Northwest Connections
Your Lucky Day, White Lines and The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug, The Thomas Beale Cipher, Rise ‘N Shine-A Hero’s Journey, Shuffle
I believe I have to admit one thing. Before I began this class, I did not have any thoughts about “patriarchy,” “masculinity,” femininity,” while I was watching movies. I did not have thoughts about every “isms”, such as “sexism,” “racism,” “ageism,” “ableism,” either. This class made me have different perspectives and expanded my points of view about the movies. Also, usually short films are made by younger generations, who will lead the movie industry. I believe I expected something original, creative, that had a unique way of expression and deep studying of humanities before I watched Northwest Connections.
Northwest Connections consisted of 5 short films: two narrative short films (Your Lucky Day, Shuffle), one animation shot film (The Thomas Beale Cipher), and two short documentaries (White Lines and The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug, Rise ‘N Shine- A Hero’s Journey).
First, Your Lucky Day (directed by Dan Brown) is a story about several people who struggle with having a winning lottery ticket. The theme of this movie is definitely human greed. The theme is very clearly expressed throughout the movie.
An old man won the lottery and several people in the grocery store started to fight for the ticket. At last, everyone was killed. The interesting thing is that in Korea we have a very similar famous short story which was published in the 1960s. The title of the short story is also similar: My Lucky Day. The theme of the movie was obviously represented and the story structure was clear and the acting of the characters was fairly good.
However, the story structure, characters, dialogues, the theme, and the method of development were very familiar: a set of clichés. There are too many similar movies, thus it was hard for me to understand why the filmmakers of this movie made this same kind of film again. Is human greed forever the theme of humankind? This short film represented “masculinity” and “capitalism,” through excessive violence and blood.
Second, Shuffle (directed by Garrett Bennett) is a story about a hit man who wants to clean his past and lives as a reborn man. The camera work and editing were good. In the first scene, the main character, the hit man, killed a man who was watching porn. When he left the murder scene, a little boy (maybe the victim’s son) looked at him standing near the door. The hit man met an old man, who looked like his boss, and asked to free him. The old man refused the hit man’s request and suggested the last card game. If the boss lost the game, the hit man will be free, if the hit man lost the game, he had to do one more mission which was to kill the boy because the boy was a witness of the murder. As expected the hit man killed the boss and left with the boy and a woman.
Maybe the theme of this movie was “humanity” but it was also one more cliché. Also, the music was excessive to me. Although the theme of this short film was “humanity”, but it represented “masculinity” in the way of excessive violence. Moreover, the boss was an old man and he represented a greedy evil man. I think this is “ageism” because an old man can be wise and have a deep understanding about humankind and life.
Third, The Thomas Beale Cipher (directed by Andrew Allen) is a very interesting movie. I believe a short film should be like this film because this film showed the filmmaker’s experimentalism. However, this film also used guns and violence, thus it represented “patriarchy” as well.
Fourth, Rise ‘N Shine- A Hero’s Journey (directed by Rohit Agarwal, Timothy B McCormack) is a documentary film about young girls and boys who were infected by HIV and AIDS. The main narrator was Ralina Miller who was infected by AIDS when she was 13 and Janet L. Trinkus who tried to help the HIV and AIDS infected young people. I liked this documentary because the young woman, Ralina Miller, was very brave although she had AIDS. The surprising thing was that she had two daughters. Especially, I was touched by her clear and bright eyes. I am sorry to say this but I could not understand fully about their situation because of my poor English. What I understood was that she got the AIDS virus because she was raped when she was 13. If I understood correctly, it was such a terrible tragedy. This documentary showed us the consequences of masculinity’s violence: rape.
Lastly, White Lines and The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug (directed by Travis Senger) This is a short documentary about DJ Junebug who died when he was 38. The almost all of the performers were people of color and the owner of Disco Fever was a white man. The performers explained and testified how DJ Junebug was brilliant, and what kind of person he was. DJ Junebug was loved by everyone around him, but was killed brutally by the same people of color. This documentary tried to follow sincerely DJ Junebug’s track, but relied on the other people’s explanation, because DJ Junebug already died and the filmmaker did not seem to have enough data about him which made the documentary weak. Even though the film had several problems, I liked this film because I could see the filmmaker’s effort and devotion. This short documentary also showed severe violence: “masculinity”
Over all, I believe I liked the documentaries more than narrative short films. Since I started to have more critical views about movies, maybe I am stingy of praise. I believe that if the younger generation wants to jump over the older generation, they have to be greater than the older. If they just follow in the older generations footsteps or make the same clichés over and over again, the progress would be hard to make.
At this point in time, I have one question. In American movies or documentaries, are guns, violence, blood, and sex inevitable? Without guns, blood or violence, maybe the movie makers can make more meaningful, deep thoughtful films then it will be better for all of us. Even if the reality is violent and gloomy, the filmmakers can change our society, at least we can give a small amount of hope to people, such as living without bloody circumstances. Is my thinking stupid?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Castaway on the Moon (SIFF film)
Castaway on the Moon
First of all, this movie, Castaway on the Moon, (Directed by Lee Hey-jun, 2009 Korea) is very simple. Recently, movies are becoming more multifarious and spectacular, but this movie is definitely a low budget movie. The good thing is that simplicity and low budget do not mean a low quality movie. I was absorbed and touched in this movie while I was watching it and I was proud of the effort of the filmmakers of this movie.
Castaway on the Moon’s original title is Castaway of Kims: two of Kims, male Kim and female Kim, a story about castouts from their society; the basic theme of this movie is communication between humans.
First, there is male Kim who tries to attempt suicide by falling down into the Han River because he lost his job by restructuring and has a huge amount of debt. He is a nice and good, hard working man but his society abandons him, thus he becomes a loser or failure and is considered as an incompetent man. Although he lost his job not by his fault but by his company’s downsizing, his society does not care. Nobody considers that he is a decent man. Everybody in his society thinks he is just a useless man. He has few choices but disappears by killing himself. He shows the audience a model of “Institutionalized Oppression.”
A sad and ironical thing is that he fails even suicide. As a result, he becomes a castaway in the Bam Island in the middle of the Han River. The Han River is passing through Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, and the Bam Island is a conservation area which means nobody is allowed to approach or stay there, so he is totally isolated from a mega city which has 20 million in population.
Second, there is female Kim, who lives just in her small room refusing to go out. She seems that she has agoraphobia. She even refuses to communicate with her family. She totally isolates herself from her society and she barely communicates with her mom by text messaging. The movie does not show the exact reason, but I can assume why. She has a red scar on her forehead. It is not so bad and nowadays’ medical technology is amazing so I find it hard to understand why she does not have surgery but maybe it is just her choice, or the movie’s choice. She crouches and hides herself in her small room and tries to avoid contact with the society with all her effort.
Her everyday life is just clicking the computer mouse and pretending as if she is somebody else who looks pretty, so she lives in cyber space not in the real world. Her only hobby is taking pictures of the moon through her room window. She can overcome her trauma by erasing her scar on her forehead but the movie does not show her trying, she just thinks that she is ugly thus she segregates herself. She shows the model of “Internalized Oppression.”
Two failures or the victims of our society meet in a unique way. By the way, this movie is a unique love story. One day, female Kim tries to take a picture and she sees the outside of her room through her camera lens and she finds male Kim on the Bam Island.
