Reaction to Persepolis

Persepolis was a very dark movie. It was very sad and depressing to learn about how rough her life had been. As she grew up she had to overcome things we would never even imagine going through. While living in Iran there was a war and her family decided that she would be safer in Austria. She spent some time there but was lonely and came back to Iran. But things became bad again and the movie ends with her starting a new life in France.
There was a lot of western culture that was involved early in the movie. Before Iran was involved in the war they were free to express them selves. They wore western clothing and had other aspects of western culture in it. The music they would listen to were very similar to what we here in the United States would listen to. I found this really interesting at how connected they were with the world and how just because of a war there was such a change in the culture of the country.
Once the war was over, the women were forced to cover up and lost a lot of their freedom. Here in the United States women fought for years to gain the freedom they have been able to maintain over the years. It was sad to see a country go backwards away from what women had fought for. It is unfair to take away the rights of one gender. Everything in their country was now restricted. They had to sneak around to drink alcohol  much like prohibition.
Overall this movie was sad and depressing. But it was also very informing. Seeing what some children had to grow up with and deal with was amazing to me. No child should ever have their childhood taken away from them, and that is exactly what happened in this movie. The happy ending is that she was able to get out of the situation and find a better life for herself. 

Hoop Dreams Essay

    Hoop Dreams is a movie about two boys; Aurthur and William, who go from there rough neighborhood in Chicago to peruse their dreams of making it to the NBA and getting a better life for themselves. To reach these dreams they had to overcome many different challenges. Some struggles that they had were race, class, economic division and education.
   When William and Aurthur start at the high school that recruited them St. Joesph's they are two of the very few African Americans at their school. Most of the other African Americans are also at the school to play basketball. It did not seem that they were discriminated against because of their race, but because of their race it was rarer to see people of their same race at their school. They also had an hour and half commute to their new school because it was so far away from their neighbor hood which was majority African Americans. In my school we have good diversity. Everyone is respectful and gets along. We do not hold some one's race against them and are accepting of everyone. I am grateful that i don't have to worry about my race and what people are going to do to me because of it.

    Their class and economic division make it very difficult for these boys to get out of their current neighbor hood. They do not have the money to move or go to a better school. William is able to attend St. Joe's because he has received scholarships. Otherwise he would not be able to go to a private school outside of his district. Unfortunately Aurthur is forced to leave the school because he is unable to pay for part of his education. He gets a practical scholarship to help pay but the money that his family becomes too much and he must leave the school and attend a school closer to his home. Their parents did not go to college and were not able to get good jobs. That is why they aren't able to leave their dangerous neighborhood and are not able to pay for their kids education. Luckily Aurthur's mom was able to return to school and get a better job. No matter what their parents have done, all of their parents want to see their kids get a better life. I am fortunate that in my life both my parents went to college and also want me to do the same. I do not have to worry about paying for school, food or my home. We are lucky not to have to be  concerned about those things. My neighbor hood is safe and most of my friends also have parents that have jobs and want all of us to become as successful as we can be.
   When both William and Aurthur entered high school they had a very very low reading level and needed to work very hard to be able to graduate in four years. Within their freshman year they made great leaps and bounds in their education. But unfortunately when Aurthur had to leave St. Joe's his grades started to drop and he did not put his best foot forward. He needed to attend summer school to keep on track to graduate. When Aurthur attended Marshall he also was around other students who would not take school seriously which caused him to also lose focus. William on the other hand works very hard for his grades and needs to get a 18 on his ACT to qualify of his full ride scholarship to Marquette. Everyone around him  is encouraging him to get good grades and work hard. Also the teachers at his school are able to teach him and keep him focused better than the teachers at Aurthur's school. In my school they want to help everyone get into college and have also have a lot of programs to help people. I am on the track to college and so are most of my friends. It is what we and our families want for us.
   William went to Marquette and was able to graduate but not without its difficulties. He almost dropped out but everyone was able to encouraging him to stay in school. He was able to become a real estate agent. One hardship he did have was his brother Curtis died in 2001. He was able to overcome all of his challenges and create a great life for himself. Aurthur was also not able to reach his goal of the NBA. He was able to graduate from college. His dad was murdered later in his life. But also like William he created a new life for himself. This movie was very inspirational is shows that no matter where you come from you can over come it and succeed.

