What We Think Is Important

What do we consider important in our lives?  Why are these things important to us, is their a deeper meaning to these things?  What makes things become easily forgotten which seem like they could be important and memorable?  The world in which we live in is filled with tragedy, love, sadness, and stories which are passed on from generation to generation.  What I find interesting though is how as people we determine what stories are important and are remembered for years, and other stories are forgotten in days. 

In my opinion I feel as if the stories which we seem to remember are those which touch a majority of us personally.  What I mean by this is a story which most people cannot relate too is probably more easily forgotten than a story which thousands of people relate too.  Most documentaries you see are about things which people come in contact with at least once in their lives, and the other documentaries which we see are about things that we may never come in contact with, stuff that might be occurring on the other side of the planet.

I have seen a fair amount of documentaries in my life and for the most part they deal with issues which I have either seen or heard about and issues which effect the world that I live in.  One documentary I remember watching quite long ago was a Michael Moore documentary which was called “Bowling for Columbine”.  The documentary talked about the Columbine shootings which occurred at a high school and talked a lot about the issue of bullying.  All the shooters in the Columbine incident all had a previous history of being bullied and picked on which in turn lead them to snap.

This documentary most likely hit home for a lot of people who have children who have been bullied or who know people who have been in a school shooting incident like this one.  I think what makes a good documentary is not only can the viewer relate to some of the issues which are being brought to hand but most documentaries also have some sort of shock value which really makes the audience think.  This shock value helps people remember the documentary and makes it more memorable than something which seemed normal or average.

All in all I feel as if people remember what they feel is important and it differentiates depending on a persons personality and morals.  Certain documentaries effect certain people one way, and that same documentary might have a total different effect on another person.

Clarity, Uncertainty, Blindness, and Confusion

Jack and Judah discussing a little problem

What does it mean to be certain of something?  When you are certain of something does that mean that what you are certain of is right?  Do you ever seem to question your certainty or is it burned in the back of your mind and all other possibilities are omitted?  What if someone is certain about something that you are uncertain about, who is right and who is wrong, who is being moral and who is immoral?  After viewing movies in our class we saw many familiar themes throughout each film.  Characters questioned themselves, disagreed with others, and flat out seemed uncertain at times.

            The two images from scenes I will be talking about are from the movies Crimes and Misdemeanors directed by Woody Allen and Doubt directed by John Patrick Shanley.  First I Will talk about the close up shot of Crimes and Misdemeanors which show Judah and his brother Jack talking about his problem of the affair he is having with another woman.  In the shot Judah is looking straight ahead almost seeming to be staring at absolutely nothing and the audience gets a feeling as if he is having a mental battle with his morals.  Judah knows that murder is an absolute heinous crime and also is a sin to his religion but also is thinking about the consequences of coming clean to his wife about the affair which he was having and which he seems to be over with.  His brother Jack on the other hand seems to have clarity on what seems to be right for the situation and knows deep down that the only way to solve his brothers problem is to make Judahs lover disappear.  I really like the relationship between Jack and Judah because it shows the two different types of people that live in our world.  On one hand Judah is the moral one, who knows that murder, lying, and cheating is wrong, and on Jacks side, he believes that the world is already a cruel place and that one person believing in doing the right thing will have no effect on the world and will ultimately hurt the person that is trying to do right.  I also like how in this shot Jack seems to be trying to persuade Judah into believing what he believes, he is telling Judah that there is no other way for his problems to be solved unless he eliminates the problem forever.  All in all this shot perfectly shows the difference between certainty and uncertainty.

Sister Aloysius and Sister James discussing a little problem

            The next shot I will be talking about is from the movie Doubt which shows Sister Aloysius and Sister James discussing a problem which is occurring within the school that they work in.  The first thing I noticed in this medium-up close shot is opposed to the Crimes and Misdemeanors shot is that Sister Aloysius who seems to be the one that is certain is now staring off into oblivion and the uncertain person, Sister James, is staring at her how Jack is staring at Judah.  This makes me really start to think is Sister Aloysius really certain of what she believes, or is she lost in uncertainty like Judah but not expressing it to anyone else.  It also makes me question is Judah really the certain one?  Since Judah is also staring off into nothing is he certain in his mind that murder is wrong?  I think both shots do a great job of pondering morals and shows how all the characters differentiate their beliefs in different ways such as where they are located and their interaction with other characters.  To conclude about the topic of moral clarity and moral uncertainty, I believe that those who are certain of something have a hard time changing their stand point and those who are uncertain of something seem vulnerable to changing their view on a problem at hand.

The Hip-hop Police and the bias behind it

A couple days ago I watched a documentary which was about the NYPD and their special investigations with high profile rappers.  The NYPD is known for keeping close eyes on many hip-hop and rap artists in New York and have documents on each rapper and also where you can find them, their home address, and also places in which they hang out.  The reason for the police doing this is because they believe that with high-profile rappers and usually other African american artist always are associated with crime in their lifestyle.  Personally I believe that this stereotypical and bias viewpoint is wrong and is basically putting a label on all rappers good or bad.  In the documentary they talk about a rap group called "Screwball" who wrote a song called "who shot rudy?" which talks about the attempted assassination of mayor Giuliani.  After hearing this song Rudy Giuliani was clearly upset and ordered the police to detain all the members of Screwball and go through an intense search of their belongings and their background.  Currently the only city with a "hip-hop police" as many rappers call them is New York but only time can tell if these hip-hop police will start popping up in other cities where rap is a large influence.  Personally I believe that bias and stereotyping go hand to hand.  For someone to be bias towards something they must have a pre-conceived notion about the topic and I feel like some people make their decisions on things they believe before hearing both sides of the story.

