Black Gold

http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/movies/06gold.html?_r=0

As people know, coffee is the world's second largest traded commodity after oil. It's seems like there should be profit at every level of the trade but there's a whole different story behind it. This documentary follows the coffee trade from its production to the consumers and points out the inequality between the top of the hierarchy and the bottom of it. As New York Times puts it, "The documentary “Black Gold” tells an unresolved modern version of the age-old David and Goliath story," corporations that control the worldwide coffee market turn the coffee trade into a selfish business. Taken place in Ethiopia, "Black Gold' explains the hardships Ethiopian coffee farmers are facing because of the ridiculously low prices their coffee is sold. With their daily income being lower than 50 U.S. cents and 67% of Ethiopian export being coffee, the citizens of Ethiopia are struggling each day to survive.  As New York Times would agree, the solution to solve African poverty is not emergency aid but a better trade, and by meaning better trade, Africa would only need an increase in 1% in it's share of world trade to receive five times the aid it is receiving right now. This documentary showed a similar perspective of mine on poverty in Africa. I learned from different places that the solution to African poverty is not from the outside but from the inside. As more and more people like Mr. Meskela fight for their rights and work hard for the growth of their community, change is inevitably to come. However, something that the documentary could have done better would have been to trace each step more closely. As the movie explained that there are 5-6 steps until coffee reaches its consumers, I didn't really get to understand each step clearly. After watching this documentary, I became more aware of the coffee that I drank without much thought. As I know myself that every time that I watch a film like this, I become emotionally inspired. However after a week or so I forget everything. So this time I decided to at least not forget about it but be aware of it every time I drink coffee and spread it to others when possible.

king corn

King corn is a documentary that shows the journey of two friends who discovered that most of what they ate was corn. They then decided to move to Iowa for and year and grow an acre of corn and learn about how corn is grown and where it goes after that.

The review I read (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/10/19/king_corn_is_a_documentary_straight_from_the_heartland/) presents my perspective on the film quite well. It has a good point when it says that the reason this movie manages to win us over is that it does not blurt out that the corn industry is terrible as one would expect in a documentary about corn. Instead, it mildly presents the corn industry in a seemingly objective manner. The two men discovering the corn industry seem to know nothing about this industry, and so we can learn at the same time they do. One of the main things they learn is just how huge most farms today have to be in order to be sustainable for the farmer, and even then each acre of corn has to be subsidized in order to turn a profit. The other thing we learn is that most of the corn produced goes either to feed cattle in feedlots, or gets made into high fructose corn syrup.

This movie makes me realize just how much corn there is in our food. I certainly did not expect to find that there is a lot of corn in our meat.  This will certainly make me look at ingredient lists before I buy food. It also encourages me to eat more organic food, because it is much less likely to contain corn.

The Reel Injun

            After watching the documentary, I realized that I had never really questioned most of the things I’ve been presented with over the years through the films and shows I have watched. Seeing this opened my eyes to ideas and gave me opinions I never knew I had. I had by no means thought to question if that was really how Indians were, though I ‘m not ignorant enough to think that they still live in teepee’s, talk to animals any more than I do and only ride horses which Neil Diamond revealed in an interview as the main reason he wanted to make this film. He said he was tired of being asked if he rode horses and lived in a teepee. Hearing this made me angry and even more determined to learn more about their culture and others. This movie made me realize that even though that’s how Indian’s are portrayed, I can choose to make my choices and form my own thoughts about them, not just listen and go along with what I’m being shown. We need to learn to keep an open mind about everything, that’s when we will come away understanding what they mean. A good review I found was written by the author Richard Marcus, known for writing What Will Happen in Eragon IV?. I mainly agreed with everything he was saying or trying to get across to people in this article. One thing in particular is when he talks about how kids would watch the movies and feel as if they were worthless and not important. If you were depicted in ever movie as the bad guys, sooner or later you will start thinking that you really are. I completely agree with him when he says things will only start to get better as we start to have movies made by Indians that accurately show their real culture.  Something I did not agree with was how the film and people see the Disney movie Pocahontas. For as long as I can remember that has been my favorite movie and it is really hard to think of her as the “Barbie Doll Indian Princess” he calls her. All in all I learned a lot from this documentary and hope to further my understanding and knowledge about true Indian culture.
http://blogcritics.org/video/article/tv-review-reel-injun-on-pbs/page-3/

Good Hair

For my film assignment, I watched the movie Good Hair. Not only was it highly informative about the extent that women, mainly black women, go to to have "good hair," it was also slightly disturbing as a guy, and as a human being in general. Why these women feel the need to go to such lengths to have what is defined as "good hair" is beyond me. Before watching the movie, I had no idea that such things as relaxer or weaves even existed, I knew about hair extensions and I believed that was the extreme of extremes that women go to for their hair...never was I more wrong. I found it difficult to believe that women go so far as to sew another persons hair onto their head so that they could have what is culturally defined as "good hair." Personally, I feel deceived as a guy. The first thing I did upon learning this was to look at the girls around me and immediately inquire wether or not their hair was actually theirs. As far as making a life change because of this movie, I see very little I could possibly do. I personally have nothing against the natural hair of black women, and find it attractive on them. Wherever this cultural mandate came from that their hair is unattractive is unbeknownst to me, and I can assure you that I will do my best to try and change it.

