Movie Analysis: October Sky

In the film, “October Sky”, the main occupation during that era was to work at the coal mine; almost every man worked as a miner to obtain money to raise their family. The coal mine is a very dangerous place to work however: a large amount of dust in the coal mine can cause respiratory damage to the miners and the rocks and debris can kill the miners if it falls on them.

One of the symbolic representations in La Mission is where it takes place, in the mission district of San Francisco. It represents the traditional stance of Che the main character and compares it to the shift to a more hipster neighborhood with new people like Lena moving in who haven’t been in the neighborhood until recently. He also restores old cars into low riders which is historically Mexican American style of car. The music featured in this movie is a mix of traditional chorales, native drums and guitars mixed with newer more modern version that also show the transition that this community and culture are facing coming to terms with change and homosexuality that is culturally unacceptable.

The film Fruitvale Station written and directed by Ryan Coogler, tells the story of a young African American man that was shot and killed by a white police officer on a subway platform. The film is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who at the age of 22 years old was killed by a police officer on the Fruitvale station platform in San Francisco, California. The film shows how Oscar lived a tough life, but still had a caring heart. At the start of the New Year, Oscar wanted to change his life, and make better decisions. Unfortunately, he was a part of a situation that led to him being in police custody, and shot by a police officer. Oscar Grant’s death caused many protests and riots in the Bay Area against police brutality.

At the beginning of January in The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt, Doug Swieteck’s brother posts pictures of Holling playing Ariel the fairy all over the school. Holling is very embarrassed and thinks about changing schools. He tells his parents, “I’ve been thinking of military school,” I said, “In Alabama.” Holling is desperate to get away from the bullying. Similarly, Holling’s sister is angry at him for wearing yellow tights for the role and does not want to be affected by his actions. Soon a picture of Holling in the costume is taped to her locker. She does not want to be seen as the girl with a brother who dresses up in tights. She says, “ I didn’t care as long as it was just you. But it’s not just you now, is it? This was taped to

Lone star is a contemporary western set in Texas in the 90s. The film reflects themes of police corruption, immigration and the inter-cultural relations in a small border town. The film captures the backstories of different characters and intertwines them together through their interpretation of history and community.

Moonlight depicts a young boy growing up in the hood (poverty) area In Miami, being chased by bullies right after school is let out. The bullies are yelling faggot while chasing young Chiron with sticks and bottles. The young boy name is Chiron but people call him Little, he eventually runs into an abandon house (a hole) is what Juan refers to it as. Juan then tries to comfort him by taking him out to get something to eat. The film is mainly about a young boy growing up with a drug addict mother, who doesn’t take time out with her son. A drug dealer then takes her son in and comforts him and spends time with him on a daily to get to know him. The drug dealer Juan who has a girlfriend by the name of Teresa, gets Chiron to speak. Juan and Teresa offers Chiron to spend the night comforting him and now spending quality time with him every day unlike his drug addict mother. The issues that are raised is the struggle for the African American culture drug dealing, faggots, drug addict mother, poverty, and bullies. I feel as if the main purpose of this film is to get a view of what homosexual African American males may go through on a daily starting from childhood following into his teenage years, and adult life. Chiron as a teenager is still frighten and being bullied in high school. He still has a motherlike relationship with Teresa who gives him encouraging words. However, Chiron is confused on his sexual preference. In chapter one, Chiron as child sits down at the table with

Heartbreaking and informative, One Week in April shines light on why gun control is such a popular issue in this country.

Barry Jenkins’s 2016 film, Moonlight, is a work that is characterized by its silences, both in what is unsaid, as well as the unresolved nature of many of its central tensions. In the film, silence functions to emphasize the interiority of the film’s subject, and to make the audience aware of itself. Such strategic use of absence recalls John Cage's groundbreaking composition, 4'33; a work that is distinguished by its lack of any audible musical accompaniment. For many, the piece is reflective of Cage's sexual identity as a gay man; the silence functioning as a metaphor for the “closet” (Katz 241). The scholar Jonathan Katz has pushed against such a totalizing reading of Cage's oeuvre, by noting that silence was part of his larger aesthetic and religious practices, and thusly cannot be considered as simply an aural manifestation of the closet (242). Katz argues that, "Silence was much more than conventionally unmusical; it provided a route toward an active challenge of the assumptions and prejudices that gave rise to homophobic oppression in the first place. For Cage, silence was an ideal form of resistance, carefully attuned to the requirements of the cold war consensus, at least in its originary social-historical context." (241).