Little by little, she tries to contact, or communicate with him while male Kim tries to keep the hope in his life. Two isolated male and female realize that there is somebody else just like themselves and open their minds to each other. This process is very touching because it is not only love between male and female but the beautiful course of the cure for their wounded hearts.
Finally, they meet at the end and female Kim says to male Kim that, “My name is Kim- Jung Yeon. Who are you?” Then the film ends. The question “Who are you?” is male Kim’s asking to female Kim. I believe that “Who are you?” is a very meaningful question between humans, because it is not a simple question. The question asks not only the person’s name or identity but the person’s everything: heart, opinion, perspective, point of view, taste, hobby, hope, value, meaning of life, etc.
Castaway on the Moon limits all the excessive cinematic ornamentation. The director chooses the direct way to the theme of the movie. The movie does not even explain or show the main character’s family or friends. The story line just follows two main characters journey. The simple mise-en-scene, or the concise cinematography helps the audience to engage in the main character’s loneliness, frustration, isolation and hopelessness. The director’s choice is very smart because it is efficient.
However, I believe that the director might want to take more long shots because if there are more long shots the movie would be more beautiful. I guess it is because of the limited budget. The movie does not have enough long shots, so the camera technique uses only medium shots and close shots, as a results, some sequences in the movie looks like a comic cartoon.
Instead of using magnificent cinematography, the director uses metaphors and satires. For example, the black bean noodle is one of a symbol of hope for the main male character. The black bean noodle is not a Korean traditional food, but it is one of the very common foods among average Koreans. The montage shows the audience about the main male character’s past. In the past, he refuses several times the black bean noodle. On the isolate deserted Island, he desperately wants to eat the black bean noodle and he regrets his past when he refused the black bean noodle. In this sequence, the director might try to show us the thankfulness of our everyday’s ordinary life. When we lose something, which looks not so important but actually is precious to us, we regret our forgetting of appreciation. The main male character decides to make the black bean noodle by himself. He starts to believe that making the black bean noodle by himself on the Island would be his final hope.
As the female character observes him through the camera lens every day, she knows he misses the black bean noodle, thus she makes someone to deliver the black bean noodles to him. But he refuses the black bean noodle. The female main character asks the delivery boy the reason why he refused it, the boy says to her that the male main character says the black bean noodle is his hope. Thus, he wants to make success of his hope by himself not by the other’s help. She understands it easily because she is from the same background.
There are several more things I like about this movie. First, it does not represent male’s masculinity or female’s femininity and also does not express a female as a sexual object. Moreover, the movie does not show their communication in a sexual way. The movie shows female and male as human versus human. The movie does not divide into different genders or sexes. They are just humans who have warm hearts. Beyond masculinity or femininity, there is humanity: love and hope. I believe that the humanity, love and hope, is all we need. As a human being, just like the characters in this movie, we all want to be loved, to be understood by the people around us and want to live with hope.
While I was watching this movie in the theater, I heard people’s laughing at intervals, which means the humor and satires in this movie are understood by the American audience. The basic human conditions and human emotions are the same regardless of Eastern or Western cultures.
In addition, the male character’s acting is very good, and the main female character’s acting is also good. I liked her acting but I did not realize that she was a sincere actress because she usually acted as a rich girl in the broadcasting system in Korea. In this movie, she does not wear any makeup at all, and it helps the reality of this movie. Also, she is a native Australian, so I know her English is fluent as a native Australian, but in this movie, she speaks clumsy English just like an average Korean and I think the clumsy English is also used as a satire of the difficult communication between people in our world. Over all, I like this movie a lot and I would recommend others to watch it who did not have a chance to see it. It would be worthy to watch.
First of all, this movie, Castaway on the Moon, (Directed by Lee Hey-jun, 2009 Korea) is very simple. Recently, movies are becoming more multifarious and spectacular, but this movie is definitely a low budget movie. The good thing is that simplicity and low budget do not mean a low quality movie. I was absorbed and touched in this movie while I was watching it and I was proud of the effort of the filmmakers of this movie.
Castaway on the Moon’s original title is Castaway of Kims: two of Kims, male Kim and female Kim, a story about castouts from their society; the basic theme of this movie is communication between humans.
First, there is male Kim who tries to attempt suicide by falling down into the Han River because he lost his job by restructuring and has a huge amount of debt. He is a nice and good, hard working man but his society abandons him, thus he becomes a loser or failure and is considered as an incompetent man. Although he lost his job not by his fault but by his company’s downsizing, his society does not care. Nobody considers that he is a decent man. Everybody in his society thinks he is just a useless man. He has few choices but disappears by killing himself. He shows the audience a model of “Institutionalized Oppression.”
A sad and ironical thing is that he fails even suicide. As a result, he becomes a castaway in the Bam Island in the middle of the Han River. The Han River is passing through Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, and the Bam Island is a conservation area which means nobody is allowed to approach or stay there, so he is totally isolated from a mega city which has 20 million in population.
Second, there is female Kim, who lives just in her small room refusing to go out. She seems that she has agoraphobia. She even refuses to communicate with her family. She totally isolates herself from her society and she barely communicates with her mom by text messaging. The movie does not show the exact reason, but I can assume why. She has a red scar on her forehead. It is not so bad and nowadays’ medical technology is amazing so I find it hard to understand why she does not have surgery but maybe it is just her choice, or the movie’s choice. She crouches and hides herself in her small room and tries to avoid contact with the society with all her effort.
Her everyday life is just clicking the computer mouse and pretending as if she is somebody else who looks pretty, so she lives in cyber space not in the real world. Her only hobby is taking pictures of the moon through her room window. She can overcome her trauma by erasing her scar on her forehead but the movie does not show her trying, she just thinks that she is ugly thus she segregates herself. She shows the model of “Internalized Oppression.”
Two failures or the victims of our society meet in a unique way. By the way, this movie is a unique love story. One day, female Kim tries to take a picture and she sees the outside of her room through her camera lens and she finds male Kim on the Bam Island.
Little by little, she tries to contact, or communicate with him while male Kim tries to keep the hope in his life. Two isolated male and female realize that there is somebody else just like themselves and open their minds to each other. This process is very touching because it is not only love between male and female but the beautiful course of the cure for their wounded hearts.
Finally, they meet at the end and female Kim says to male Kim that, “My name is Kim- Jung Yeon. Who are you?” Then the film ends. The question “Who are you?” is male Kim’s asking to female Kim. I believe that “Who are you?” is a very meaningful question between humans, because it is not a simple question. The question asks not only the person’s name or identity but the person’s everything: heart, opinion, perspective, point of view, taste, hobby, hope, value, meaning of life, etc.
Castaway on the Moon limits all the excessive cinematic ornamentation. The director chooses the direct way to the theme of the movie. The movie does not even explain or show the main character’s family or friends. The story line just follows two main characters journey. The simple mise-en-scene, or the concise cinematography helps the audience to engage in the main character’s loneliness, frustration, isolation and hopelessness. The director’s choice is very smart because it is efficient.
However, I believe that the director might want to take more long shots because if there are more long shots the movie would be more beautiful. I guess it is because of the limited budget. The movie does not have enough long shots, so the camera technique uses only medium shots and close shots, as a results, some sequences in the movie looks like a comic cartoon.
