안녕하세요! 스태파니입니다. 저는 18살 입니다. 지금 방에 있습니다. 제 침대는 아주 넓고 여뻐요. 어제 어마가 나에게 토끼 인형 샀어요. 그것은 내가 죄책감을 느끼게한다. 가난한 사람들이 그것을 만들었습니다. 나는 시금치와 밥을 점심으로 먹었다. 운동 안 했어요 ㅠㅠ. 그런데, 춤추했다. 어니의 고양이는 짜증나요.

Daises was a film made in 1966 which was banned by the Czech goverment for controversial messages. It is hard for me to say what the plot was as it was one of the most chaotic films I’ve ever seen. However, given that the portrayal of women in the 1960’s was rarely ever done in the way that Daises did, I would say the film may have been mocking traditional gender roles. For one, they mocked men in that all of them who went on a date with Marie were only being used until they got fed up because they were not getting what they wanted, which was could’ve been sex or marriage. Also, both Maries acted very childish which was probably to mock the initialization of women. I also believe that this movie had been trying to criticize Czech society, or maybe society in general, in that people are no longer “good” any more; they are “spoiled”. I think this is why both Maries eat a lot, maybe they have given up being “good” and decide to do what they please which might make sense considering how the film started with the two speaking and moving like they were dolls lacking any autonomy and transition into eating the fruit of evil like in Adam and Eve. Therefore as young women they must have been tired of not being allowed to be who they are and the choaticness of the film techniques I think really emphasized their eagerness for things to change.

What do you believe was the film’s overarching message?

Kiki’s Delivery Service is a movie about a young witch named Kiki who leaves home at 13 for a year so she can become a true witch. In the beginning of the film we can see that Kiki is somewhat immature in her witch abilities given that she is supposedly not as good with her broom as her mother was when she was 13. This can be further proved by the fact that she spins out of control as she leaves home for the first time and while she is flying she encounters another young which who appears to be far more mature in her abilities than Kiki. She then finds a small town where she soon makes a place for herself by running her own delivery service. For this reason I would say that a principal theme to the movie would be coming of age because we see how Kiki is transitioning into a new phase in her life where she no longer will rely on her parents and has to overcome challenges on her own. For example, she arrives to town with hardly anything except a broom and her ambition to carve a place for herself which is very humble of her. In fact, I believe that this good nature of hers even helped attract other kind and opportunities such as starting her business when Osono offered her a place to stay for helping her. Therefore I think the two lessons that this movie had is that if you are determined, your hard work will attract what you need and that good deeds are rewarding themselves since Kiki went the extra mile with her clients such as helping the old woman bake her herring pie. On the other hand, I also think it serves to remind such people to take a break and not overwork oneself either because when Kiki ended up losing her powers Ursula reminded her to take a break and relax sometimes.

Since the final will probably require more than three movies to refer off of (although im not actually sure) I think I will choose a broader topic to write about. For example, identity would be a good one to write about. How one identifies themselves and how the world receives a person based on their labels could be seen in many of the movies we watched. In Persepolis, Marjane was bad mouthed and treated differently in Europe because of the way people there saw Iranians. She also wasn’t safe back at home since she was coming off as radical when women were supposed to be submissive. Her family came from communist and anyone who wore this label was persecuted by the regime. Then in another film, Blue is the Warmest Colour, I think Adele was ashamed of being sexually attracted to women especially in that one scene where her “friend” made it seem like being lesbian meant that you were a predator of all women which isn’t true. Adele therefore struggles with this label which has become her identity and to reiterate, this seems to be a reoccurring theme in several of the films we have watched.

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A Girl Walks Home at Night is about a nameless Vampire referred to as “the girl” who roams the streets of Bad City at night stalking her victims. One of the first significant scenes was that of the pimp/drug dealer named Saeed not paying one of the prositutes Atti, her cut. It is after this scene that The Girl seduces him and murders him in his apartment. I think she was out to get revenge on behalf of Atti because like Atti, she puts Saeeds finger in her mouth only to bite it off and shove it back in his own mouth. Therefore maybe she has some sort of connection with Atti or sympathizes with her because in a conversation that the two have together they talk about forgetting what it is that they wanted.

