the will to live and have an lead a great life.
Some people thought that they knew Forrest and that he couldn't lead a life outside of walking funny and saying all the wrong things. Forrest never followed the same path in his life. He never followed the status quo. He was a war hero and he was rich. he didn't have to mow lawns or buy a shrimping boat but he did it because he wanted to.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Christmas
In this blog I will be comparing The Family Man to Its a Wonderful Life. These two films take place during Christmas.
The first film I will be talking about is The Family Man which takes place in New York where Jack ( the main character) lives as a business man, during his glimpse he lives with his wife, Kate and two kids in New Jersey. Jack left Kate after an life changing opportunity came about. Later Jack became a businessman and very successful. He thought he had everything he wanted until a man came along and granted Jack a glimpse at what his life would have been like if he didn't leave Kate. In his glimpse Jack has two kids, the wife of his dreams, a dog, parent in-laws, friends, and a descent job.
The second film I will be talking about is Its a Wonderful Life which takes place in Bedford Falls where George (the main character ) lives with his wife, Mary. George has many dreams he always wanted to travel the world but every time he tried something happened that interrupted his dreams. He had to be in charge of his fathers old business, he got married, had kids, and saved his town from Mr. Potter (the villain). In his "glimpse" his guardian angel grants his wish. George wished that he was never born. He got to see all of the things that happened if he wasn't there to change them. His brother died as a child, his uncle was in an insane asylum, the town was now called Pottersville, and all the people that he helped over his life had something wrong in their lives.
These two films have some similarities and differences. George and Jack both got a chance to look at their lives if they made a different decision or were never born. George and Jack were both businessman but Jack didn't think he needed anything and George thought he needed more. Both films had a guardian angel of sorts. The Family Man was in color but Its a Wonderful Life was in black and white.
The first film I will be talking about is The Family Man which takes place in New York where Jack ( the main character) lives as a business man, during his glimpse he lives with his wife, Kate and two kids in New Jersey. Jack left Kate after an life changing opportunity came about. Later Jack became a businessman and very successful. He thought he had everything he wanted until a man came along and granted Jack a glimpse at what his life would have been like if he didn't leave Kate. In his glimpse Jack has two kids, the wife of his dreams, a dog, parent in-laws, friends, and a descent job.
The second film I will be talking about is Its a Wonderful Life which takes place in Bedford Falls where George (the main character ) lives with his wife, Mary. George has many dreams he always wanted to travel the world but every time he tried something happened that interrupted his dreams. He had to be in charge of his fathers old business, he got married, had kids, and saved his town from Mr. Potter (the villain). In his "glimpse" his guardian angel grants his wish. George wished that he was never born. He got to see all of the things that happened if he wasn't there to change them. His brother died as a child, his uncle was in an insane asylum, the town was now called Pottersville, and all the people that he helped over his life had something wrong in their lives.
These two films have some similarities and differences. George and Jack both got a chance to look at their lives if they made a different decision or were never born. George and Jack were both businessman but Jack didn't think he needed anything and George thought he needed more. Both films had a guardian angel of sorts. The Family Man was in color but Its a Wonderful Life was in black and white.
Monday, December 15, 2014
9/11
In this blog I will be talking about how two films Reign Over Me and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close show how people cope with and make sense of 9/11. Both films deal with a character losing a family member during 9/11. I liked both films for different reasons. They both touched my heart in different ways.
I will start off with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a film that hits very close to home with it's message. I feel like I understand this film better because my uncle has Aspergers Syndrome. Some people don't understand Oskar because he's different. Everyone goes through loss differently. Oskar needed to understand his fathers death and the way he had to do that was to find out what the key he found opened up. Some people might think that is pointless but its his attempt on holding onto his father. If you lost your father wouldn't you want to do anything you could to hold onto the memory of them? That's all that Oskar is doing. In this film the director isn't trying to make sense of why the people ran a plane into a building but their trying to show you how the people felt that lost someone in 9/11 and what was going through their heads.
I feel like Reign Over Me was a little hard to follow at times. Charlie lost his wife and two kids and dog during 9/11. He didn't have anyone left. His parent and laws want to get him help and just want him to be apart of their lives because they lost them too. Charlie ends up getting close to Alan his old college roommate. Alan doesn't push Charlie like his parent and laws do. He does get Charlie to see someone and talk to her. This film was very well done but at times hard to follow. You did see that Charlie had a hard time losing his family but not in the same way that the other film did. The director wanted you to see what Charlie had to go through with losing everyone that was close to him.
