After watching The Hunting Ground, I couldn’t help but wonder how many male students were subjected to that film on a larger scale and also what their reactions would be. What if that film were shown to the entire FSU football team? Would they still rally around their glorified quarterback or would morality take over and would the team come to their senses and not only give Winston the punishment he deserves but also give Emma Kingsman the apology that is long overdue. I can’t help but feel like it should be a requirement to screen this film to incoming freshman around the country to possibly prevent assaults from even taking place. Make students uncomfortable and squeamish during that film to possibly save students from an endless amount of feeling much worse if assaults were to happen to them. I personally know people who have been assaulted and this film even in itself might make them feel better knowing that they aren’t alone.

Even though the documentary The House I Live In did a phenomenal job of highlighting the current problems within the war against drugs, one thing I especially admired about the film is how it left off giving the audience an idea of what the next steps were towards the future. I agree completely with the idea that if the US wants to make a serious impact in the war against drugs, it should start where the problem beings by building up the economy around the areas where their aren’t a lot of job opportunities available to keep the kids off the streets. Also, to inform people who are vulnerable to drug abuse the effects it could have on their, and their families, lives. There is one program like this that was very evident in my middle school called D.A.R.E (I’m sure most of you have heard about it) informing kids about the dangers of becoming under the influence. It’s nice to know that already there have been these steps in the right direction, but we as a country should keep walking to eventually get the problem taken care of once and for all.

Missrepresentation reminded me of  a recent nation wide movement made none other than Emma Watson. Her, like many others have seen the problems in the world that Missrepresentation  emphasized and so she reached out to UN Women and decided to do something about it. Her campaign movement entitled “He for She” urges men into supporting women looking to better themselves in the workforce and in leadership positions. The speech is phenomenal and its a great step in the right direction. Take some time to read!

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2014/9/emma-watson-gender-equality-is-your-issue-too

Throughout Chinatown the use of sound, like in what seems to be all 1970s movies, was exaggerated but yet appropriate. The first time I noticed this was when the police pulled Mulwray out of the river. As soon as they went to a close up on his face, the non-digetic soundtrack was overly evident and very daunting almost scaring the viewer and leaving an unsettling image in their heads. Afterwards, when Mr. Gitties is exploring the Peach Tree farm, once a shot is fired at his head, the music is then quickly paced making the entire scene way more dramatic than it would have been without the music up until they finally pull Gitties out of his car. Finally, the third very evident use of sound I felt was a little more dramatic than it needed to be (but still worked)  was when Mrs. Mulwray and Gitties kissed in the bathroom. The sound behind the scene made it way more intimate than it would have been without probably trying to portray to the viewers the moment when both characters caught feelings for each other.

The scene that make the most impact of the film on me was the beginning scene while opening credits were still rolling. To me, you could know very minimal about JFK and his disastrous decision in Pay of Pigs or his idea to send military advisors over in Vietnam, but still manage to create a correct historical image of him by the time the scene of everyone in the bar came on. To me, this is extremely important because it is the precedent that sets up the feeling in the US after the shooting. The combination of old and new film to be has always been interesting, and it gives me a new respect for the progression of media. Likewise, it gives me a new found respect of progression of the unraveling mystery of JFK’s murder because like a historical image, the use of old film showing his wife and kids also reaches down to a personal level creating him as not only a president, but a father and husband as well.

One question I couldn’t help but ask while watching the final scenes of Do the Right Thing was how could have the entire conflict that resulted in Sal’s pizzeria being burnt to the ground been avoided? It seems to me that the arrogance of both Sal, his boys, and his customers lead both parties to be blinded by their emotions and act in a brutal manner. By arrogance I mean both parties thinking that their actions are never in the wrong, they never take a minute to use a mellow tone and think twice about what might happen if a compromise was in the picture. Is that another message Spike Lee tries to convey to us? It seems to me as if he tries to portray the characters as not having having that ability to take a deep breath and step back, like Sal and Mooky do at the end of the movie after the fire.  If so, maybe that is a positive way to resolve these conflicts before they start.

After watching the scene in the film where Jasper is telling the story of Theo’s son Dillon by relating his horrible outcome to the relationship between faith and chance, I couldn’t help but think about what the outcome would be if you applied the same concept to Baby Diego and Kee’s baby. Being the youngest person alive, the last one to be born is nothing but chance. Civilians had Baby Diego as their closest memory of what it is like to see or have a baby in that world. The chance that another baby might come along was slim, but people still had faith in that chance. Once Diego was gone, the faith was gone, until another chance at fertility showed itself again through Kee. If you think about it, there are three prevalent lives within the film where the relationship between faith and chance are very active. Dillion’s, Baby Diego’s, and now Kee’s baby. Third time is a charm.