Instead of using magnificent cinematography, the director uses metaphors and satires. For example, the black bean noodle is one of a symbol of hope for the main male character. The black bean noodle is not a Korean traditional food, but it is one of the very common foods among average Koreans. The montage shows the audience about the main male character’s past. In the past, he refuses several times the black bean noodle. On the isolate deserted Island, he desperately wants to eat the black bean noodle and he regrets his past when he refused the black bean noodle. In this sequence, the director might try to show us the thankfulness of our everyday’s ordinary life. When we lose something, which looks not so important but actually is precious to us, we regret our forgetting of appreciation. The main male character decides to make the black bean noodle by himself. He starts to believe that making the black bean noodle by himself on the Island would be his final hope.
As the female character observes him through the camera lens every day, she knows he misses the black bean noodle, thus she makes someone to deliver the black bean noodles to him. But he refuses the black bean noodle. The female main character asks the delivery boy the reason why he refused it, the boy says to her that the male main character says the black bean noodle is his hope. Thus, he wants to make success of his hope by himself not by the other’s help. She understands it easily because she is from the same background.
There are several more things I like about this movie. First, it does not represent male’s masculinity or female’s femininity and also does not express a female as a sexual object. Moreover, the movie does not show their communication in a sexual way. The movie shows female and male as human versus human. The movie does not divide into different genders or sexes. They are just humans who have warm hearts. Beyond masculinity or femininity, there is humanity: love and hope. I believe that the humanity, love and hope, is all we need. As a human being, just like the characters in this movie, we all want to be loved, to be understood by the people around us and want to live with hope.
While I was watching this movie in the theater, I heard people’s laughing at intervals, which means the humor and satires in this movie are understood by the American audience. The basic human conditions and human emotions are the same regardless of Eastern or Western cultures.
In addition, the male character’s acting is very good, and the main female character’s acting is also good. I liked her acting but I did not realize that she was a sincere actress because she usually acted as a rich girl in the broadcasting system in Korea. In this movie, she does not wear any makeup at all, and it helps the reality of this movie. Also, she is a native Australian, so I know her English is fluent as a native Australian, but in this movie, she speaks clumsy English just like an average Korean and I think the clumsy English is also used as a satire of the difficult communication between people in our world. Over all, I like this movie a lot and I would recommend others to watch it who did not have a chance to see it. It would be worthy to watch.
Monday, May 17, 2010
It is not a choice but is inborn
When I was a little girl, I had seen an unusual couple who lived near the market street in my home town. One was a large sized woman who always wore man’s clothes and acted like a man, and the other one was a rather shy, small, quiet woman. All the neighbors were always curious about them and always talked in whispers behind them when they were passing by. One day, the large sized woman and some merchants in the market place had a big fight. The next day, suddenly they were gone.
I missed the shy, small, quiet woman for a while but I never saw her again. While they lived in my home town, the shy woman visited my house once in a while, and talked with my mother. I was not allowed to listen to their talk, so I did not know what they talked about but I saw the woman’s tears and I heard her deep sigh. When she left my house after talking, she always gave me a shy but beautiful smile. I liked her smile.
After they were gone, sometimes when I came home from school, I would come by their house and peep into inside of the yard. The house was empty. I could see only the flowers of some “touch me not” and “rose mosses” which they planted at the edge of the yard. About two months later, the other family moved in to the house.
Later, I became to realize that they were lesbians. At that time in my home town people did not even know the word “lesbian” so they called the unusual couple just “a woman who lives with the woman.” I know nowadays people have changed a lot, there are many lesbians and gay people in my home country, but back then the kind of person was rarely seen. They might had hidden their sexual identities because of the conservative society.
Since I am a movie maniac, I have seen many movies especially famous movies. I watched Philadelphia (1993, Directed by Jonathan Demme) and Boys Don’t Cry (1999, Directed by Kimberly Peirce) as well, not because they were sexual identity movies but because they were just well made movies.
However, I believe I have to admit that after watching those kinds of movies, my perspective about gay and lesbians has changed a lot. In Philadelphia, I admired Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington’s acting a great deal. Andrew (Tom Hanks) was a promising young lawyer and had AIDS. At first, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) and Andrew (Tom Hanks) were not good friends, and also Joe had homophobia. However, when Joe saw Andrew and people’s reaction to Andrew’s disease, Joe decided to fight for him. This sequence moved me.
Historically, there are always the utterly ignorant and a few brave people that who coexist and the few brave people have changed our human history. The movie Philadelphia is a story about the AIDS diseased young lawyer and his lawyer’s fight against the societies unjust and unfair treatment of homosexuality.
The movie Boys Don’t Cry is a movie about a tragic young girl who has a boy’s mentality and lesbian sexual identity. I am a big fan of Hilary Swank; I was totally absorbed in her acting while I was watching Boys Don’t Cry. I cannot imagine Boys Don’t Cry without Hilary Swank. She showed us what legendary acting was like. Hilary Swank was just Brandon Teena, Teena Renae Brandon himself or herself.
She was Teena Renae Brandon when she was a girl, and she changed her name to Brandon Teena when she was a boy. Brandon Teena, or Teena Renae Brandon wanted just a peaceful life with his or her lover Lana (Chloe Sevigny), but was eventually brutally killed by dangerous people who had homophobia.
The movie was truly sad and shocking because Brandon and Lana loved each other so much even though they were girls, but the community surrounding them never understood or even never tried to understand them. Brandon did not have any reason why he had to be killed cruelly. He had just a little bit different sexual identity and it was not a sin or crime for which he deserved to die. The movies, Philadelphia and Boys Don’t Cry show the truth; sexual identity is not a choice but is inborn.
When I traveled in Melbourne, Australia, I had met one of a Korean wealthy family sons and I was surprised because he lived together with an Australian man as a lover. He told me that he was kicked out from his family because of his sexual identity. He said to me that he could not live in my home country because almost all people around him were curious about his private life after his coming out and saying he was gay.
Finally, he was able to settle down in Melbourne because he could find a “soul mate” in there. He said that he lived in peace, happiness and love with his partner there. Three of us visited St. Kilda beach and they looked truly happy. We visited the souvenir store near the St. Kilda beach, and I bought them a ceramic doll as a present which was a male and male arm in arm in a wedding suits. They liked the doll very much. While I came back to my hotel I prayed for their happiness and love on the tram.
We live in a ruthless world. On one side of the world, people kill each other, betray each other, and cheat each other just for their own greed. Love is an essential element of our happiness but we are losing it day by day. As long as the love is truth, why does sexual identity do matter? Does having a certain sexual identity mean being problematic?
At this point, I am thinking about the role of the media and I believe that my dream, to become a part of media people, would be fantastic because I might have a chance to tell the people about my beliefs. For that, I know I have to have an unbiased point of view.
Ultimately, I believe that sexual identity is not a matter of topic or subject, it is just people’s ways of life. We all have a basic right to live according to our own desires and dreams. In a way, we do not have a right to judge other’s sexual identities either.
As I am getting older, I understand the shy woman’s tears and deep sigh of my home town. She must be very lonely even though she had a true lover because she was not understood by people around her. She must feel isolation and frustration and it must be a hard life. Suddenly they were gone so they might flee from the malice neighbors who had homophobia. I remember her shy and beautiful smile. At that time, she smiled but she might shed tears all the time inside of her. Thinking of that, I am sorry for her. I hope she got back her peaceful life because our society has changed a lot. We do not oppose gay or lesbian people anymore and it is a good change.
