My initial reaction to the film was of utter shock at the brutally raw reality of the film. Upon reflection and commentary from other sources, the film’s simple yet vastly effective filmmaking techniques of developing the explicit and implicit meaning of the film. The explicit meaning, as
wise woman once said “Stereotypes are fast and easy/ but they are lies/ and the truth takes time.” Deb Caletti. This quote follows stereotyping by saying that they are fast and easy, but what people tell them are not always true. That what people say about someone doesn’t always mean that they have to believe what they are saying. People don't defines them, the only person that define them is themselves. Stereotyping is a big problem in books, movies, and even the world.
In Michael S. Kimmel’s essay, “Gender, Class, and Terrorism”, he compares the similarities between two masterminds of terrorist attacks in the united states, as he searches for the purpose of these radical events. Kimmel researches the life of Timothy McVeigh, a citizen of America who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City and Mohammed Atta, the said to be mastermind of the infamous 9/11 terrorist attacks. Through his research, Kimmel finds parallels between McVeigh and Atta in; age and
Over the many years of filmmaking, there is no doubt that classical Hollywood has made an interesting name for itself. The classical Hollywood style has become quite predictable in relation to film narrative because of their unique filmmaking choices using devices like continuity editing, three-point lighting, centered framing, and musical scores. When we think of a classic Hollywood film, we usually imagine a story with a happy ending. A phenomenal film that performs all these functions
With many scenes taken away because some characters are never mentioned took away a lot of the overall meaning of the story. I didn’t feel to relate to the movie as much as I did with the novel. Leaving an apt amount of scenes out, took away some of the anticipation I was building up to. Which made me a bit disappointed.
In the essay The Way We Lie, Stephanie Ericsson writes that “All the ‘isms’-racism, sexism, ageism, et al.-are founded on and fueled by the stereotype and the cliché, which are lies of exaggeration, omission, and ignorance. They are always dangerous. They take a single tree and make it a landscape.” This quote is important due to the fact that stereotypes play a major role in many aspects of our society. In American society we have a tendency to pass judgment on people just because of a pre-existing stereotype that our society has formed on particular groups over the years. American Society tends to create stereotypes because of the simplicity it adds to our lives, but stereotypes can cause us to oversimplify the characteristics
• Describe the film in general terms. What subjects does it cover? Describe the plot and setting. What issues does it raise? What do you see as the main purpose of the film?
The movie is entitled American Sniper who is Chris Kyle, the hero; however, there is another sniper, the Arab Mustafa who is the antihero. The American sniper is represented as someone who is clean and representable. He is a cowboy who had a rough childhood as an excuse for his violent acts. The Arab sniper on the other hand is a terrorist, someone who is totally uncivilized and who comes from dirty suburbs. The American sniper is shown as someone who is able to love and care for others and treat them well; his violent acts are only driven by his big love for his country and the horrible news he sees on TV. The Arab sniper, however, has no background story; we don’t know anything about him except for his coldhearted executions and bloody actions which lead the audience to imagine that his wife, sister, and mother might be veiled women carrying grenades beneath their
As the movie progressed, however, things became sinister. The boys went to the wrong place at the wrong time. They ran around from bombing, and they lost one of their friends. Seeing the bombing from the perspective of innocent people stuck in a conflict area is an eye-opening experience for me, because most of the
The film, while being critically acclaimed with a 4.5/5 on Amazon, bears many flaws in the truth aspect of being a “true story”. The film some how attempts to present itself as being “accurate” and “truly American”, while simultaneously cutting through lengths of complexities in history and politics in the events that occurred post-9/11 and preceding the Invasion of iraq. The Main enemy of the film American Sniper is an enemy sniper, who somehow is presented as an ally of several opposing radical terrorist groups. The issue lies not in the conflicting interests, but in the generalizing of the muslim population as “terrorists”. In order to create a simple and clean-cut narrative, the film skips several years of political discourse in the events leading up to the invasion of iraq in order to imply to the viewer that the main character is joining the invasion in attempt to “avenge” 9/11 (despite the fact that the invasion of iraq was not a result of (9/11), and also manages to falsely label millions of innocent people as
Since the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the war against terrorism has become “the” major foreign policy objective. Violence is a hallmark of terrorism; terrorist groups participate in gruesome acts to create widespread revulsion and fear. According to Sandler, the true target of terrorism is a wider public, who will then pressure the government to give in to the demands of the terrorists.
While watching this film you may find yourself experiencing some of the same emotions as the characters in the film this allows you to be in the movie letting you be a part of an important event in our history. This is what makes the film so unique. Its full of different scenarios that keep you wondering what is going to happen next. I think that this film is a very close representation of what WWII was really like.
Do stereotypes stem from a harsh truth, or are they primarily used to degrade groups of people? Female stereotypes, specifically those of a sexist nature, have been prevalent since the beginning of time, and are glaringly present today. In the play Death of a Salesman, Arthur Miller uses submissive qualities and sexual objectification pertaining to women to expose female stereotypes in society.
Additionally, to understand terrorism, we must understand the motivations. In the 21st century, it is fair to say that many organisations are religiously and politically motivated. Which are primary observations from the film as well, however what is also manifested in the storyline is the idea of personal vendettas or struggles, honour and the need for recognition. What I have learnt this semester is that along with the interpretations of Islam, there are many diverse people, who are then motivated differently. In week 3 for example one of the readings discussed child radicalisation, and most definitely these children are
All of the characters presented in the movie have a distinct personality, making the viewer engage deeply in the heart pumping action and drama.