#3 Movie Blog

I’ve never read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, so I was clueless as to what the movie was about before watching it. I liked the theme that seemed to be repetitive: Don’t hurt something that does nothing but lives their lives without harming anyone. Atticus said that people should not kill mockingbirds because all they do is make music for us humans to enjoy. I felt that another example of this was the blatant acts of racism towards African Americans speaks true to this theme; Atticus defending a black man who seems to be wrongfully accused was being penalized by his peers because he was a “n***** lover”.  Racism, unlike a mockingbird, does nothing but harm people, and should be dealt away with/killed. I think the movie does a good job at portraying that kids are not born racist, they are raised that way. Atticus’s two kids, Scout and Jem, were raised to respect African American  as they would any other human being. Their own maid is black, whom is treated greatly by their whole family (Atticus’s family). For a movie that was made in 1962, it was well made, and portrayed everything without any bias; the people watching did not have to chose one side or the other, but could watch the movie and have a whole other image. Overall, I’m actually interested in reading the book now that I like the movie; movies based off of books usually leave out a lot of detail they do not think is important, but what they don’t understand is that every detail counts.

#2 Movie Blog

Precious was always a movie I wanted to see, but never have until now. I think it was a good portrayal of what some overweight people have to deal with, and not just the insecurity because Precious dealt with more than her everyday insecurity. For the most part, I hated seeing that the name-calling and teasing made her basically transfer schools. Her home life was not a comforting zone either so coming home from a harsh environment to another harsh environment definitely caused Precious to feel worse about herself overall. She has been abused in all aspects of her life (her father, mother, and fellow students), so I actually applaud Precious for not putting herself down (she does, but not as much as you would think when it comes to this much abuse). The strongest character would be Precious, and the new teacher Blu Rain sees this and her potential. I think this potential has always been inside of Precious, she just needed a mother figure she never had to shine on that potential, and let it through. To actually believe in yourself when nobody else does is a hard task, especially if you have such a horrible past, and people constantly putting you down although you try to go above and beyond. When Precious told her mom she was going to school to get an education at a different school, her mom just called her dumb and told her education was nothing, that she should be taking herself down to the welfare office. This just comes to show how easily someone who was not determined could have just gave up on what they wanted because their mom was not supportive; without a support system, some people do not work well. Precious on the other hand, worked to better herself with much doubt from her mother, and without a support system. Also, the absence of a father figure in her life (because someone who is supposed to be your dad does not rape you) causes Precious to feel the need for a boyfriend, and makes her daydream about having one because of the fact she has never really had a male role model. Precious, as a mother figure, is much better than her own mother; she leaves her mother and the house when she drops her new born baby. Sometimes, a realization is all it takes to make a difference. Precious realized her mother was never really there, and only liked having Precious around because it made her feel in control, and needed someone to do things for her. Overall, I hope society views this movie and learns we should be teaching kids from a young age that obesity is not something we should be making fun of, it should not be something to face with ignorance, and it is not something we should shame people for.

#1 Movie Blog

The movie Rebel seems to be true to life of an adolescent. I like how it touched base on multiple scenarios a person can be going through, although it may not seem like it. The main character had trouble dealing with his overbearing parents, who did not seem to care much about his well being, but were only worried about his absent mind. The other character (male), seemed to be disturbed in a way; writing about killing kittens only proves how emotionless this human being can be. The character of the girl seemed to be passive aggressive, a girl who was almost always following what her boyfriend said, and did not want to be her own independent person. These characters complimented each other; they were different, sure, but the contrast of their backgrounds and struggles really shined through the movie itself. The difficulty of dealing with school in conjugation with social, and internal issues that may not be apparent on the outside. I think teens in their adolescent years are so underrated. They are seen as misguided people, who are not adults, but have to deal with adult issues and situations. Since hormones are drastically changing, we blame their poor decisions on this, and choose to think of them as human beings who are always wrong, and incapable of thinking for themselves. This movie only proves my point further; although we make it seem like teens are not strong this is not true. The fact that they deal with alot of things going on inside of their bodies, along with people always underestimating them, and having to make life-changing decisions only proves that adolescents might be the hardest stage to go through; this is where people build their strengths. This stage in life is very difficult, and the movie’s title “Rebel” does not mean these teens are rebels, but that they may seem like they are, when truly they are only trying to find a way to cope with things they have difficulty dealing with.