I missed the shy, small, quiet woman for a while but I never saw her again. While they lived in my home town, the shy woman visited my house once in a while, and talked with my mother. I was not allowed to listen to their talk, so I did not know what they talked about but I saw the woman’s tears and I heard her deep sigh. When she left my house after talking, she always gave me a shy but beautiful smile. I liked her smile.
After they were gone, sometimes when I came home from school, I would come by their house and peep into inside of the yard. The house was empty. I could see only the flowers of some “touch me not” and “rose mosses” which they planted at the edge of the yard. About two months later, the other family moved in to the house.
Later, I became to realize that they were lesbians. At that time in my home town people did not even know the word “lesbian” so they called the unusual couple just “a woman who lives with the woman.” I know nowadays people have changed a lot, there are many lesbians and gay people in my home country, but back then the kind of person was rarely seen. They might had hidden their sexual identities because of the conservative society.
Since I am a movie maniac, I have seen many movies especially famous movies. I watched Philadelphia (1993, Directed by Jonathan Demme) and Boys Don’t Cry (1999, Directed by Kimberly Peirce) as well, not because they were sexual identity movies but because they were just well made movies.
However, I believe I have to admit that after watching those kinds of movies, my perspective about gay and lesbians has changed a lot. In Philadelphia, I admired Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington’s acting a great deal. Andrew (Tom Hanks) was a promising young lawyer and had AIDS. At first, Joe Miller (Denzel Washington) and Andrew (Tom Hanks) were not good friends, and also Joe had homophobia. However, when Joe saw Andrew and people’s reaction to Andrew’s disease, Joe decided to fight for him. This sequence moved me.
Historically, there are always the utterly ignorant and a few brave people that who coexist and the few brave people have changed our human history. The movie Philadelphia is a story about the AIDS diseased young lawyer and his lawyer’s fight against the societies unjust and unfair treatment of homosexuality.
The movie Boys Don’t Cry is a movie about a tragic young girl who has a boy’s mentality and lesbian sexual identity. I am a big fan of Hilary Swank; I was totally absorbed in her acting while I was watching Boys Don’t Cry. I cannot imagine Boys Don’t Cry without Hilary Swank. She showed us what legendary acting was like. Hilary Swank was just Brandon Teena, Teena Renae Brandon himself or herself.
She was Teena Renae Brandon when she was a girl, and she changed her name to Brandon Teena when she was a boy. Brandon Teena, or Teena Renae Brandon wanted just a peaceful life with his or her lover Lana (Chloe Sevigny), but was eventually brutally killed by dangerous people who had homophobia.
The movie was truly sad and shocking because Brandon and Lana loved each other so much even though they were girls, but the community surrounding them never understood or even never tried to understand them. Brandon did not have any reason why he had to be killed cruelly. He had just a little bit different sexual identity and it was not a sin or crime for which he deserved to die. The movies, Philadelphia and Boys Don’t Cry show the truth; sexual identity is not a choice but is inborn.
When I traveled in Melbourne, Australia, I had met one of a Korean wealthy family sons and I was surprised because he lived together with an Australian man as a lover. He told me that he was kicked out from his family because of his sexual identity. He said to me that he could not live in my home country because almost all people around him were curious about his private life after his coming out and saying he was gay.
Finally, he was able to settle down in Melbourne because he could find a “soul mate” in there. He said that he lived in peace, happiness and love with his partner there. Three of us visited St. Kilda beach and they looked truly happy. We visited the souvenir store near the St. Kilda beach, and I bought them a ceramic doll as a present which was a male and male arm in arm in a wedding suits. They liked the doll very much. While I came back to my hotel I prayed for their happiness and love on the tram.
We live in a ruthless world. On one side of the world, people kill each other, betray each other, and cheat each other just for their own greed. Love is an essential element of our happiness but we are losing it day by day. As long as the love is truth, why does sexual identity do matter? Does having a certain sexual identity mean being problematic?
At this point, I am thinking about the role of the media and I believe that my dream, to become a part of media people, would be fantastic because I might have a chance to tell the people about my beliefs. For that, I know I have to have an unbiased point of view.
Ultimately, I believe that sexual identity is not a matter of topic or subject, it is just people’s ways of life. We all have a basic right to live according to our own desires and dreams. In a way, we do not have a right to judge other’s sexual identities either.
As I am getting older, I understand the shy woman’s tears and deep sigh of my home town. She must be very lonely even though she had a true lover because she was not understood by people around her. She must feel isolation and frustration and it must be a hard life. Suddenly they were gone so they might flee from the malice neighbors who had homophobia. I remember her shy and beautiful smile. At that time, she smiled but she might shed tears all the time inside of her. Thinking of that, I am sorry for her. I hope she got back her peaceful life because our society has changed a lot. We do not oppose gay or lesbian people anymore and it is a good change.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Common Elements of Oppression
Common Elements of Oppression
When I was in my home country, I often believed that being a woman was hard. While I am in America, I realized that being a woman is doubly or triply oppressive than being a man.
Frankly, America is much more complicated than I thought. Before I came to America, the U.S. was a country that everyone was exactly equal, especially between women and men. However, while I am in America, my belief is shifting.
As I remember, I had watched many movies that reflected some kinds of strange realities but I thought it was just in the movies not in real life. Now I am rethinking some movies that told us the unfairness of American society: Thelma & Louise and The Accused.
In Thelma & Louise (Directed by Ridley Scott 1992), Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) are just ordinary women. They want to take a break and have some fun. When they are planning to take a short trip, they would never guess what will happen at the end. Thelma’s husband is an insensitive man and always tries to take control over Thelma. Louise’s boyfriend ignores her, so they decide to take a vacation together not telling Thelma’s husband or Louise’s boyfriend. Maybe they expect their mates would regret their behavior towards them. As the movie runs, their innocent and reasonable intention goes completely the opposite way. Louise kills a man who tried to rape Thelma. They rob a market and as a result, they begin to be chased by the police and finally they are confronted by an ultimatum: death.
I like this movie a lot because this movie shows women’s hardships and the society’s reaction and feedback properly through the main character’s journey, but I know some people dislike this movie. Even feminists dislike this movie because it is not a true feminist movie. They argument is that this movie pretends to be a feminist movie but actually the movie uses the symbols of masculinity such as guns and cars. Also, this movie shows two beautiful women’s body image a lot because the director might want to amuse the audience, so some of the critics do not want to define this movie as a feminist movie.
Even though some people think of this movie as not a feminist movie, I think I can find “Common Elements of Oppression” in this movie: blame on victims and stereotyping. Thelma and Louise are victims of the system of the society, but the society blames them not the system.
These kinds of phenomena are found in The Accused (Directed by Jonathan Kaplan, 1988) as well. When Sarah (Jodie Foster) was raped, society put the blame her rather than the three rapists. The reason why the society blames her is because she was drunk and acted like she was seducing them. Thus, the society believes she deserved to be rape. It is ridiculous, but this kind of stereotyping is represented in many movies and we can find that easily in our realities, too.
When someone gets hurt and the surrounding society puts the blame on them instead of consoling or helping them, is horrible and more of a tragedy. The victims must feel isolation and it will double the punishment for them. Certainly it is unfair.
