The Movie Reflection

Life is beautiful because of the complex nature that it is. There are moments of pure bliss and happiness that one doesn’t want to go away. However, there are also problems and challenges that lay in the journey and it takes great courage to keep. It is a concept that is not easily explained if symbols and metaphors are not used for it. These examples of figurative language often help make the concepts of transitions, positions, and experiences seem clearer.

Throughout the term I have begun experiencing movies in a different way. The class has taken ideas of cinematography, theory, and film history and practically applied it to physically watching movies. By breaking down scenes and movies as a whole, the way I look at films in general has developed. A reflection on two of the films from this term, Casablanca (Curtiz, 1942) and North by Northwest (Hitchcock, 1959) will carry the bulk of the essay. Though, I will also be discussing how this class changed the way I saw a movie just a few weeks ago. Casablanca’s script and acting are of particular caliber, and North by Northwest unfortunately does not deliver with the dialogue and casting of lead actor Cary Grant. Though, overall, they both

What finally breaks down Charles Foster Kane is having Susan leave him. His need for control, and the inability for Susan or others to continue to comply with that need, send him into a frenzy in which he destroys the room Susan was staying in during their huge vacation in the Florida Everglades. From the room he takes a snow globe, and he is heard saying the words “rose bud” the first time by someone else. He walks into a hallway that has many mirrors, and this symbolizes Citizen Kane as a whole. This scene reflects the fragmented nature of the film. The life of Charles Foster Kane is told through the perspectives of several other people, and, due to this, as no person can be entirely unbiased, truthful, or even knowledgeable of the facts when recalling interactions with another person, we never get a complete picture of who Kane really is. Dozens of figures of Kane can be seen through the mirror, and this relates to how there are many images of Kane that can be derived from listening to the recollections of those who were close to him.

The movie 28 days is about a woman (Gwen Cumming) who is an alcoholism and drug addiction. She always abuses prescription pills and alcohol. After she ruins her sister’s wedding by giving an embarrassing speech, falling into the wedding cake and stealing a limo, she faces jail time or rehab. Gwen chooses to go to rehab. At first, she refuses to participate in the facility’s programs, but when she breaks her leg in an attempt to retrieve a bottle of pills, she realizes that she needs help. While watching this movie, I saw many good counseling skills that can help a person that is dealing with the problems. She is given a choice between 28 days in jail or in a rehab center, and she chooses rehab (Grant, S and Thomas, B, (2000).

On the evening of September 15th, 2017, I attended the 25th annual Take Back the Night march. Take Back the Night is an international event that takes place in many different communities through the year. Universally, this event has a similar meaning, to raise awareness, honor the memory of women who have not survived violence, celebrating the strength of those who have and to demand an end to violence against women. Furthermore, this special event honored and recognized the culture of indigenous peoples with an emphasizes on the missing and murdered indigenous women across Canada. By attending this community event I was able to critically reflect on my own experience, values, and beliefs. In doing so, this helped inform me of my own values and also will inform my future practice as a social worker.

All literature is created by themes, without themes, they would simply be stories, and within those themes are patterns; constantly repeating throughout the work. Throughout the novel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, the use of themes and repeating patterns are seen through four different families. Some of the most prominent themes or patterns are family, specifically mother-daughter relationships, women and femininity, and growth in characters.

The Joy Luck Club is a book about the struggles of Chinese women and their daughters integrating into American society. Several patterns occur throughout many of the families throughout the book. Daughters’ independence and rebelling against their mothers, repetition of their mother's past actions, and the daughters misunderstanding their mothers. These all contribute to the pattern and themes that repeat in the book.

Joseph Campbell redefined the traditional idea of a hero in his interview with Bill Moyers, titled “The Hero’s Adventure.” In the interview, Campbell claimed that, “A hero is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself,” and identified three distinct parts in a hero’s journey— departure, fulfillment, and return. To begin the journey, the hero is called to adventure either literally or figuratively. The hero then crosses the threshold and is challenged by multiple trials. As Campbell noted, “…there are two types of deed. One is the physical deed…the other kind is the spiritual deed.” Once the hero is able to overcome the initial series of adventures, the hero is then able to “recover what has been lost” or “discover some life-giving elixir.” Throughout Amy Tan’s novel, The Joy Luck Club, many heroic characters who fit Campbell’s description of a true hero are presented; one of whom is Lindo Jong, the mother of Waverly Jong.

justice system on the black community. The film opens with the harrowing statics spoken by

Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the greatest of them all? I ponder over this question as I stare vacantly at my reflection. It shows myself at the age of four, wobbling back and forth like a rocking chair, nerves and empty thoughts racing through my mind as I stand at the very front of the line on the first day of kindergarten. It shows myself ten years from now in a stable job as a successful lawyer on a more busy than average day. It shows me my struggles, my doubts, my anxieties, and my failures. It shows me my successes, my euphoria, my dreams, hopes and aspirations. It shows me my teachers, my peers, my culture, religion, my friends, my mother, my father, my brothers. Myself. I see the world,

Another theme of the book is to everyone should make the most out of everything. Even if you have to try new things, you experience them. Ginny’s aunt wanted her to go on these tasks so she could get out in the world and be a part of new things, and she did. If it wasn't for her aunt, she wouldn't have done the things she did.It’s about her coming to terms with her aunt’s death and growing as a person. There are undercurrents of humor, romance, and friendship, but ultimately this is a journey of self-discovery set amidst a backdrop of famous European

I feel strongly and I am convince that the fact that I had a headache and blocked sinuses affected my learning during the course time.

The author of "How the Other Half Lives", Jacob Riis, inscribes on the deplorable living conditions of the Progressive Era from a first-person perspective. Riis, an immigrant, police reporter, photojournalist and most importantly: a pioneer and social reformer, tells a very captivating yet appalling experience of the lower class life in New York City beginning in the 19th century. Migration and the standardization of establishments are the attributing factors to overpopulation distribution and overcrowding of living arrangements in the city.

The Giver is a morally driven and thought-provoking story about a young boy called Jonas who lives in a society free of crime, sadness, pain, death, music, color and love. The story follows Jonas as he receives the memories of the past, good and bad, from the current Receiver, who is called the Giver. The Giver transfers memories by placing his hands on Jonas 's forearms. The first memory he receives is of a thrilling sled ride, which he will remake in the end of the movie. Jonas discovers the dangerous truths of his community 's secret past. Armed with the power of knowledge, which he knew about from memories (Ways of Knowledge), Jonas realizes that he must release all the memories to the community to allow them to feel

What concepts, principles, or ideas that you have learned, do you think you will remember the most after you leave this class?