Literature in Film #3: To Kill a Mockingbird

I think this was one of the most heartbreaking trials I've ever watched in a movie. From the start of when he went up before the jury I could tell that there wouldn't be a happy ending to it because of how regardless of how sincere and innocent he sounded and actually was, he didn't stand a chance. When Atticus went up to plead with the jury, I found something so beautifully sad about what he was saying.

Thomas Jefferson once said that all men are created equal, a phrase that the government is fond of hurling at us. There is a tendency in this year of grace, 1935, for certain people to use that phrase out of context, to satisfy all conditions.

I've never read the book but I think, here, the author is trying to make note of the fact that our nation really isn't equal at all, that we have to state we are rather than just actually be. The context of this situation where it's a black man going against two white people in front of a jury filled with white discriminative people goes to prove this inequality because already, he is already hopeless before they can even hear his story but also doesn't stand a chance. 

I also thought that his kids being there to see the trial was very important, especially this one if any. It's nice to know that he's teaching them not to discriminate and this is the best way to explain why because it shows that it could mean life or death for somebody. 

Literature in Film #2: Precious

I've watched this movie so many times and never does it get easier to see what Precious has to go through but the ending is always so uplifting in the way that she becomes her own hero.

In the beginning of the movie when Precious is sitting in math class, she tells us that she wishes someone would break through to her, ultimately saving her from this harsh reality that she is living in with all types of abuse coming from those closest to her. I think the verbal abuse that she received from her mother convinced her, to some point, that she wasn't capable of achieving certain things but then there's something so powerful in the way that she makes this break through to herself by herself. We can give a bit of credit to her principal for informing her of Each One Teach One but what it really took was her drive to want to learn and create somethimg of herself.

Not only did she learn to read and write but she also learned a lot about herself; even from the first day when she sat in the front of the class and felt here. Towards the end of the movie, in the scene where Precious is sitting in the office next to the girl with the bruised eye, Shaina pointed out that it's sad how that little girl is ultimately going through the same situation. I thought Precious putting her red scarf around her was a way of saying, "You'll get through this, too".

The other day, I cried. But you know what? Fuck that day. That's why God, or whoever, makes other days.

Literature in Film #1: Rebel

I'm so proud of Anthony's work and happy that I got to see it (although I paid to see the viewing, didn't know we were gonna watch it in class). I've never seen Rebel but I've watched They Shoot Horses, Don't They? and I thought the cross referencing he did and where he incorporated the one scene from the movie was actually very powerful. It went a long way in showing just how disturbed the kid was even after we hear about how he wrote an essay about torturing kittens.
There were a lot of things I was still really confused about. Like who shot the kid he was racing with? Why? Or what was up with the trash bin covers? What was it that he wanted from the girl, there was never any conclusion as to what happened between the two of them. Wait, why were they even racing in the first place?
Lastly, I thought the cinematography was great. My favorite was the beginning when it showed shots of the main character as well as played the credits.

It was great, Anthony!