For me, it is interesting because the director of Thelma & Louise is Ridley Scott who directed Blade Runner as well. In Blade Runner, I noticed the director’s treatment of women and I did not like it because the director made women a subject of objectification. He did not treat women as the same as men.
But in Thelma & Louise, he seemed much more understandable of women and I liked it. Especially, when Thelma wants to go to the police Louise says she does not want to go, because Louise thinks the police would not believe what they have to say because they are “women.” I like the director’s way of expression.
When I was in Australia, I had a chance to attend the NIDA (National Institution of Dramatic Arts). NIDA is famous for Mel Gibson who graduated from that school. I did not like one of the professors because he looked very arrogant. One day he said in class that “Thelma & Louise is a movie about two women and lots of assholes,” and suddenly I liked him very much. But just after that moment I felt somewhat of a sad feeling because I realized that I wanted male’s sympathy towards women. If something is justifiable and right, we do not need another person’s sympathy or agreement. Right is right, and justice is justice therefore, it must be unchangeable.
I have to admit that sometimes when I see certain types of women I do not see them through my own eyes but through the stereotyping eye of society. For example, when I read an article about a woman who abandoned her child, I became angry at her and believed that she deserved punishment instantly without considering her situation. Sometimes I would see a homeless woman in the street, and I thought she might not like to work. But I might be wrong. She might try to work but she might not be able to find any job.
Now I realize myself that I often stereotype people and maybe it hurts innocent people who need understanding and help. I am not a Buddhist, but in Buddhism it is considered a sin if one does something unconsciously but ultimately harms or hurts anyone. In a way, I often hurt people whom I do not even know by stereotyping or putting the blame on victims and if so, I have sinned. I think I have to examine myself and should more be careful all the time.
When I was in my home country, I often believed that being a woman was hard. While I am in America, I realized that being a woman is doubly or triply oppressive than being a man.
Frankly, America is much more complicated than I thought. Before I came to America, the U.S. was a country that everyone was exactly equal, especially between women and men. However, while I am in America, my belief is shifting.
As I remember, I had watched many movies that reflected some kinds of strange realities but I thought it was just in the movies not in real life. Now I am rethinking some movies that told us the unfairness of American society: Thelma & Louise and The Accused.
In Thelma & Louise (Directed by Ridley Scott 1992), Thelma (Geena Davis) and Louise (Susan Sarandon) are just ordinary women. They want to take a break and have some fun. When they are planning to take a short trip, they would never guess what will happen at the end. Thelma’s husband is an insensitive man and always tries to take control over Thelma. Louise’s boyfriend ignores her, so they decide to take a vacation together not telling Thelma’s husband or Louise’s boyfriend. Maybe they expect their mates would regret their behavior towards them. As the movie runs, their innocent and reasonable intention goes completely the opposite way. Louise kills a man who tried to rape Thelma. They rob a market and as a result, they begin to be chased by the police and finally they are confronted by an ultimatum: death.
I like this movie a lot because this movie shows women’s hardships and the society’s reaction and feedback properly through the main character’s journey, but I know some people dislike this movie. Even feminists dislike this movie because it is not a true feminist movie. They argument is that this movie pretends to be a feminist movie but actually the movie uses the symbols of masculinity such as guns and cars. Also, this movie shows two beautiful women’s body image a lot because the director might want to amuse the audience, so some of the critics do not want to define this movie as a feminist movie.
Even though some people think of this movie as not a feminist movie, I think I can find “Common Elements of Oppression” in this movie: blame on victims and stereotyping. Thelma and Louise are victims of the system of the society, but the society blames them not the system.
These kinds of phenomena are found in The Accused (Directed by Jonathan Kaplan, 1988) as well. When Sarah (Jodie Foster) was raped, society put the blame her rather than the three rapists. The reason why the society blames her is because she was drunk and acted like she was seducing them. Thus, the society believes she deserved to be rape. It is ridiculous, but this kind of stereotyping is represented in many movies and we can find that easily in our realities, too.
When someone gets hurt and the surrounding society puts the blame on them instead of consoling or helping them, is horrible and more of a tragedy. The victims must feel isolation and it will double the punishment for them. Certainly it is unfair.
For me, it is interesting because the director of Thelma & Louise is Ridley Scott who directed Blade Runner as well. In Blade Runner, I noticed the director’s treatment of women and I did not like it because the director made women a subject of objectification. He did not treat women as the same as men.
But in Thelma & Louise, he seemed much more understandable of women and I liked it. Especially, when Thelma wants to go to the police Louise says she does not want to go, because Louise thinks the police would not believe what they have to say because they are “women.” I like the director’s way of expression.
When I was in Australia, I had a chance to attend the NIDA (National Institution of Dramatic Arts). NIDA is famous for Mel Gibson who graduated from that school. I did not like one of the professors because he looked very arrogant. One day he said in class that “Thelma & Louise is a movie about two women and lots of assholes,” and suddenly I liked him very much. But just after that moment I felt somewhat of a sad feeling because I realized that I wanted male’s sympathy towards women. If something is justifiable and right, we do not need another person’s sympathy or agreement. Right is right, and justice is justice therefore, it must be unchangeable.
I have to admit that sometimes when I see certain types of women I do not see them through my own eyes but through the stereotyping eye of society. For example, when I read an article about a woman who abandoned her child, I became angry at her and believed that she deserved punishment instantly without considering her situation. Sometimes I would see a homeless woman in the street, and I thought she might not like to work. But I might be wrong. She might try to work but she might not be able to find any job.
Now I realize myself that I often stereotype people and maybe it hurts innocent people who need understanding and help. I am not a Buddhist, but in Buddhism it is considered a sin if one does something unconsciously but ultimately harms or hurts anyone. In a way, I often hurt people whom I do not even know by stereotyping or putting the blame on victims and if so, I have sinned. I think I have to examine myself and should more be careful all the time.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The American Dream
I have heard about the American Dream in the movies, media, or in person many times. The word “American Dream” has become very familiar with me. However, the truth is, I am not sure how to define “American Dream.” I only can assume the meaning of American Dream. Sometimes the word American Dream brings me joy and brightness, but sometimes I feel somewhat sad. I do not know the exact reason why I feel this way, but maybe it is because of the word “Dream.” When someone’s dream is just an illusion, his or her life could be hollow, and if his or her dream demands something in return, it could become a tragedy.
I have seen The Godfather more than five times, and every time while I was watching the movie I was unhappy about treatment of women as second level humans. This time I viewed the movie and there was no exception. However, although I do not like some parts of The Godfather, which expresse women as a lower class human than men, I believe I have to admit that the movie was absolutely great. Also, this time I watched The Godfather from a little different perspective which was that this movie’s story was not only about family oriented gangsters but also Italian immigrants who struggled with settling in a new land, America.
I also watched House of Sand and Fog (directed by Vadim Perelman, 2004) several years ago, and I wanted to talk about this movie in referrence to as the American Dream as well. The characters in The Godfather and House of Sand and Fog, fought for their American dream which came true at great risk for them.
In The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his son Michael (Al Pacino) showed absolutely great acting to the audience in their gangster roles. Although they killed their enemies very easily their violence had been justified for certain reasons; if they did not kill their enemies, they would be killed. Thus, their killing was their way of survival. They were immigrants from Italy, and they had to survive in America, so their severe violence at the huge cost of the American Dream.