The next significant scene of the movie is when one of the main character, Arash–a young man with a single dad addicted to heroine and gambling– and the Girl meet. They meet after Arash is rejected by a rich girl named Shaydah who likes to take drugs and having fun. He is on the street and asks the girl where they are. She responds Bad City. I think this is interesting because in the beginning there is a pit of dead bodies that no one seems to be disturbed by at all and this shows that bad deeds must be normalized where they are. Arash eventually embraces the Girl and this shows that the two must definitely care for one another. I almost want to say they were in love but not so much in the romantic sense since there wasn’t any clear reason why the two were drawn to each other other than perhaps the fact that they were both very lonely in this ghost town. Arash had no mother, his father was high most of the time and the girl Shaydah rejected him. Meanwhile the Girl spent most her time alone dancing to music until she eventually opens up and let’s Arash in. She even goes as far as to resist biting his neck and listens to his heart instead–the heart which often symbolizes warm feelings such as compassion and love.

I feel as though the Girl was somewhat of a vigilante given that she kills Arash’s father next for injecting Atti with heroine against her will. She also threatens the little boy to be a good boy for the rest of his life which I interpreted as a warning to him to not become a man like Saeed or Arash’s father who seem to hurt those around them.

The movie ends with Arash finding out his father is killed, asking the Girl to run away with him and then finding out that she was involved with the killing. He seems upset at first given that he pulls over and looks stressed, but then he comes back and looks at her like nothing is wrong. I think he might have been upset but somewhat glad that he no longer has to worry about his father because of her which is pretty morbid in my opinion because I actually felt quite bad for the father since he seemed to me like a victim of substance abuse and even said to his son that he wished he would die soon as to stop burdening Arash.

For what reason did the girl kill the homeless man despite being the only one who doesn’t visibly do anything wrong for the entirety of the film? What do you think the transvestite represented or what was their purpose?

A boy meets. SHe warns them to not abuse women

Persepolis is an animated film adapted from it’s graphic novel. The plot was essentially the autobiography of Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian girl forced to flee country twice due to political instability brought about the Iranian Revolution. It was a hard decision she eventually had to make because of the persecution of people with leftist ideologies, the oppression of women, and the new propagandist curriculum being taught in school. This had to be one of the best films I’d ever seen for a variety of reasons that I’ll try my best to articulate my feelings while discussing a few of the countless themes presented. First off, the film starts off with Marjane as a child and we can see not only what a happy child she was but also how hopeful everyone was for the future of their country. They really believed that justice would come through and that the revolution would end for the best. Unfortunately none of that came true which made it very disheartening to see Marjane’s uncle die in vain. This is the depressing reality of revolutions not just in Iran but other countries in the world. What’s more is that I think it’s interesting they showed what I assumed to be an American or British person with a heavy accent speaking in french and deceiving the leader of Iran to take their oil. Makes you wonder to what extent would so many revolutions around the world could have ended like had it not been for the intervention of all those majority anglo and iberian countries.

Having the story told through a child’s end in the beginning do a good job at creating a sense of broken innocence. Thus, we see how Marjane dealt with such heavy events at an early age which reflects the situation that those who grow up in war must have gone through. After all she lost family members, friends, neighbors and the carefree atmosphere she grew up in. If Marjane was a bit rebellious as a child then it seemed as though the death of her uncle changed her in that it intensified that aspect to her personality. This can be seen in how she back talks to authority figures and in fear that her inability to be passive will land her in serious trouble, her parents send her France. In my opinion this demonstrated how oppressive regimes have no place for strong women. Not to say that the other women weren’t, only that it wasn’t in Marjane to tolerate bullshit.

While there were many heart-wrenching scenes in the film from the traumas she experienced, I think the one that really takes the cake is seeing Marjane leave her grandmother and remark that she never saw her again. Her grandmother grounded Marjane in situations where she felt out of control. She was her source of stability, she was wise, funny, a feminist, understanding and open-minded in contrast to the teachers and nuns Marjane came across. In my opinion, I believe she represented what Iran was before the revolution so, in addition to Marjane’s mother forbidding her to return, her death to me seemed like that era was really over.

Throughout the film, hardly any of Marjane’s friends are shown, for what purpose did the author make this decision?

