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.