09 January 2012

Reel Injun Reflections

Reel Injun follows Neil Diamond (not the singer) as he traces the history of Native American portrayal in film. My initial response was positive, although the high note at the end rang slightly false. Diamond’s quest to end positively left the declared salvation of Native American film feeling hasty, and required omitting any mention of reservation conditions, which were dropped after being discussed earlier in the film.

Since movies have existed for over a century, and Diamond includes many other historical events and background details, there is more content to cover than could be comfortably fit into an hour and a half documentary. A valiant effort is attempted, and indeed I hardly noticed the rush until further reflection prompted by Andrew Schenker’s review. In mentioning the hurried speed of the film, he touched on several car trip stops that I had forgotten even occurred. For example, he shows young Native American children a Western movie from his own childhood, wondering at their reactions, but then moves on before interviewing any of the children.

Overall, however, I was left with a strong sense of how poorly white Americans have portrayed Native Americans in film, swinging from stereotype to stereotype, infusing American society with the same perfunctory impressions. Through showing clips of old and new movies and then discussing or revealing their prejudiced assumptions, Diamond instilled in me an awareness of how erroneously different people groups are portrayed by Hollywood. A John Wayne film isn’t so harmless after all, and I can’t imagine Hollywood does a much better job accurately portraying Chinese or Indian people. Thus this documentary has stimulated me to more closely analyze multiethnic movies, distinguishing between the good and the bad, the Kingdom and the Empire, instead of just swallowing it all.

The Ides of March

The Ides of March is a thrilling movie that looks deeply into the nature of politics. In this movie, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is a successful campaign manager for presidential nominee Mike Morris (George Clooney). However, in the midst of Morris's campaign, Meyers discovers that Morris has cheated on his wife with one of his interns. After Meyers is fired for talking to the opposing presidential nominee's campaign manager in secret, he decides the one way to receive back his position is to threaten to reveal Morris's secret affair. After Meyers threatens the president, the film quickly takes on many twists and turns until it finally reveals a very suspenseful ending.

This movie displays how humans tend to let their greed and selfishness get the best of them as they strive for power and pleasure. This fact is evident when Stephen Meyers decides to threaten Morris to regain his status in Morris's presidential campaign. Although Meyers is rightfully fired, he still cannot take the dreadful news of his firing in stride. Because of his selfish desires, he eventually accidentally bring the intern to commit suicide and gets one of Morris's advisers fired from his beloved job. However, this is not the only example of how our human nature is corrupt. Morris also shows his true colors as he cheats on his supportive wife with one of his interns. Because of this act, Morris is eventually forced to be under Meyers' command throughout his campaign. These examples of a human's corrupt nature display how humans have been far from perfect ever since the Fall of Adam and Eve. It also portrays how humans struggle to live in a way that aligns with the Kingdom of God as they go throughout their daily lives. Although our purpose is to live in a way that is pleasing to God, this film, as well as our own lives, show that it is impossible to live that way on a daily basis.

Discussion Questions
1. What are some ways we can fight the selfish desires that are part of our human nature?
2. Do you believe that this film can help us correct our flaws as humans or does it just merely show us our flaws?
3. What do you think Meyers decides to do at the end of the movie (only applicable to those who watched this movie)?

America the Beautiful

On January 10 we are going to be watching the documentary "America the Beautiful." This film depicts America's obscene obsession with beauty and appearance. The director Darryl Roberts show clips from the past and interviews with everyday people. There is a great importance in getting answers from real people; it yields a response that causes the views to really think about the issues.

Roger Ebert gives his opinions on the film in this insightful review. He gives a bit of the background story to what makes this film what it is. This is a serious review that breaks down the pieces that make up the film

Here is another review that had some very positive things to say about the film. America the Beautiful was given 4.5 out of 5 stars on this review.

I just thought that I would include this Q&A with the director, Darryl Roberts to get some understanding about what the director was actually expecting when he came up with the idea for this film.

this is the preview for the film