In Born into Brothels, photographer Zana Briski goes to the red-light district of Calcutta, India. There, she teaches photography to the children of prostitutes and captures on film what their lives are like. It didn’t seem like there were any artistic activities the children were activity doing such as painting or drawing before Zana arrived. This leads me to assume the children did not have the resources for artistic equipment especially given how their mothers sold their bodies because they needed money to live. This in turn means photography must have been one of the first hobbies they were introduced to.

Teaching the children how to take photos seemed to be very impact to the lives of the students given that they weren’t attending school and mostly helped out their parents do chores around the house. Plus, in the case of the girls, photography appeared to be their one way ticket out of out of prostitution. You could see that they took it very seriously and were proud of their work. Each child had their own style of taking pictures and it was really heartwarming to see these kids enjoy their time doing what they loved with friends despite their circumstances.

Overtime, Zana becomes very attached to the children and tries to get them into boarding school. She does her best but unfortunately she manages to get only a handful of children in school. What’s more is that, out of those children, I believe only two actually continued their studies. What’s impressive is that Avijit was one of the two and it seemed as though he was the least likely to go because, like the other kids, he was dealing with issues at home.

Why do you think their parents were worried enough that they pulled their children out of school? Do you think the school put in enough effort to have them stay?

Queer eye is a reality TV show in which it is centered around 5 men, called the Fab Five, who go around giving make overs to straight men. Each of the five men are experts in several areas including but not limited to fashion, interior design, diet, etc. In each one of the episodes the fab five set out to improve the lives of a straight men who has lost his confidence by using their expertise and giving them advice.

For my blog I decided to watch episode one of Queer eye on Netflix. And because I don’t watch reality TV, I was kind of surprised to see that there were other kinds apart from those that are centered around catty and competitive straight women looking for love. In fact, Queer eye was the opposite of that in that it’s about 5 gay men working together ,rather than competing, to spread positivity. Overall I’d say I enjoyed it because it’s only recently that sexual minorities have begun to have representation on the screen. Moreover, because this is reality TV, this is what their personalities are really like rather being a written character. In addition, the fab five are fairly diverse as they have two gay men of color and not all of them are stereo typically flamboyant. Another quality which I think makes the show so good is that is exposes straight men to gay men which is a good way to clear up any misconceptions. For example, in episode one they worked together to help a 57 year old Man named Tom. Tom became very comfortable around them and by the end of the show he had said that he had never hung out with gay men before. This was interesting because in the middle of the episode, one of the fab five starts talking about his boyfriend and Tom asks him who’s the woman and who’s the man. It’s funny because I made the same face they did and the guy who got asked tells him that there is no women and they’re both men. He also explained to Tom that it’s sexist to say that and that even today the dynamics in heterosexual couples have changed as well. I like how they handled this question because when Tom apologized they were very understanding and forgave him as well as educated him. The episode ended on a good note because at the beginning Tom had no confidence in himself and was not taking care of himself at all. By the end, the fab five helped him regain that confidence by showing him how to clean up his eating habits, buying him a completely new wardrobe so that he’d stop wearing the same thing everyday and teaching him how to take care of his hair and skin. This shows the overall importance of self-care and how confidence really plays such a big role in one’s life and mentality. The most touching moment was when Tom began to cry and thanked them for everything they had done. In your opinion, do you think a reality tv show with women doing the same thing as the Fab Five would ever become as popular as Queer eye? Why do you think women are portrayed being so competitive all the time as opposed to cooperative?