I will start off with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a film that hits very close to home with it's message. I feel like I understand this film better because my uncle has Aspergers Syndrome. Some people don't understand Oskar because he's different. Everyone goes through loss differently. Oskar needed to understand his fathers death and the way he had to do that was to find out what the key he found opened up. Some people might think that is pointless but its his attempt on holding onto his father. If you lost your father wouldn't you want to do anything you could to hold onto the memory of them? That's all that Oskar is doing. In this film the director isn't trying to make sense of why the people ran a plane into a building but their trying to show you how the people felt that lost someone in 9/11 and what was going through their heads.
I feel like Reign Over Me was a little hard to follow at times. Charlie lost his wife and two kids and dog during 9/11. He didn't have anyone left. His parent and laws want to get him help and just want him to be apart of their lives because they lost them too. Charlie ends up getting close to Alan his old college roommate. Alan doesn't push Charlie like his parent and laws do. He does get Charlie to see someone and talk to her. This film was very well done but at times hard to follow. You did see that Charlie had a hard time losing his family but not in the same way that the other film did. The director wanted you to see what Charlie had to go through with losing everyone that was close to him.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
world war 2
In this blog I will be telling you what Spielberg was trying to convey in 1941 and in Saving Private Ryan. These two films are very different in my opinion. 1941 is a comedy about world war 2. Saving Private Ryan was a very realistic portrayal of world war 2.
The point of Saving Private Ryan was to show what the war was like for a foot soldier. Spielberg didn't hold anything back in this film. He showed death, pain, regret, suffering, loss, and agony. The film was about a group of soldiers trying to track down the last son, Private Ryan of a woman that lost here other sons in the war. The group lost to men tracking down Private Ryan. When they found him he didn't want to go with them because his orders were to stay and protect a bridge. The remaining men stayed and helped protect the bridge because that meant that they deserved to go home. Many died in combat but there were some survivors including Private Ryan. At the end of the film you see that Tom Hanks says to Ryan to earn it. At the very end of the film you see Ryan and his family at Tom's grave where Ryan is talking to Tom saying that he thinks about what he did for him everyday and he hopes that he did indeed earn it.
The point of 1941 was to show what it was like in Hollywood in 1941. The point was to show the different feelings during the bombing of pearl harbor. The emotions ranged from being scared to being happy. In Hollywood on that night you see soldiers enjoying themselves at a dance and at the movies. Then everything goes wrong and different people take different roles in stopping the bombing. Because Spielberg used comedy it was a little difficult to understand what it was really like in the eyes of the people that were there.
I think that Saving Private Ryan really showed what it was like during the war you could feel what they felt it was almost like you were there unlike in 1941 which I think it was kind of a big joke it was just like a bunch of words and pictures with no connection between them. It didn't make you react like I believe Spielberg wanted you to.
The point of Saving Private Ryan was to show what the war was like for a foot soldier. Spielberg didn't hold anything back in this film. He showed death, pain, regret, suffering, loss, and agony. The film was about a group of soldiers trying to track down the last son, Private Ryan of a woman that lost here other sons in the war. The group lost to men tracking down Private Ryan. When they found him he didn't want to go with them because his orders were to stay and protect a bridge. The remaining men stayed and helped protect the bridge because that meant that they deserved to go home. Many died in combat but there were some survivors including Private Ryan. At the end of the film you see that Tom Hanks says to Ryan to earn it. At the very end of the film you see Ryan and his family at Tom's grave where Ryan is talking to Tom saying that he thinks about what he did for him everyday and he hopes that he did indeed earn it.
The point of 1941 was to show what it was like in Hollywood in 1941. The point was to show the different feelings during the bombing of pearl harbor. The emotions ranged from being scared to being happy. In Hollywood on that night you see soldiers enjoying themselves at a dance and at the movies. Then everything goes wrong and different people take different roles in stopping the bombing. Because Spielberg used comedy it was a little difficult to understand what it was really like in the eyes of the people that were there.
I think that Saving Private Ryan really showed what it was like during the war you could feel what they felt it was almost like you were there unlike in 1941 which I think it was kind of a big joke it was just like a bunch of words and pictures with no connection between them. It didn't make you react like I believe Spielberg wanted you to.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Racism in film
In this blog I will be talking to you about racism in films that we watched. The films that we watched that deals with racism are Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee, Schindler's List by Steven Spielberg, and Glory by Edward Zwick. The question that we are supposed to answer is would these films be different if they were directed by a person of a race. My immediate answer is yes it would be different if the director was a different race.