In a way, their violence seemed sad for me. Moreover, the society’s system at that time could not protect the people who were hard working immigrants. At the beginning of The Godfather, one businessman visited the Godfather and told him that what had happened to his daughter and asked him to take revenge. When the society’s system could not accomplish the justice, people often seek another way in order to gain payback.
When Don Vito Corleone died in a tomato garden during play with his grandson, I thought it was very meaningful because the tomato garden and the grandson symbolized the peaceful American Dream come true, but he died in the middle of the his dream. Also, when Connie’s son was the christened, the enemies were killed one by one by Michael’s orders and it was terribly shocking.
One thing I could not easily understand was Connie’s attitude at the end sequence of the movie. She had been abused by her husband extremely hard but she accused her brother Michael when her husband was killed. The characters in The Godfather, all paid dearly for their American Dream.
Personally I love the actors in this movie, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, I believe I have to admit that I am not objective about the violence in this movie.
In House of Sand And Fog the characters paid dearly for the American Dream as well. Behrani emigrated from Iran with his family and he tried to pursue the American Dream by doing his best. He bought house at auction and tried to improve the value of the house and wanted to sell it at 4 times the original price. He wanted to provide for his wife, daughter and son. He tried to pay for his son to go to college. However, the house was at auction because of a bureaucratic mistake, the original owner of the house, Kathy could not lose the house. Thus the tragedy began. Nobody in this movie was bad, but everyone in this movie had ruined their lives in the end. The American Dream demanded an enormous cost.
When I was in New York, one day I sat in the restaurant near the Grand Central Terminal at 42nd street. I sat in the restaurant and saw many people passing by on the street through the restaurant window. The passengers seemed they to come from all around the world. Almost everyone seemed that they had different nationalities and races. Although they looked very different than others they might have one purpose, a happy life: American Dream. However, I could not see happy feelings in them. They just looked busy and they passed by other passengers with the no facial expressions. They did not look happy.
While I was traveling in many countries, I often heard “I want to go to America someday,” from the restaurant’s waitress or the hotel employee. Once or twice I asked them why they wanted to come to America, and they said to me that they thought they could live more happily in America and they believed that their dream would come true more easily in America. Now I want to tell them that maybe it is true but watch out, your American Dream might come at a high price.
I have seen The Godfather more than five times, and every time while I was watching the movie I was unhappy about treatment of women as second level humans. This time I viewed the movie and there was no exception. However, although I do not like some parts of The Godfather, which expresse women as a lower class human than men, I believe I have to admit that the movie was absolutely great. Also, this time I watched The Godfather from a little different perspective which was that this movie’s story was not only about family oriented gangsters but also Italian immigrants who struggled with settling in a new land, America.
I also watched House of Sand and Fog (directed by Vadim Perelman, 2004) several years ago, and I wanted to talk about this movie in referrence to as the American Dream as well. The characters in The Godfather and House of Sand and Fog, fought for their American dream which came true at great risk for them.
In The Godfather, Don Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) and his son Michael (Al Pacino) showed absolutely great acting to the audience in their gangster roles. Although they killed their enemies very easily their violence had been justified for certain reasons; if they did not kill their enemies, they would be killed. Thus, their killing was their way of survival. They were immigrants from Italy, and they had to survive in America, so their severe violence at the huge cost of the American Dream.
In a way, their violence seemed sad for me. Moreover, the society’s system at that time could not protect the people who were hard working immigrants. At the beginning of The Godfather, one businessman visited the Godfather and told him that what had happened to his daughter and asked him to take revenge. When the society’s system could not accomplish the justice, people often seek another way in order to gain payback.
When Don Vito Corleone died in a tomato garden during play with his grandson, I thought it was very meaningful because the tomato garden and the grandson symbolized the peaceful American Dream come true, but he died in the middle of the his dream. Also, when Connie’s son was the christened, the enemies were killed one by one by Michael’s orders and it was terribly shocking.
One thing I could not easily understand was Connie’s attitude at the end sequence of the movie. She had been abused by her husband extremely hard but she accused her brother Michael when her husband was killed. The characters in The Godfather, all paid dearly for their American Dream.
Personally I love the actors in this movie, Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, I believe I have to admit that I am not objective about the violence in this movie.
In House of Sand And Fog the characters paid dearly for the American Dream as well. Behrani emigrated from Iran with his family and he tried to pursue the American Dream by doing his best. He bought house at auction and tried to improve the value of the house and wanted to sell it at 4 times the original price. He wanted to provide for his wife, daughter and son. He tried to pay for his son to go to college. However, the house was at auction because of a bureaucratic mistake, the original owner of the house, Kathy could not lose the house. Thus the tragedy began. Nobody in this movie was bad, but everyone in this movie had ruined their lives in the end. The American Dream demanded an enormous cost.
When I was in New York, one day I sat in the restaurant near the Grand Central Terminal at 42nd street. I sat in the restaurant and saw many people passing by on the street through the restaurant window. The passengers seemed they to come from all around the world. Almost everyone seemed that they had different nationalities and races. Although they looked very different than others they might have one purpose, a happy life: American Dream. However, I could not see happy feelings in them. They just looked busy and they passed by other passengers with the no facial expressions. They did not look happy.
While I was traveling in many countries, I often heard “I want to go to America someday,” from the restaurant’s waitress or the hotel employee. Once or twice I asked them why they wanted to come to America, and they said to me that they thought they could live more happily in America and they believed that their dream would come true more easily in America. Now I want to tell them that maybe it is true but watch out, your American Dream might come at a high price.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Blackface and Yellowface
When I was in Pennsylvania, I had noticed that black face students hung around with black face students and yellow face students hung around with yellow face students. Not always, but almost always they talked together played together studied together and even in the class room they sat together with the same skin color students.
One day, I asked one of the Chinese students why do you almost always hang around with just Asians? He could not answer, but just smiled. I thought the reason was because of a cultural gap or language barrier. However, I was still curious about that since between black faced students and white face students, there was no language barrier or cultural gap; they still hung around with the same skin color students. In sociology class, I asked the white face girl student the same question. She said that she could not even sense that circumstance until then. Finally, she asked the whole class the same question instead of me. No one answered a specific reason. They just shrugged their shoulders. Moreover, I had noticed that black face students almost always sat at the back corner of the classroom as if they were trying to make themselves invisible.
When I moved to Seattle, I realized that the environment is much different from Pennsylvania. The black face students often hang around with the white face students and it seemed very natural. Thus, when one student asked me how different Pennsylvania from Seattle, I answered that I thought Seattle seemed more liberal. But still, yellow face students usually hang around with yellow face students on the campus.
Since I love movies, I have seen many movies including racism and anti- racism movies such as A Time to Kill, The Human Stain, etc. In A Time to Kill, although I loved the plot of the story, but still I was wondering why the father, who got unfair treatment, needed to be helped not by the social system but by the white face lawyers.
In The Human Stain, the respected professor ruined his life and lost all of his achievements by just one verbal mistake. The irony and sad thing of The Human Stain was that he was not a racist and he could not be a racist because he actually had black face ancestors. But he could not tell his story because he never told the truth to anyone in his entire life. He lived as a white face man. His misery came to him maybe because of his not telling the truth and because of his actual race, but what I believe, however, was that the society forced him to lie.
