Tag Archives: Movie

Slippery Slope

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When I read the description of the movie, I assumed it was going to be set in the 90s and wasn’t too sure how I would like it, but it was good movie. The whole story focuses on Malcom, a geekier character from a bad neighborhood and school who wants to get into Harvard. Overall, the beginning of the film did a good job of showing just how much he didn’t fit in with his community. From the way he got special treatment from the security guard at school to the decision of dealing with the bloods beating someone up or the drug dealers while just trying to go home from school.

While Malcom is portrayed as an atypical male lead with his high-top fade, I was glad that his group of other outsider friends was not too weird. Some movies like to over exaggerate what makes certain characters outsiders, but I thought these characters were authentic and just trying to deal with their lives as normally as possible.

Despite the friends being pretty normal, Malcom was still portrayed as a socially awkward nerd. To be fair, I thought that there was good comedic timing, but having a nerdy high school guy who is sexually frustrated and has a hard time not focusing on girls is really played out. Also, while it’s sort of expected that the nerdy guy gets the girl in the end for being himself, it wouldn’t hurt for a nerdy coming of age story not to involve overcoming a romantic hurdle.

What I find interesting is how Malcom and his friends dealt with the situation they were put in. I thought about what I would do if somehow I was suddenly entangled with drugs and having a college interviewer know about it. While I understand it would have been a boring movie if he just dumped them and that was the end of it, the story line was a bit far-fetched.

That’s not to say I didn’t appreciate the twist; I actually thought it was a really good one. From the beginning of the movie, the term slippery slope is introduced, and I assumed it was foreshadowing what was going to happen. Instead, Malcom has everything he wants to happen planned out. I think the buildup to the reveal worked well, because as someone who wants to get into Harvard, he clearly doesn’t want to get into trouble, but he takes it a step further to use his situation to actually help himself get in.

One thing that still seems strange to me is his college essay. It ended with something to the effect of: Why do I want to go to Harvard? If I were white, would you even have to ask me? While it made some of the audience ooh, I’m still not sure what it was supposed to convey. Don’t a lot of people from varied backgrounds want to go to Harvard? Why is it strange to think that a black teen from a community filled with gang and drug violence would want to rise above it through higher education? I may be missing the bigger point of bringing race into this particular question, but it just didn’t seem as powerful to me as it did to others watching. Yes, race and social economic status affects higher educational prospects, but the way this was presented didn’t feel like the mic-drop it wanted it to be.

Nevertheless, I thought it was a good movie overall. Though it played into some old tropes, it was well-paced both in comedy and in plot. I’m not sure how I feel about its portrayal of racial issues, but I do think that having more movies with more diverse casts in modern American settings does help all people of color by encouraging discussion.

Tough life

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The movie dope was a very interesting and inspirational movie. While it was a great comedy, it is also a story about social issues within African American Culture. At the same time,  the movie was very inspirational because it showed the power of determination and friendship. Though there was some violence in the movie, it was not disturbing because it portrayed violence as a person’s stupidity and ignorance rather than  sheer cruelty. Therefore, I found the movie enjoyable and informative about our modern world.

As a person that has not lived in a major American city, I have not had much exposure to African American culture. Though I have read books and news articles about racial violence and discrimination, I know that it is not the same thing as living in that culture. Being that this movie was also fictional, there was probably many aspects of African American culture that was filtered out of the movie. However, I did find it interesting to watch the different culture behaviors within the african American Culture. It was also surprising to see the high security around public schools within these Black neighborhoods. This would never be found in a white-majority neighborhood. The movie thus depicted the still lingering inequalities within American cities. I therefore found this movie very informative and a very culturally enriching experience.

While the movie took place in a poor black neighborhood, the main character was about a smart African American teenager who was considered a geek in his school. While his school had extremely low academic standards, he was determined to make his way up the social ladder and attend Harvard. Even though both his teachers and community discouraged such ideas, he kept fighting his way through and eventually attained his goal. This made me think about all the suffering people on this planet. While only a small percentage are privileged, most are struggling just to survive. As a student surrounded by a privileged community that is focusing on their future career, it is easy to forget that a great percentage of people are living on a day to day basis. Thus, I found this movie to be both enjoyable and informative about poor African American life.

The “Environmental Terrorism” Documentary

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Tonight, I went to see a documentary on deforestation in the United States by Marshall Curry. The story was about this one man living in New York who was arrested for being an environmental terrorist. You are probably wondering: What the heck is an environmental terrorist? Is it a tree hugging Osama Bin laden? The short answer is “NO”.

To explain what an environmental terrorists are, it is first important to understand that these so called “terrorists” are just normal educated American men and women who were just trying to protect trees from being cut down.  In the beginning (or before environmental terrorism existed), a group of environmentalists were protesting against large logging companies that were cutting down large sections (90%) of forests in the state of Oregon. Note that these were peaceful protests aimed to stop the rapid deforestation. However, these peace protesters were eventually arrested and brutally tortured by the law enforcement officers. They thus realized that these peaceful protests were not working because they repeatedly lost the battle to the large logging companies. Since these environmentalists were overpowered by the large corporations, more protesters resorted to physically harming these logging companies. They started burning down buildings and destroying property that was owned by these companies. During these more violent acts, the protesters always made sure that they were not putting anyone’s life at risk (even the CEO of the lumber company!). These “burning demonstrations” spread rapidly throughout the United States to areas that were trying to stop deforestation. This one guy that I first mentioned was a man who previously participated these burning protests. He was sentenced to lifetime imprisonment. Other people like him were caught and were also sentenced to lifetime imprisonment and would be labeled as terrorists for the rest of their lives.

Does this seem fair to call these environmentalists “terrorists” I don’t think so.  Just because a person does something against corporate America does not mean they are terrorists. To me, these were just concerned citizens who were trying to save the last 10% of the forests before the mountains were totally bare. Though I do think these protesters might have gone a bit too far by burning down the factories, I also do believe in equal representation. Because the governments were in cahoots with businesses involved in the logging industry, they tended ignore  the concerned citizens. Because the protesters were not gaining any political attention, they had to resort to a bolder way of protest; destroying. Because they did not injure anyone during these protests, I think these “environmental terrorists” should have instead been called “environmental protectors”.

With all the environmental problems we face today, I think that it is important to note that these problems will not just go away.  We have to deal with the consequences and try to prevent any further destruction before it gets worse. It is unrealistic to think that we will find another habitable planet any time soon that will “act as a spare when the earth wears out”.  We need to think more “down to earth”.  It can even be as simple as being thoughtful about the items you consume in your daily life. So go forth and be an environmentally conscious person, or as some would call it an “environmental terrorist”!