Lemonade is a film that consists of visuals for each of Beyonce’s songs in her album Lemonaid with her own narration in between. The chapters it’s divided into are “Intuition,” “Denial,” “Anger,” “Apathy,” “Emptiness,” “Accountability,” “Reformation,” “Forgiveness,” “Resurrection,” “Hope,” and “Redemption.” These all essentially describe the stages of grief she goes through upon discovering that her husband has cheated on her. While the film may just seem like it’s about the betrayal she feels, it is actually more than that. It is a film full of symbolism, empowerment, poetry, and pride. Midway through the movie, a snippet of Malcolm X’s speech is played in which he says that the most disrespected person is the black woman. Race and gender are both heavily intertwined in Lemonade which is why it is relevant she includes that snippet. In spite of it being a depressing reality, Beyonce shows in her film that won’t get in the way of the solidarity and uplifting of black women. In fact young, old, different shapes, sizes, and popularity–all sorts of black women are portrayed which shows tribute to the strength of their diversity. Beyonce takes on several images throughout the film which is important because she conveys that it would be a mistake to downplay a black woman’s emotions because of a stereotype with harmful intentions. Going off of this theme it is also fitting of her to include images of mothers with picture frames of their sons that have fallen victim to police brutality such as the mother of Trayvon Martin. It shows she is taking a stand against police brutality by using her platforms that draw in a wide audience to raise awareness. Another theme Beyonce represents in Lemonade is the culture from which she comes from– black southern culture. Born in Texas, she showcases southerness through the scenery, when riding horses, and by the title of her film which she includes a recipe from her grandmother. Sexual liberty seemed to be another theme which had a great prevalence in Beyonce’s film. I found this interesting especially given that no matter how progressive areas in society are, there has always been a lingering stigma which comes with talking about sexuality, especially from a woman’s perspective. The cause of this issue stems from a variety of things such as generations upon generations of patriarchy and religion–just to name a few. Yet, when Beyonce shares her experiences with orgasms she does so in a way that is free from guilt or shame. In addition, it seems almost spiritual

Which aspect of Lemonade did you find most resonated with you and why?

Like water for chocolate tells a love story from protagonist Tita’s notebook–read by her niece Esperanza. In it, she starts by recounting the day her Aunt Tita was born. Tita was born to a rich woman named Elena. Not long after Mama Elena gives birth to her, news reaches her husband that their second daughter is not theirs and the shock upon discovering that triggers a heart attack. Now that her husband was dead, it was the role of her youngest daughter, Tita, to take care of Mama Elena for the rest of her life. Fast forward several years, Tita falls in love with a boy she’s known as a child named Pedro. He and Tita begin to sneak around to meet each other much to Tita’s mothers’ disapproval. To punish her, when Pedro comes to ask for Tita’s hand in marriage, she tells him no and instead suggests that he marry her eldest daughter Rosaura, instead. Knowing that there would be no other way that Pedro could ever come near their home again, he accepts. It won’t be until about 20 or more years later that the obstacles keeping the two apart would finally come to an end, only for their love to end in a tragedy when Pedro dies in the middle of making love to Tita.

It was really interesting to me how symbolism was used in the film which is why I enjoyed it. For example, the most memorable scene for me was when Tita put in Roses in the Pigeon dish she made which was a sexual sort of experience between her and Pedro, and above all, Gertrudis. She goes as far as to strip away all her clothes and bathe, but she’s so heated that even a bucket in her shower lights on fire. This makes sense given that the roses were red and both red and roses are associated with fiery passion, love and sex.

What was also interesting to me was the gender roles were portrayed and how social standards harmed the women in this film. Mama Elena and her husband were married even though she was in love with someone else. She did not have the option to divorce, especially in those days when the majority of Mexico were stricter Catholics and it was something extremely shameful to go through. That said, Mama Elena became bitter, and even more so after her husband died. She was unhappy that she didn’t get be in love so she wanted to make her youngest daughter unhappy as well because of social standards. This would explain why Tita had wept for her mother when she died even though she had treated her horribly.

As for gender roles, I noticed that Tita was probably what people thought was the ideal woman back then. She cooked well, cleaned, kept her virginity for a long time, had sex twice in her whole life to the same man. Plus, she waited for Pedro, even though he was married and she could’ve chosen to marry another man that took far better care of her. Nevertheless, at least the movie made it clear she was not a bad person no matter what decisions she made. In fact, it somewhat surprised me when John forgave Tita for sleeping with Pedro instead of him whereas I feel like in many old stories, she would have been seen as a bad person and called a “whore”. Then again, I can’t tell if this story chose not to vilify her because she was saving herself for her “one true love”, or maybe they wanted to show that men can respect a woman’s decision to choose who she wants to love.

Despite social expectations for women, Gertrudis was also seen as a strong woman and again, this surprised me as well. I feel like movies in conservative settings would portray over-sexualized women with traditionally masculine traits in a bad way. Also, Mama Elena despite being unnecessarily cruel to Tita was also shown as strong and independent since she raised her daughters on her own under her husbands’ big ranch that she ran herself. Ironically this would mean that she, like her daughters broke tradition– which she was supposedly against.

For its time, do you think the portrayal of women was quite liberal or still pretty conservative?