As far as I know up until ten to twenty years ago in almost all American movies, the black face people were represented as not very good figures. It is also true that in almost all American movies, yellow face people are almost always represented as a lower class citizen than white face people. As movies reflect like a mirror of our society, then why do American movies express and treat black face people and yellow face people that way. The movie (or the media) could be misleading people or implant false idea into the society.
After my car was attacked by someone, one of my friends, who I met in the University of Washington, wanted to see my car, so I visited her house. When she saw my car she almost cried. She insisted to report to the police what had happened. I said to her that I was falling in love with Seattle, but after the incident and because of fear, I wanted to move to another place as soon as possible. She was so sorry for my having such a terrifying experience. She has a white face and I have a yellow face, but between the two of us, there is no difference or discrimination. We are just good friends who can talk to each other about our happiness and how to write a good composition. That is all.
After talking, she took me to her daughter’s track meeting which was held in a local high school. There were a lot of white faces, black faces and yellow faces: the students, the parents and the teachers. They cheered and applauded to the runners all together without any barriers.
During a 1,500 meter run, one of the white face boys did not look like he was feeling well so he ran slowly. He could barely run and he became the last one of the race. Everyone on the team went through the finish line except him, and he had to run one more track. He seemed very much in pain. Suddenly, a black face boy student started to run with him on the outer edge of the track. They ran together to the finish line as a result the white face boy did not need to give up the race. Everyone in the field gave them a loud applause. It was a beautiful moment.
The brisk wind came from the cloudy sky. I deeply breathed in my heart. At least at that moment, I could believe that in the future there will be no dividing into groups by face color. Slowly but surely, our young generations will break our typical stereo type of prejudice of skin color. I want to believe that our next generation would think that separation by skin color is the most unintelligent thing to do.
One day, I asked one of the Chinese students why do you almost always hang around with just Asians? He could not answer, but just smiled. I thought the reason was because of a cultural gap or language barrier. However, I was still curious about that since between black faced students and white face students, there was no language barrier or cultural gap; they still hung around with the same skin color students. In sociology class, I asked the white face girl student the same question. She said that she could not even sense that circumstance until then. Finally, she asked the whole class the same question instead of me. No one answered a specific reason. They just shrugged their shoulders. Moreover, I had noticed that black face students almost always sat at the back corner of the classroom as if they were trying to make themselves invisible.
When I moved to Seattle, I realized that the environment is much different from Pennsylvania. The black face students often hang around with the white face students and it seemed very natural. Thus, when one student asked me how different Pennsylvania from Seattle, I answered that I thought Seattle seemed more liberal. But still, yellow face students usually hang around with yellow face students on the campus.
Since I love movies, I have seen many movies including racism and anti- racism movies such as A Time to Kill, The Human Stain, etc. In A Time to Kill, although I loved the plot of the story, but still I was wondering why the father, who got unfair treatment, needed to be helped not by the social system but by the white face lawyers.
In The Human Stain, the respected professor ruined his life and lost all of his achievements by just one verbal mistake. The irony and sad thing of The Human Stain was that he was not a racist and he could not be a racist because he actually had black face ancestors. But he could not tell his story because he never told the truth to anyone in his entire life. He lived as a white face man. His misery came to him maybe because of his not telling the truth and because of his actual race, but what I believe, however, was that the society forced him to lie.
As far as I know up until ten to twenty years ago in almost all American movies, the black face people were represented as not very good figures. It is also true that in almost all American movies, yellow face people are almost always represented as a lower class citizen than white face people. As movies reflect like a mirror of our society, then why do American movies express and treat black face people and yellow face people that way. The movie (or the media) could be misleading people or implant false idea into the society.
After my car was attacked by someone, one of my friends, who I met in the University of Washington, wanted to see my car, so I visited her house. When she saw my car she almost cried. She insisted to report to the police what had happened. I said to her that I was falling in love with Seattle, but after the incident and because of fear, I wanted to move to another place as soon as possible. She was so sorry for my having such a terrifying experience. She has a white face and I have a yellow face, but between the two of us, there is no difference or discrimination. We are just good friends who can talk to each other about our happiness and how to write a good composition. That is all.
After talking, she took me to her daughter’s track meeting which was held in a local high school. There were a lot of white faces, black faces and yellow faces: the students, the parents and the teachers. They cheered and applauded to the runners all together without any barriers.
During a 1,500 meter run, one of the white face boys did not look like he was feeling well so he ran slowly. He could barely run and he became the last one of the race. Everyone on the team went through the finish line except him, and he had to run one more track. He seemed very much in pain. Suddenly, a black face boy student started to run with him on the outer edge of the track. They ran together to the finish line as a result the white face boy did not need to give up the race. Everyone in the field gave them a loud applause. It was a beautiful moment.
The brisk wind came from the cloudy sky. I deeply breathed in my heart. At least at that moment, I could believe that in the future there will be no dividing into groups by face color. Slowly but surely, our young generations will break our typical stereo type of prejudice of skin color. I want to believe that our next generation would think that separation by skin color is the most unintelligent thing to do.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Are Race and Nationality More Important than Humanity?
The 2007 Pulitzer Prizes Winner of Feature writing was Andrea Elliot of the New York Times.
She wrote about a Muslim leader who lived in Brooklyn, NY, trying to reconcile with two cultures, Islam and America. In the movie, The Visitor (2007) directed by Thomas McCarthy, the illegal immigrants’ A Syrian musician and his partner, a Senegalese vendor, are struggling to live in America. Unlike the other many movies, The Visitor represents the illegal immigrants as HUMANS. They are expressed not like moving mannequins, or greedy animals, but as a human. They love and understand art, they are caring and they have self esteem. After the Syrian musician, Tarek Khalil, was arrested his mother visits the professor Walter Vale, who provided his apartment to Tarek and his partner Zainab. Tarek’s mother Mouna is represented as a very decent woman. Although the professor Walter sympathized with the illegal immigrants and Mouna looks like a loyal woman, they do not have any solution to the problem. They are in pain and trouble. And the initial causes are their race and their nationalities.
When I was in my home country, I believe that I had never thought about my race and nationality. Almost everyone around me was the same as me. I did not have to think about my race and nationality. But while I am in America, I have to think about my race and nationality almost every day, every second. Somebody might say that “Why don’t you go back to your home country and stay there forever. Then you don’t have to have any conflict because of your race or nationality.” Of course I could agree with the opinion, but it is not that simple.
Since Korea became one of the affluent countries, many foreigners came to Korea to seek to work. I saw many foreign workers but have never thought about their situations or loneliness or struggles. People usually have never been thankful for their health when they are healthy; people usually have never been thankful for their youth when they are young. I was the same. When I was one of the natives, I had never been thankful for my privilege. I just took it for granted.
It is true that sometimes I have a hard time in America. For example, on March 11, 2010 somebody scratched all over my car while I was sleeping and on Apr. 6, 2010 somebody black sprayed all over my car again during the night. I was so scared. I was horrified and terrified because at the first time, I thought it happened just randomly but the second time, I thought that someone might have a certain purpose. Thus, I was so scared and freaked out because someone might attack me or hurt me. I bought three security devices but I am still freaked out. My old car became a very unique figure all around the campus. Maybe somebody hates me, or maybe I have enemies but I could not guess the exact reason or the person who might have done it. That was why I was more sad and terrified. If I knew the person or the reason, I could think of some solution to help overcome the problems. I can fix it. But I still don’t know any reason and anyone.