The film Do The Right Thing is a film that is based on several races living and surviving on a typical day on this certain block in Brooklyn. The different ethnicities are Asian, Italian, African American, and Hispanic. This film mainly takes place in a pizzeria named Sal's Pizzeria. Spike Lee actually acts in the film as well as directed it. His character Mookie is African American and works at Sal's as a pizza delivery man. Sal's is owned by Sal an Italian-American and his two sons, Pino and Vino also work at Sal's making pizza. There are other characters that are vital to the plot but I wont be talking about them. Sal ends up getting in an argument with some of the African Americans that are angry and Sal for "being racist". Sal and the African Americans end up fighting and one of the African Americans end up dying and so the rest of the African Americans trash Sal's and set it on fire. I don't believe that this film could have been depicted the same way if another person of another race directed it. Even though this film had other races mixed in with it African Americans were the majority population. Lee knew what is was like being an African American so that's why the film was able to be depicted the way it was. If it was some other race the film would have followed their race or just not have been the same.
The film Schindler's List is a film based on religion. This is based on World War 2 and how the Nazis' were killing and keeping Jewish people as slaves. This business man Schindler started to feel for the Jews and started saving as many as he could be moving them to his factory to work until the war was over and the Jews were free. He saves 1200 of them. I think that this film could have been done by a person of different race but it would be has meaningful and frightful.
The film Glory is about Robert Shaw leading the first volunteer African American company during The Civil War. I think that the film could have been directed by someone who was of a different race but it wouldn't have been the same.
All in all these films would have changed and been different if they were directed by a person of a different race for multiple reasons one because no one person sees the world the same. Two because they have a different take on what happened.
The film Do The Right Thing is a film that is based on several races living and surviving on a typical day on this certain block in Brooklyn. The different ethnicities are Asian, Italian, African American, and Hispanic. This film mainly takes place in a pizzeria named Sal's Pizzeria. Spike Lee actually acts in the film as well as directed it. His character Mookie is African American and works at Sal's as a pizza delivery man. Sal's is owned by Sal an Italian-American and his two sons, Pino and Vino also work at Sal's making pizza. There are other characters that are vital to the plot but I wont be talking about them. Sal ends up getting in an argument with some of the African Americans that are angry and Sal for "being racist". Sal and the African Americans end up fighting and one of the African Americans end up dying and so the rest of the African Americans trash Sal's and set it on fire. I don't believe that this film could have been depicted the same way if another person of another race directed it. Even though this film had other races mixed in with it African Americans were the majority population. Lee knew what is was like being an African American so that's why the film was able to be depicted the way it was. If it was some other race the film would have followed their race or just not have been the same.
The film Schindler's List is a film based on religion. This is based on World War 2 and how the Nazis' were killing and keeping Jewish people as slaves. This business man Schindler started to feel for the Jews and started saving as many as he could be moving them to his factory to work until the war was over and the Jews were free. He saves 1200 of them. I think that this film could have been done by a person of different race but it would be has meaningful and frightful.
The film Glory is about Robert Shaw leading the first volunteer African American company during The Civil War. I think that the film could have been directed by someone who was of a different race but it wouldn't have been the same.
All in all these films would have changed and been different if they were directed by a person of a different race for multiple reasons one because no one person sees the world the same. Two because they have a different take on what happened.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
RACIST
There is no doubt that there are racist people in this world. The question is; does race and sports correspond? My opinion before I watched any of these films or read any of these articles is yes. Race and sports go one and one with each other. In this blog I will be supporting my opinion. The films that we watched that had to do with race and sports are Glory Road, We Are The Titians, and 42.
All of these articles seem to be talking about the same thing no matter what words they use they are saying that still in this day and age racism is shown. In sports when you think about basketball you think of African Americans and how they are better at the sport than "white people". They are supposedly faster and taller so they become better. When you think of baseball you think of Hispanics being better pretty much for the same reasons that African Americans are better at basketball. When you think of football you normally think of African Americans as well. Sports seem to always have a race that fits them the best.
We Are The Titians was the first film we watched. Its about this African American coach that doesn't care about race he just cares about having the best of the best on his team. He cares about people that work hard and work as a team. The team didn't like each other at first but later on they started getting along and working together. They ended up changing the schools look on African Americans. They also winning the championship game and the towns hearts.
In some cases racism stopped in others it continued. The people in the films gained a certain respect and love for the black players. It was still a long bumpy road to the top.
All of these articles seem to be talking about the same thing no matter what words they use they are saying that still in this day and age racism is shown. In sports when you think about basketball you think of African Americans and how they are better at the sport than "white people". They are supposedly faster and taller so they become better. When you think of baseball you think of Hispanics being better pretty much for the same reasons that African Americans are better at basketball. When you think of football you normally think of African Americans as well. Sports seem to always have a race that fits them the best.
We Are The Titians was the first film we watched. Its about this African American coach that doesn't care about race he just cares about having the best of the best on his team. He cares about people that work hard and work as a team. The team didn't like each other at first but later on they started getting along and working together. They ended up changing the schools look on African Americans. They also winning the championship game and the towns hearts.
In some cases racism stopped in others it continued. The people in the films gained a certain respect and love for the black players. It was still a long bumpy road to the top.
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