Understanding the Reel Injun

            The attached review accurately represents my perspective on the film Reel Injun. It explains how Reel Injun is revealing the inaccurate—and sometimes negative—portrayal of Native American in films and television shows. Mr. Marcus, the man who wrote the review, has also written another article on Native Americans concerning how the use of Native Americans as sport mascots is disrespectful. “I was astounded at how many people couldn’t get their heads around the fact that a race of people would be offended by being equated with the San Diego Chicken or other figures of ridicule that dress up in costume and generally run around making fools of themselves at public events”. I applied this thought to the portrayal of Native Americans in films mentioned in Reel Injun. Native Americans were repeatedly portrayed as villains or depicted as savages or reduced to the static role of “the stoic Indian”. Why are these portrayals seen as bad? This is because at best, it is a one-dimensional portrayal of Native Americans and at worst, a gross misrepresentation of Native Americans. Mr. Marcus nicely summarizes this “… when you reduce a people to one characteristic they lose their humanity as we ignore every other aspect of their culture”.

            After watching Reel Injun, I have been encouraged to question how people of all races are portrayed in film. It is not that I believed the portrayal of people in film to be accurate, but I never thought about what was being hinted at or even blatantly stated about a certain race. For instance, after seeing the Bugs Bunny scene in Reel Injun, I watched some other shows from when I was younger and realized how many negative stereotypes were indirectly inserted to children shows. This film has encouraged me to not accept films at first glance and to question what the underlying message is behind the characters.

http://blogcritics.org/video/article/tv-review-reel-injun-on-pbs/page-1/

Corny People

King Corn is about two guys who move to Iowa to grow an acre of corn after finding out corn was found in hundreds of different products, even hair. Once they grew the corn, they decided to try and trace it to see where it went.

It scares me that scientists are able to trace corn in people’s hair. As I saw in the movie, people consume corn that comes from either high-fructose (form of sugar) cornstarch or corn based animal feed. Seeing how corn was in everything reminded me that sin had contaminated everything.

Reading an online review (http://www.gracelinks.org/133/film-review-king-corn) opened my eyes to some of the different issues the documentary was getting at. It was heartbreaking to know that the consumerist culture had affected even the most rural farmlands in Iowa that old traditions have changed to fit the lifestyle of those with money. The farms are now subsidiaries run by “corporations” who pay the farmers enough to survive. Having grown up in the outskirts of a small town in Uganda, I have witnessed the importance of diversity of crops in small farmlands and seeing how all the farms were meant for industrialized corn was eye opening.

It seems that the government has taken control of “every square inch” of their country. It’s not about corporations meeting consumer need anymore, it’s about consumers meeting corporation needs. Consumers are mindlessly taking in what they are given without a moment’s hesitation. The problem isn’t that corn is in everything, it’s that people are consuming without even knowing what is behind it all. People don’t know who they are really supporting by buying so much, corporations.

Black Gold

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/07/AR2006120700574.html

   Ann Hornaday, from the Washington Post, gives the film Black Gold a short but prevailing review. She gets to the main point right away stating that “the Ethiopean farmers are being ripped off by the corporate middleman and the $80 billion world market”. Hornaday also mentions how after watching the film, people won't look at their 3 dollar Starbucks coffee the same way again. I agree with her statement because the film made me realize that by buying coffee from the big name corporations, I was indirectly taking sides with them in oppressing the Ethiopian farmers. The statement during the movie that “for a three dollar cup of coffee a farmer earns three cents” was devastating to me. I knew that coffee at Starbuck was overpriced because of its brand name, but I also thought that coffee beans in general were expensive especially those from Ethiopia because of their taste and quality. It was shocking to learn how little to nothing these coffee farmers were getting while the companies were making 100 times more than that.

   I was encouraged to really take a moment to ask myself if I should be consuming from these large corporations who are literally ripping off the poverty strucken farmers. It hit me greater as I grew up in the mission field experiencing impoverishment first hand. I was greatful to learn that we could support these farmers simply by purchasing Fair Trade goods and even more when I found out that Calvin College used and sold only Fair Trade coffee. I'll be thinking again before buying coffee from cafes other than the Fish House. 

