13th: Documentary Analysis

This has great impact on me, because it I learned why and how this divide in society is happening and how such frustrations such as in 2008, is causing people to

Because I 'm older, curious by nature, and an avid reader of research (domestic and worldwide), and because social issues matter greatly to me, I didn 't really learn anything new from the documentary. However, it confirmed for me that my fears and growing apprehension about gun violence and guns in general are valid.

In chess, the grand plan is checkmate. You plan several steps ahead and each move brings you that much closer to checkmating your opponent. For me, my checkmate is being able to give back to my family and community through becoming a doctor. The documentary “13th” by Ava DuVernay inspired me to want to break the limits that have been set for black people in America. The documentary motivated me to think how I can impact and help my community grow and flourish. Every piece in chess has its own individual strength, whether it be the knight’s ability to jump over other pieces or the pawns ability crown as a knight, bishop, or queen. I realized my strength lies in my unyielding ability to help and care for others, which is why I decided to pursue

Jose Antonio Vargas documentary titled Documented opened my eyes to things I have never knew or particular looked at first hand from a person in his situation. Watching the film it was very touching and enlighten to bring awareness to something many people experience here in America. Something that stood out to me was how he was and known Journalist for many companies like The Huffington Post, The Washington Post and many others. Living like any person would go day to day you would never know that he was considered and illegal immigrant.

Each of these pieces display the legitimate cruelty itself through their images and descriptions. Both of these pieces exemplify the brutality towards the black race and present a “call-to-action” towards the problem. The film 13th, displays this action regarding mass incarceration through statistics and images that ultimately encouraged the need of change. Similarly, Equiano ‘s descriptions of his feelings on the slave ship established the need for change indirectly through his discomfort towards the white race. Both DuVernay and Equiano’s works emphasize the need for change among the treatment of blacks rather the situation involves slavery or mass incarceration. An emphasis of brutality is displayed as the underlying message of each of the works and these certain characteristics of had highly affected me as the

The documentary, The Good Fight, captures the many struggles and sacrifices James Farmer faced during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Through first hand accounts, pictures, and documents, this film brings James Farmer to life portraying him as a selfless, committed, and collaborative leader dedicated to the movement. James Farmer experienced segregation from a young age and knew at that point that he must actively do something to put an end to it. He strongly believed in changing something that is wrong rather than just passively accommodating to the world.

In the following I want to introduce you to two different Chicagoan artists, who were presented in the PBS series Art:21. I have chosen Chris Ware and Theaster Gates.

This is another documentary that every American needs to watch, in order to become an informed citizen. It reveals how the greed and corruption of a few individuals, who abuse their power, truly affects American policy. This documentary reveals that the average American knows little to nothing about the true past and current affairs of their own country. For example, there is a facility called the “School of Assassins” which prepares individuals to slaughter any outspoken activists who are working against the benefit of the United States. The school is associated with the El Mazote massacre. This was a village in El Salvador, where at least 130 children were slaughtered, along with hundreds of adults (What I Learned About). It is almost inconceivable to imagine that this blood could be on the hands of the American government. For a long time, the American government has kept their citizens in the dark. In doing so, they created a population that is essentially brainwashed to believe the falsehoods that their government is telling them. This documentary has displayed, to this class, the importance of factual information and current events, which are the only way to remain knowledgeable about our country’s

The documentary Enemies of the People exposes some buried truths of the Khmer Rouge genocide through personal interviews. Thet Sambath spent ten years befriending village farmers who participated in the killings and Nuon Chea, the second in command, to get to the truth of what happened and why. Throughout the documentary, connections can be made to the fear of an imagined other as a threat to Cambodia, the banality of evil that fueled the genocide.

How did the film or documentary expand your knowledge or deepen your understanding of the American political system?

I learned that Rosa Parks had problems with the bus driver previous to the day she wouldn’t give up her seat, he even came close to hitting her. I also learned that they only expected 500 people to show up at the mass meetings and 5,000 people really did. Another thing I learned was that the bus boycott lasted 381 days. I found it shocking that they were bombing houses and throwing balloons full of urine at blacks when they were walking and driving past. I also found it shocking of how calm Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was when he saw his house after it got bombed. My impression on the documentary is that I am amazed of how many people participated in the bus boycott and worked together to end segregation. I also think that Rosa Parks was extremely

My feet hit the street as I ran as fast as i could go. He was getting closer to me,  I could see the finish line it was so close. I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was him. He pushed me down. I fell.  My  face hit the sidewalk. Hard. I could see blood everywhere.

I believe that everything depends on what type of documentary we are talking about, for example if I was watching a horror documentary I will expect what's coming up next. Something that helps us to anticipate the next shots is the trailer of the documentary because it give us a sneak peek of the whole documentary. Like I mention let's say it was a documentary about a haunted house, I will expect footage of ghost or something similar to it. But if we are talking about a different type of documentary, I feel like we can all sort of anticipate what's coming up next just because of the theme of the documentary. When I think about documentaries, the sound that always comes to my mind is a background sound that sounds really scary and that make

Smith was able to narrative a story of a filmmaker as he struggled with his addiction of drugs and alcohol. He also captured how Borchardt’s best friend “fixed” his alcohol addiction by adopting a new addiction, gambling. His friend wanted to make money so he could help fund the short films that were in production. The main subjects seemed as they were actors because they were so different that it felt almost fake. Smith also showed Borchardt’s obsession with creating and finishing a short horror film. Borchardt consistently talked about how badly he needed to finish Coven throughout the documentary. He does get the video done because he was also obsessed with finishing his project in order to get money for his next project. He was so obsessed to get his film done he asked his dying uncle Bill for money continuously. After his uncle passed away he left him money in his will so Borchardt could finish Northwestern. Borchardt did everything he could in order to finish the film. Even though it seemed as if he had a drinking problem he was still able to complete a product he was happy about. Borchardt is still making short films today including movies like Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever and Hamlet: A. D. D. but none have been very successful.

12 Years a Slave is a movie that truly shows us how horrible slavery was without trying to make it seem less cruel. It showed even the most horrible scenes. After watching the film my thoughts were about how much the slaves must have suffered, but good thing it’s all over now. That was before I listened to Kevin Bales’ TED-talk about modern slavery. Slavery still exists, I would like to think that we learn from our history and our mistakes, but that is not true. If we take a look at some of the events from the past it’s clear that history is always repeating itself. It’s sad to listen to Martin Luther King’s speech. Things that are so simple for us are almost as a dream to him and even after all these years the things he fought for are still