Mr. Blonde

I have seen my fair share of horror monsters, ruthless killers, and complete psychopaths. But one pure born killer that I will never forget goes by the name of Mr. Blonde.  Mr. Blonde is one of the main characters in the movie Reservoir Dogs directed by Quentin Tarantino made in 1992.  The plot of the movie revolves around a jewelry robbery gone arie and the movie focuses on finding out who ratted them out.  One thing is for sure though it was not Mr. Blonde, in the beginning scene of the movie we see Mr. Blonde blasting away the boys in blue like it is his day job and even does away with a couple innocent civilians.  The real turning point of the movie though is when Mr. Blonde goes from an ordinary killer, into a complete psychopath when he turns on the radio to the song “stuck in the middle with you” by Stealers Wheel and decides to have a little fun with one of the cops they captured for information.  As Mr. Blonde dances around to the song with a cigarette hanging from his mouth he slowly approaches the cop while singing along to the radio and begins cutting of the cops ear with a razor blade.  As the cop screams for him to stop he continues to dance around and laugh at the police officer like its one big joke.  When you finally think the torture scene is over, Mr. Blonde disappears for about a minute with the music playing for about thirty more seconds and than reappears on set holding a gas canister.  As the cop is crying with his ear cut off begging for him to stop Mr. Blonde proceeds to pour gasoline on him while still singing and dancing along to the song.  This scene has been forever burned in my head as one of the greatest created psychopaths I have ever scene.  Whenever I hear the song “stuck in the middle with you” this movie immediately comes into my head.

Parody of Buffalo Bill in the movie "Joe Dirt"

Too Close for comfort

Walter Neff: Know why you couldn't figure this one, Keyes? I'll tell ya. 'Cause the guy you were looking for was too close. Right across the desk from ya.
Barton Keyes: Closer than that, Walter.
Walter Neff: I love you, too. 

It was clear right from the first interactions between Neff and Keyes that they had some type of mutual respect relationship and they both seemed to look up to eachother.  Keyes was very impressed with how well of a salesman Walter was, and Walter was very impressed with Keyes vast knowledge of the agency and the skill which he harnesses "the little man inside" who would inform him when something was up.  Keyes was such an important part throughout the film that Neffs whole narration was based towards Keyes.  All in all the relationship between Keyes and Walter ultimately lead to Walters demise.  At first the tight knit relationship between Keyes and Neff blinded Keyes into never thinking that Walter had anything to do with the events that occured.  When Walter was listening to the recording of Keyes, Keyes even admits out loud that Walter could not have had anything to do with the crime because he knew walter for eleven something years and Walter would have never done anything like this, he had no intent.  As pieces of the puzzle began to fill in it became more clear that the only possible way all of this could have worked out is through Neff.  When Walter said the reason that Keyes could not figure this one out was because they were too close, Keyes responds with "Closer than that, Walter".  What Keyes means by this was that they werent just employees who happen to have their desks across from eachother, they were even close than that on a friendship, trust level.  When Keyes discovered that Walter had been the root of all problems, his entire face turned to disappointment.  It was almost as if Keyes and Walter had a father son relationship and when Keyes found out that Walter was doing all this behind his back he was crushed in the last scene.  Towards the end of the film most of the focus was on Keyes.  Walter knew Keyes was an extremely smart man and the only worry on Walters mind was constantly Keyes.  It was clear sailing after Phillis and Walter commited the murder and threw the body onto the tracks but their was always on thing on Walters mind, Keyes.  In the end Walter knew he was done, so the final thing he felt like he needed to do was inform Keyes on how he did everything.  I sort of looked at this as if Walter was sort of helping Keyes fill in the final bits of the puzzle that Keyes was confused about and unable to put together.  Even after Keyes discovered all this about Walter and even though he looked down upon him, he still had respect for him.  While Walter was lying on the ground with the gunshot wound in his shoulder keyes bent down and returned the favor of lighting Walters cigarette.

A Win Is A Win

The shot which i chose to analyze was right after Harvey got into his first fight and he was walking away with another person who seemed to respect Harvey more after beating up another kid.  A couple pages back Harvey felt like he had nothing else to live for, as he states, he had quit sports, he felt incapable of talking to girls, so his only option was to become a street fighter which he felt was the only way to earn respect from everyone around him.  After beating up this first kid who supposedly "pissed him off" for no apparent reason except for the kid was saying stuff that Harvey did not agree with Harvey decides to sock him directly in his face causing the person to bleed from his mouth and cry.  In this scene Harvey says "I probably shouldn't of hit him, but there were people around and they saw it."  Clearly the only reason Harvey decided to lay this kid out was not because of what the kid was saying but because Harvey wanted to gain respect from the people around him and he felt like this was an excellent way to start earning the respect which he felt he deserved.  The frame directly before this one the kid which he hit says "What did you do that for? I wasn't going to hit you.  Are you nuts or something?  It becomes clear to the reader that Harvey overreacted in this situation and really the only reason for his violence towards this person was just to prove how strong he was. 
 Also in the shot we see Harvey walking away from the kid while another kid who was a bystander during the fight put his arm around Harvey and told him that what he did was a good thing and he was glad he did it.  I think it is important to look at the bystander and what he is doing to Harvey, his arm is over Harveys shoulder which is showing acceptance for what he did to his person he beat up.  Harvey seems to regret what he did to the kid but also wants to prove his strength and be respected by everyone around him.  In this scene it is very hard to tell how Harvey feels about the situation, I personally believe he has sort of a look of regret in his face for what he just did but also feels like it was the necessary thing to do.
The last thing which i noticed in this scene was at the bottom of the page when Harvey says "Well, a win is a win".  In the end he feels like it needed to happened and Harvey sort of just brushes it off his shoulder and looks at it in a positive view.