Black Gold

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/black-gold/Film?oid=1075118\\

In the world as we know it, coffee is the second most traded commodity. There is a high potential for profit at all levels, however, this documentary does a very good job in showing the gross inequality between the top and the bottom. Many poignant facts were presented and emotions were conveyed deeply through the interviews of the farmers in Ethiopia that depend on this trade for their living. As film critic J.R. Jones of the Chicago Reader would seemingly agree, Black Gold presents through juxtaposition the reality that relief aid from outside nations is not working and that free trade is the best likely candidate to replace it. However, when the film presents the WTO and leading nations like the US and the EU, stances become muddied and there is a hard turn away from solutions. Moreover, viewers did not gain a full sense of the full market process and valuation, there were crucial processing steps missing that are undoubtedly expensive. At the conclusion, it was clear that there were large problems, yet the lack of participation of other entities in the industry only further muddies the water. We know there are problems and we know that things like demanding fair trade coffee make a difference in the lives of those in desperate need it. This is a change we should make, educate others of, and demand of our institutions.     

Reel Injun

Film Post-Reel Injun

by Karis Kim

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117941250/?refCatId=2863

I chose this film with no real expectations or information on the topic of Native American portrayal in Hollywood. However after watching Reel Injun I am provided with a perspective that helps me realize something that I hadn’t really thought of before. Joe Leydon does a good job of summarizing a perspective of the film and touching on some of the issues discussed in the film. I agree with Leydon when he says that the documentary shows good clips of the terrible stereotypes on Native Americans in Hollywood. One thing that definitely stuck out to me as it had to Leydon is that many of the props and things that we associate with Native Americans are not true at all. Hollywood has totally disregarded any kind of Indian culture and differences that they may have. In addition, Native Americans are always seen as the savages or opposing enemy to whites in films. There are some movies that do show good ideas of Native Americans, but many of the stereotypes are incredibly untrue. I had never really thought about how Native Americans are viewed and that there are so many different ‘clans’ around the country that are still in existence. They are a vital part to American history and yet they are always viewed as an illiterate and savage people. This documentary has not only opened my eyes to Native American stereotypes, but also being aware and open minded about all different kinds of people. It seems like it should be obvious to not listen to what the media portrays of certain cultures, but it can’t be helped that it impacts our perspective. However now, I can be more aware of understanding context before judging.

Mall Post

As I entered the mall from one of the several Macy's entrances it was hard not to see the vast area of perfumes and make-up products permeating every display case and beyond even that, every square inch of available space. Sales people scurried around from customer to customer trying to pander each product to seem like a perfect fit to the individual. People wanted to look better than ever before, an exemplification of a narcissistic self-perpetuating cycle created by the consumer for the consumer. It must be nice, many of us would say, to create and take a part in such a culture that has an exponentially rising ease of access and a diverse line of products. This would be entirely true insofar as much as we created only a culture, however, we have created for ourselves a religion that we choose to be a part of.

We love to consume the newest, the latest, and the trendiest. We must acknowledge that we all do, not just them or they but I in collusion with everyone else around me chose this path and continue to daily. So often we "impartially" remove ourselves from our culture by saying "I don't really do that," or, "I am not nearly as bad as everyone else." However this is arrantly hypocritical, because when the tables turn and now it is better to go with the flow, we turn on a dime. The truth is that we love to consume so much that it is one of the premier driving factors. Consider it like a shift in homeostasis, we no longer seek the basic necessities, our homeostatic drive is to consume.

Walking out of Macys, it is easy to see the open, inviting hallway lined on both sides and in the middle with shops of every sort. It is a race to stand out, some use ads and logos like Nike and others like Apple use elegantly designed storefronts and interiors that are aesthetically pleasing. Every square inch is scrutinized and allocated for efficient use.  Billboards line shop windows and along walls, even shopping bags are branded to be recognized by other consumers that happen to walk by. People crowd, moving in a deliberate way, flowing from store to store. A fluidity is established and maintained by the structural lay out of the mall to guide and move about shoppers in the easiest way possible. Consumers find comfort in this ease, the seamless integration of the purchase of "necessary" commodities and staples laced with the plethora of cookies, pretzels, smoothies, and drinks. In fact the very center of the mall is crowned with a large Starbucks, prominent from a distance for it's eager customers.

It is easy to see how such a place would garner the trust and hearts of consumers. We find such pleasure in the malls that many of us use them as a path to happiness. We have created an idolatrous relationship with malls, creating a religion based in our consumerism and it's ever growing demands. The principle of this new idolatrous relationship is greed, a malevolent noxious agent which damages our hearts and minds. We seek salvation not from God, but through the acquisition of goods and services which are provided in ubiquity at the mall, our new place of worship.

Walking through the mall we see only brand names, only things designed to cater to a people consumed with our own reflection. Stores like Macys cater to women especially as I could see as I walked in. However men and children are under the influence of our economic culture, there are stores for hats, belt buckles, jewelers, shoes, and every type of clothing imaginable.

Consumption is not inherently bad or noxious, however, the way that our society has demanded more, more, more, has created a religion. This religion is planted in idolatry and is narcissistic throughout. There is a predication on egocentricity that only the market can sustain. It is up to each person as an individual to return the religion back to God and away from us, dispel the idolatrous nature of consumerism, to delineate want from need, and to return the sacred place of worship to the church not the mall.