Even though sometimes I have a hard time, I still strongly believe in having a warm heart. Because I love travel, I traveled a lot about 30 countries and I have met many people all around the world who have different races and different nationalities. Since I have a terrible sense of direction, I have got lost almost every time I traveled in different countries and I got into difficult situations while I was traveling. Whenever I got into trouble or got lost, there were friendly, nice, kind and warm hearted people to help me out regardless of race or nationality. When I was in Moscow, Russia, I was almost kidnapped, but somebody shouted to the police and I was saved. I got lost in Budapest in Hungary, Toledo and Barcelona in Spain, Prague, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, etc., every time there was somebody who saved me willingly. Especially when I got lost in Greece, I asked a middle aged- man how to get to my hotel. The man knew how to get to my hotel, but he wanted to let me know the best way or the short cut, so he asked the other man which and how the best way was. Suddenly, people who were waiting for the bus started to discuss very lively which and how the best was for me. The bus stop became a conference ground. It took over one hour and a half. Over one hour and a half!!! I believe I will never forget that joyful memory.
In 2008, I was in Pennsylvania and I drove cross-country alone, in my old car. As always, I got lost countless times, and whenever I got lost, there were kind, nice, warm hearted Americans who told me the right direction or way to go. Among those memories, I have to tell about two episodes. In South Dakota (or North Dakota, I am not sure), I got lost in the wild plain. There was no house, no passengers, only a wild, wild plain. I got out of the car and tried to find out the direction depending on the sunlight, and an old farmer appeared. Before I asked him the direction, he asked me if I got lost. I said yes, and he suggested that I could follow him. He drove the farmer’s tractor which runs 10 miles an hour, so I had to follow him 10 miles an hour. Finally he took me to the entrance of the highway. And when I was passing by Montana, I could not find a hotel to stay for that night until 10 pm. I was hungry and scared because I could not have dinner until then, and besides it was rainy. I thought maybe I had to sleep in my old car. Nevertheless, at the gas station I met a lovely family, father and mother and two daughters, who introduced me to the nice clean hotel for me.
As I said above, I have a lot of evidences that I can surely believe in humans’ warmth and that is regardless of race or nationality. I believe maybe our opponents are prejudiced but not for our race or nationality. Maybe someday the words, race or nationality, will disappear or become meaningless because as a human who lives on this planet we have the same red blood and the same body temperature and more importantly we have the same heart and we all have the same goal, a happy life. Without doubt, happiness and a better future are more important than race or nationality. Will I one day discover that people will stop dividing one from the other for having different races and nationalities?
She wrote about a Muslim leader who lived in Brooklyn, NY, trying to reconcile with two cultures, Islam and America. In the movie, The Visitor (2007) directed by Thomas McCarthy, the illegal immigrants’ A Syrian musician and his partner, a Senegalese vendor, are struggling to live in America. Unlike the other many movies, The Visitor represents the illegal immigrants as HUMANS. They are expressed not like moving mannequins, or greedy animals, but as a human. They love and understand art, they are caring and they have self esteem. After the Syrian musician, Tarek Khalil, was arrested his mother visits the professor Walter Vale, who provided his apartment to Tarek and his partner Zainab. Tarek’s mother Mouna is represented as a very decent woman. Although the professor Walter sympathized with the illegal immigrants and Mouna looks like a loyal woman, they do not have any solution to the problem. They are in pain and trouble. And the initial causes are their race and their nationalities.
When I was in my home country, I believe that I had never thought about my race and nationality. Almost everyone around me was the same as me. I did not have to think about my race and nationality. But while I am in America, I have to think about my race and nationality almost every day, every second. Somebody might say that “Why don’t you go back to your home country and stay there forever. Then you don’t have to have any conflict because of your race or nationality.” Of course I could agree with the opinion, but it is not that simple.
Since Korea became one of the affluent countries, many foreigners came to Korea to seek to work. I saw many foreign workers but have never thought about their situations or loneliness or struggles. People usually have never been thankful for their health when they are healthy; people usually have never been thankful for their youth when they are young. I was the same. When I was one of the natives, I had never been thankful for my privilege. I just took it for granted.
It is true that sometimes I have a hard time in America. For example, on March 11, 2010 somebody scratched all over my car while I was sleeping and on Apr. 6, 2010 somebody black sprayed all over my car again during the night. I was so scared. I was horrified and terrified because at the first time, I thought it happened just randomly but the second time, I thought that someone might have a certain purpose. Thus, I was so scared and freaked out because someone might attack me or hurt me. I bought three security devices but I am still freaked out. My old car became a very unique figure all around the campus. Maybe somebody hates me, or maybe I have enemies but I could not guess the exact reason or the person who might have done it. That was why I was more sad and terrified. If I knew the person or the reason, I could think of some solution to help overcome the problems. I can fix it. But I still don’t know any reason and anyone.
Even though sometimes I have a hard time, I still strongly believe in having a warm heart. Because I love travel, I traveled a lot about 30 countries and I have met many people all around the world who have different races and different nationalities. Since I have a terrible sense of direction, I have got lost almost every time I traveled in different countries and I got into difficult situations while I was traveling. Whenever I got into trouble or got lost, there were friendly, nice, kind and warm hearted people to help me out regardless of race or nationality. When I was in Moscow, Russia, I was almost kidnapped, but somebody shouted to the police and I was saved. I got lost in Budapest in Hungary, Toledo and Barcelona in Spain, Prague, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, etc., every time there was somebody who saved me willingly. Especially when I got lost in Greece, I asked a middle aged- man how to get to my hotel. The man knew how to get to my hotel, but he wanted to let me know the best way or the short cut, so he asked the other man which and how the best way was. Suddenly, people who were waiting for the bus started to discuss very lively which and how the best was for me. The bus stop became a conference ground. It took over one hour and a half. Over one hour and a half!!! I believe I will never forget that joyful memory.
In 2008, I was in Pennsylvania and I drove cross-country alone, in my old car. As always, I got lost countless times, and whenever I got lost, there were kind, nice, warm hearted Americans who told me the right direction or way to go. Among those memories, I have to tell about two episodes. In South Dakota (or North Dakota, I am not sure), I got lost in the wild plain. There was no house, no passengers, only a wild, wild plain. I got out of the car and tried to find out the direction depending on the sunlight, and an old farmer appeared. Before I asked him the direction, he asked me if I got lost. I said yes, and he suggested that I could follow him. He drove the farmer’s tractor which runs 10 miles an hour, so I had to follow him 10 miles an hour. Finally he took me to the entrance of the highway. And when I was passing by Montana, I could not find a hotel to stay for that night until 10 pm. I was hungry and scared because I could not have dinner until then, and besides it was rainy. I thought maybe I had to sleep in my old car. Nevertheless, at the gas station I met a lovely family, father and mother and two daughters, who introduced me to the nice clean hotel for me.
As I said above, I have a lot of evidences that I can surely believe in humans’ warmth and that is regardless of race or nationality. I believe maybe our opponents are prejudiced but not for our race or nationality. Maybe someday the words, race or nationality, will disappear or become meaningless because as a human who lives on this planet we have the same red blood and the same body temperature and more importantly we have the same heart and we all have the same goal, a happy life. Without doubt, happiness and a better future are more important than race or nationality. Will I one day discover that people will stop dividing one from the other for having different races and nationalities?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)