Moonlight is a movie that follows the life of Chiron as he grows up. Starting from an abusive childhood at his mother’s house, and through his struggle filled highschool years, Chiron ultimately ends up an independent adult. From the beginning of the film, Chiron face abuse at the hands of his mother as well as from bullies at his school, which leads him to find Juan, who acts as a type of mentor to him as he grows up. Juan’s girlfriend Teresa also acts as a mentoring figure through Chiron’s youth and adult life, while Chiron’s own mother slips into drug use and prostitution. In Chiron’s younger years, he befriends Kevin, who remains significant throughout the film as his love interest. While in school, Chiron must battle with bullies, while growing up in a rough home situation. This constant struggle for physical safety and well as safety in his sexuality causes high tension throughout the film. As he discovers himself, Chiron looks to Juan and Teresa for guidance, but eventually lashes out at the violent bullies in his life.

“The Mission” is a film that gives a historically accurate depiction of the events that took place in South America around 1750, displaying the jesuit missions and their attempt at expanding missionary ventures in the area. These missions foresaw the Jesuits going to uncharted areas of the jungle inhabited by the Guarani people, demonstrating the significance assimilating the Guarani people meant to the Jesuits. Additionally, the Guarani people were accurately displayed as a self-sustained society where basic components such as: productivity, protection, justice regulations and a form of a leader was evident in the form of their King. Nonetheless, the Guarani were an isolated group of individuals who were secluded to the outside world; their only contact with outside personnelles were slave traders who would put them into forced slavery for personal benefits. Not to mention the “Treaty of Madrid”, which resulted in the social and political disputes between the, Portuguese, Spanish and Catholic community; manifesting in the form of territorial conflicts and misunderstandings amongst the three vigorous societies, where each have a different purpose for the Guarani people.

The movie Before Night Falls directed by Julian Schnabel offers viewers a glimpse of how the homosexual community in Cuba was being mistreated under Fidel Castro’s regime. The true story is told in the eyes of Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas. The film depicts Arenas life in Cuba and all of the awful experiences that he had to deal with as a homosexual. Eventually he was arrested for false accusations of being a molester, however, he was actually under arrest for being a homosexual. Between the 1930s and 1990s, the Communist Cuba was abusive to the LGBT community as shown in their actions of harassment towards homosexuals, imprisoning the homosexuals, or sending them to re-education camps.

Moonlight is an American drama film that chronicles the life of African-American male Chiron, who is being raised by a careless mother in a harsh Miami neighbourhood. Its most prominent themes are love, stereotypes and identity. The filmmakers create meaning from these through combining different elements of aesthetics (the style or look of a motion picture). Aesthetic effect refers to the practise of using different elements of a film (mise-en-scene, sound, cinematography and editing) to generate film form.

Paradise Now is a 2-hour film released in 2005, it depicts a perspective alternative in a highly controversial topic of suicide bombers or also known as a ‘martyr’. The movie takes place in Palestine during the Israeli occupation and illustrates the mundane life and frustration felt by the main characters Said and Khaled due to the oppression experienced during the conflict. A key feature that is also portrayed is the reasoning, and almost justification of an attack on that level. However, the perpatrators can be seen showing feelings of hesitance and even inquisitiveness in relation to the afterlife that they are promised and whether violent resistance is the last option. This paper, will discuss how “Paradise Now” provoked my views and

In the United States, our society maintains both dominant cultures dictated by white descent, and non-dominant cultures that have been oppressed and marginalized by those of white descent. The film Moonlight (2016), directed by Barry Jenkins, depicts cultural expectations of black males in America and what consequences they have. While the founders of the United States cite societal arguments for equality and justice, the film provides commentary on specific systemic issues that prove these founding principles are not truly embodied by our society. Black men for hundreds of years, through slavery and beyond, are susceptible to the cultural implications that they are given at birth. These implications are a result of oppressive systemic inputs by the dominating culture that is only engaging if you are white, male, straight, and rich. Moonlight (2016) gives viewers the perspective of how these systems of communication affect black men’s identity in America today, through communication and language. The film further challenges the conversation around disparities across racial communications by discussing the additional challenges that exist if a person is black and has a “non-traditional” sexual orientation.

When you educate a young girl, she has fewer children, she takes better care of her children, she marries at an older age, and she also contributes to her country's economy. Therefore, why is the education of women so greatly underestimated in many parts of the world? This is a question that has caused many individuals to take action against the act of prohibiting a woman the right of receiving an education. To begin with, education enables parents, and the rest of society, to see the value of a girl. As stated in the film Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, "Educate a girl, and she can change the world around her." Education acts as a safe haven for many young women and as an opportunity of having an advancement