Preview to Persepolis

Persepolis is a movie about a girl and her struggles through life. It starts off as her as a child and follows her through her teenage years. While growing up in Iran she is faced with a war and all the constrictions that come along with that. Then as a teenager she moves to Austria to get away. She later moves back to Iran to be with her family. When it becomes even more dangerous for her to live in Iran she moves to France. The movie ends with her starting her new life in France.

Reaction to Run Lola Run

Run Lola Run is a movie about a girl named Lola who goes through a series of events three times. Each time something changes that changes the outcome. Everything she does is to help her boyfriend who lost 100,000 marks. In the first outcome they try to rob a grocery store but Lola end up getting shot and killed. In the second outcome her boyfriend Manny is hit by a car and dies. Finally in the last outcome they are able to recover the money and are able to stay together.

This whole movie revolves around the fact that Lola was late to pick up Manny from a money drop. It is so important for everyone to be on time in this movie. All the events that transpire are effected by time. From this you could tell that in Germany time is very important to them. Them seem to take time very seriously, you need to be sure you are where you need to be at on time. Whereas here in the United States all time seems to be flexible. When a time is set it seems to change and no one is ever on time. It is just not as important as in Germany.
A common cultural bridge that I noticed was the clothing. Both the people in Germany and the United States wear Western style clothing. Most people were wearing jeans and t-shirts. It seemed that most of what they did was very western influenced. One difference that I did notice was that their cars were smaller than the cars we have here in the United States. They were not driving around in giant SUVs. They are the same amount of people but a smaller amount of space, which means they need to have smaller cars.
This movie was very good. I liked to see three different endings. It was cool to see how things change and are effected by time and our choices. I would recommend this movie to anyone, especially teens.

Reaction to Tsotsi

    Tsotsi is a movie about a boy living in the streets of South Africa. He is a self proclaimed gangster. One night him and his crew go out and end up killing a man on the subway for his money. Another night Tsotsi is off on his own and steals a car from a women and shots her paralyzing her from the waist down. What he didn't know was that there was a baby in the backseat. Wen he crashes the car he takes the baby home with him. He finds a woman do breast feed the baby and help him take care of it. Once the woman finds out she is able to convince him to take the baby back. When he returns to the home, he ends up getting shot by the cops once he returned the baby.
 The area of the city that would be considered the "slums". Most people live in homes made from scrap metal. Also they have a make-shift shelters on the outskirts of the town made out of concrete cylinders for the orphans. Unlike here in the United States it is still very rare to see a slum. We have poor areas but seeing homes made out of sheet metal and pieces of wood is uncommon. It is also saddening that the children have to live outside in those cylinders. This shows that their government does not have a set program to help children who have lost their parents.
Another difference I noticed was between the food and clothes. They ate common African foods. And the clothing they wore were also African The women wore warps and would walk around with cartons of water on their heads.
This movie was a good change of pace. It was a nice look into the gangs of South Africa. The people and culture were very interesting to learn about. I would suggest this movie to anyone.

Reaction to Chak De India

    Chak De India is a movie about a female field hockey team in India. There coach was a previous player for the men's team. He was shunned from India when people believed tat he had thrown the gold medal game against Afghanistan seven years earlier. He wants to make his return to hockey and bring the women all the way to the gold medal game and stop the idea that the women's team is a joke. When the team comes together they do not get along and do not play as a team. Their coach starts to punish them and is able to bring them together. When they get to the world cup they are horribly beaten by the Australian team. But after that game they are able to come back and make it to the final round. They play their best game ever and end up winning in a final shootout. They become respected in India proving women can be more than housewives. This movie is similar to the movie Miracle.
      This movie has a lot similar culture concepts to America. They all knew how to speak English and mixed it in with their native languages. Also the idea that women aren't as good as men is seen everywhere in the world. All the men in the lives of the players were all doubting them and saying there dreams were impossible to reach. No matter if it was there father, boyfriend or husband. They were told that their dream was a joke and that women were not as good as men. But in the end they are able to over come all the obstacles and WIN!
      Something that was also different was the fact that field hockey was a popular sport. Here in the United States people do not really play field hockey, if you play a type of hockey it is ice hockey. But in Europe and Asia it seems to be a very popular thing to play. Also there is also a strong influence of cricket in this movie. The sports were very Eastern influenced.
   The food they ate was also different types of foods. They had traditional Indian foods but one sight of the west when they ate a meal at McDonalds
   This movie was very enjoyable. I really like an underdog story, and this one is a very good one. It is also good to see a movie based around women over coming challenges.