Because we’ve been focusing on documentaries, I wanted to share one of my favorite movies, Exit Through the Gift Shop.
It examines on street art in general and eventually decides to focus on Banksy, a well known street artist. It’s a really well made film that plays with our perceptions of documentaries, specifically the fact that we always assume what we see in a documentary actually happened. It’s on Netflix – I highly recommend watching it.
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.
I thought this movie did a good job at providing certain statistics and facts I was unaware of, but I had a few problems with the film. In the beginning of the film, I thought it was going to be a whole movie about black men who are incarcerated and that annoyed me because it didn’t give any indication that women or white people would also be looked at later in the film. If I were watching this film on my own, I probably would’ve turned it off because the beginning made it seem like that the movie was going to be a film that supports the theory that certain races, genders, and classes of people commit these crimes. I think multiple people would feel the same way, so I think in the beginning the director should’ve given an indication that not only lower-income, black men would be looked at because it immediately turned me off from wanting to watch the rest of the film.
I think that the textbook briefly mentions this short film in the Surrealism subsection, but I wanted to give Disney’s Destino a little bit more attention than that, because I believe that it is a true experimental masterpiece. The short film was originally a collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, combining Dali’s surrealist imagery and paintings and making them move through. The project began in 1945, and if it had been released at the time, it would have been a revolutionary artistic experience, and an enormous player in the avant-garde film movement. However, because the company did not have the technology to make their exact vision come true, and because WW2 had taken a devastating toll on European and U.S. entertainment economies, the project was eventually put in the Disney Archives.
In the late 1990’s, the project was unearthed from the archives, and with the updated animation technologies at the time, was finally completed and released in 2003 at a few film festivals and on DVD. However, despite the film’s revolutionary techniques and artistic style, it has not been given the attention it may have received back in the 1940s. I think that a part of this is because most people associate Disney with their animated features, particularly princess films, that there really isn’t a market for experimental short films. However, I think that Destino is one of the most interesting pieces to come out of Walt Disney Studios in the early 21st century, and is worth a close, critical analysis as both a film and a piece of art.
In terms of plot, I don’t want to describe anything or give any of the imagery away, because it is worth watching, and is very open to interpretation. Some people see it as a social commentary, others view it as a tragic romance, but the cool thing about experimental films, just like Salvador Dali’s paintings, is that they do not have to fit a particular mold or moral code. It takes a little while to get into, because the tone of the film is very 1940s, but if you watch till the end, you might be confused, but it definitely gives you a lot to think about.
Experimental film is abstract films by individual artists that use alternative film strategies. They use different film stock, light, cuts, editing, movement that break the normal rules of filmmaking. Vinyl an experimental film by Andy Warhol is very groovy and shot interestingly. It brings us back to the 1960s immediately by the outfits, music, and location. A guy is dancing in the for front with men and a women in the backround. His dance moves are almost amusing. His facial expression is serious but he looks like he is having fun. He is just dancing and enjoying himself. I think this short film is an interesting take on the time period when rock and roll and dance clubs were prevelent. It is a moment in time that has stuck and is shown well through his camera. I will keep looking at more Warhol experimental films because as an artist he is very influential and unique.
In class we discussed films being useful and the idea of intention. This relates to our continuing conversation of the power of film and media in todays society. When I think about the power of experimental film, documentaries or a film created on a low grade device such as an iPhone or flip, I think about the Isis videos. Isis released a video showing eight Syrian soldiers lined up and beheaded. This video had over 1.5 million views. It drew attention to ISIS and the terror it reigns. This video was so powerful and meaningful. It brought this issue to the publics forefront (even though ISIS did not intend it to start the United States to fight against them but to make their own political statement) and proved useful.
After watching the documentary Soma Girls I was able to make a personal connection with the wonderfully done piece of work. Over the summer I had the pleasure of interning for a non-profit organization, The Anchal Project. Anchal “ is a nonprofit organization that addresses the exploitation of women around the world by using design thinking to create employment opportunities, services and products that support economic empowerment. Our current priority is to provide commercial sex workers in India with careers in textile & design production.”
Having worked with this organizations I was able to see at a first hand experience what these woman truly go through and the helplessness they feel when it comes to their family and children. But after seeing this documentary and knowing the work that the non-profit Anchal has been doing to raise awareness with this issue is so very inspirational. My life was forever changed because of my interning experience and having the opportunity to see this documentary just fueled my inspiration.
I believe this to be the overall point that documentaries portray and what their creator’s ultimate goal is. They know going into this there will be few financial and physical benefits that come from the project, but that is never there beginning intention. It is to inspire people, to change people’s views and motivate people to do something about it. I believe that this documentary did just that. It brought attention to the problem but in an ethical way, which many documentaries have trouble doing. They focus more on the negative and not what they are doing to change things. Unlike Soma Girls that focuses on the positive but also ethically brings awareness to the unethical issue at hand. I truly was inspired.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM4Xe6Dlp0Y
This ted talk video by Cameron Russell a model talking about how looks aren’t everything. It is a good thing to watch after Miss Representation because it tells of her being a real person instead of being photoshopped and made perfect to be shown in the media.
First, she opens wearing a skimpy cotton black dress and heels but then puts on a long skirt and sweater covering her pretty body. This transforms what we think of her and shows how she is normal just like us. It is a big statement against the media and how it portrays women-and herself. She says “image is powerful” and ‘image is superficial” which is like what the director says about media and looks in Miss Representation.
Her story about her life, modeling, and the media. She promotes beauty as being yourself and that everyone is beautiful. She hates the legacy for models and the media-white, skinny, perfect skin. She promotes knowledge and leadership over modeling and other media jobs this is similar to Newsom’s want for women to be powerful and not be part of the media and be leaders. I think her ted talk goes hand in hand with Newsom’s film. There is a powerful voice behind Cameron that makes me want to look past the photos in magazines and the celebrities in media and want more for myself.
I think, overall, this documentary was amazing and did a good job of making the viewer care about the issues females and males deal with every day due to gender. Although I found the film very touching and thought-provoking, there were some things that did not sit well with me. Every woman that was interviewed was a CEO, president, or very high up in a company. I think it is important to show that women are capable of having demanding jobs, but I felt as if women who have lower-level jobs were neglected. I think if jobs lower down on the food chain were displayed it would have brought more to the film.