One aspect I noticed of the Blues brother was that its plot was symbolic of the impacts that blues had on society. First, Blues was becoming more popular than and was edging out country music, which is mirrored by how the Good Ole Boys were chasing after the Blues Brothers. In addition, the Blues Brothers were able to win over a southern crowd who were fans of country music. Similarly, the Blues Brothers were being pursued by the Nazis. Blues was developed and performed mainly by African American musicians. African American musicians were gaining fame and affluence due to the Blues they performed, and this of course incurred a racist backlash, with many calling Blues “the devil’s music”, which is embodied by the armed Nazis that try to kill the Blues Brothers. A scene that reinforces this was when the Blues Brothers tried to run over the Nazis, causing them to jump off the bridge. It showed how Blues was able to overcome to racist barriers in its way and become very popular.
Author Archives: ckk39
The Value of Poetry
In Dead Poet’s Society, one theme that really struck me was the the purpose of poetry. In the movie, Mr. Keeting stated that humans write poetry because they need to do so, just as they need to eat breathe. The boys’ various individual journeys through the movie exemplify this. For example, when Neil began reading and composing poetry, he found his love for acting and decided to pursue it- he tried out for the play and got the leading role. Also, after Neil and his father fight over his decision to act in a play, when Neil sees his father enter the auditorium, he directs his final lines in the play to his father: “Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.” In saying these lines to his father, Neil conveys how he wants to settle his differences with his father. Similarly, Knox wrote a love poem to Chris to explain to her how much he loved her. In both of these situations, poetry provided these boys with a way of navigating and properly expressing their emotions- in other words, they needed poetry to live their lives to the fullest.
On a personal note, I’m a very hard score science kind of guy. I never paid too much attention in English class and I never really appreciated the importance of literature and poetry. To me, literature was mainly just an easy A for my GPA or a freshman writing seminar that I needed to take. But this movie was a powerful reminder of why literature is so significant- we as humans need poetry to understand ourselves and the world around us. I began to recognize all the different ways in which poetry had impacted me. The nursery rhymes or the Dr. Seuss books I grew up with are all forms of poetry. The Ramayana, an ancient Hindu text that has profoundly impacted me, is poetry. The College Dropout by Kanye West is also a form of poetry.
The Fire of Love
Fire highlights a painful reality that many women in India must face. As Swamiji teaches in the movie, love is a desire that must be suppressed and that the only purpose of sexual desire is to procreate. Women are treated as objects, whose purpose is to have children and tend to the house. It is why Sita slaves away in the kitchen all day and why Radha feels guilty for not being able to bear kids. This idea is still prevalent in India to a great degree. Having spoken with my parents, both of whom grew up in India, many of their friends and relatives were often urged to get married and have kids as soon as possible and were not encouraged to pursue a career or a relationship out of love. The fact that my mom married when she was 28 irked a lot of her relatives in India, who believed she was too old to get married and should have started having kids earlier.
The film also had an uplifting message of empowerment. Radha and Sita, who were reduced by their husbands to objects, explored their sexualities and explored love. I thought this message of experiencing love however you see fit and not conforming to traditional or societal expectations was very inspiring.
The Benefits of Yoga
I don’t normally do yoga, and I’ve only done yoga a couple times before partaking in this event, but I had heard so much about the benefits of yoga. My parents, who grew up in India and regularly did yoga, and my friends back home who go to Corepower every week all frequently urged me to do yoga, so I decided to try it out. And it was awesome. The actual experience of doing yoga was painful and difficult. I’m not flexible, so doing every pose- from the warrior positions to the lotus position, was extremely painful. But by the end of the event, when I was doing the Shavasana pose, I felt very calm. My mind was still and at peace and I felt the benefits of yoga that all my friends had told me about.
Such a calming experience prompted me to look into why yoga was so beneficial to so many people. In sanskrit, yoga means “union”. This helped me make sense of why yoga was such a calming experience. Lots of times when I study, I feel very restless. My mind and my body are in two different places, and that makes it a lot harder to study. My head and my body are in two different places, and it makes me much less calm and my mind much more chaotic. However, through yoga I felt much different. Yoga forced me to do difficult poses that strained my body and had me focus on my breath while doing each pose. Through doing this, it helped establish a union between my body and mind, which was why I felt so calm.
Pondering Relationships at Cornell
During this event, we discussed romantic love, both generally and specifically at Cornell. It was a very interesting and thought-provoking experience. I am currently in a relationship, but I never really took the time to reflect on my relationship and compare it to other relationships that my peers are in. Personally, after hearing other people talk about their relationships, I felt grateful to be in the relationship I am in. After hearing someone discuss the challenges of a long distance relationship with her boyfriend, I felt very fortunate that my girlfriend goes to Cornell and that I can see her every day.
At the event, we also briefly discussed divorce and how many marriages fail due to infidelity. The rate of divorce is around 50%. Such a conversation prompted me to contemplate the institution of marriage and what it represents in terms of love and a relationship. Marriage in a way represents the ultimate culmination or conclusion to a relationship. Through the act of marriage, a couple sanctifies their relationship and declares to world that their love is one that will last a lifetime. Marriage, in other words, is the highest point on the mountain- it is the final stage of a relationship, and there is no more progression in a relationship past the point of marriage. One could argue that raising a family represents a next step in a relationship, but this is inaccurate as raising a family is a whole different pursuit all together outside of the realm of marriage. Since marriage is the final stage a relationship, oftentimes this can cause problems, as individuals naturally look forward to progression in their relationships. You first like each other and you go on dates. Next, you enter into a relationship and call each other boyfriend or girlfriend. You then eventually love one another and move in together. You get engaged, and then you get married. This potential for further forward progression in your relationship introduces excitement into a relationship. But when the question of “what’s gonna happen next?” dominates a relationship, this can lead to infidelity. Couples crave this excitement of what will happen next in their relationship, so when they make it to marriage- the final stage of their relationship- there is no more excitement, so they will cheat on their partners, as these small side relationships, as trivial and meaningless as they are, fulfill their need for excitement. The remedy to this is that couples in a relationship appreciate the love they have and do not let the excitement of the progression of their relationship (or lack thereof it in marriage) detract from their relationship.
The Martian- The Will to Survive
The Martian was a very interesting movie, mainly because it embodied the human will to survive no matter how adverse the environment. There Mark Watney was- alone on a deserted, red, sandy planet without sufficient food and in a shelter where the tiniest thing that goes awry could kill him. Yet Mark Watney somehow persevered- he used his knowledge, he got to work, and he sustained himself, beating all the odds. He figured out how to grow and harvest crops on Mars, subjected himself to eating exclusively potatoes every day, dug up a radioisotope generator to keep him war, and more. It speaks to a very primal, fundamental truth we all hold internally- that mankind is strong and no matter bad something looks, it can overcome. The film was also surprising in how it depicted the mindset that Mark had during his time on Mars. I would expect Mark to be depressed and lack motivation due to his very slim chances of survival, or I would expect him to counterbalance the lack of morale by reaffirming to himself that he could survive. But Mark remained cool and stoic. It seemed as if he didn’t take his situation as seriously as it seemed- he would laugh, listen to disco music, and joke that he would die. But his relatively jovial and easy-going manner is what kept him alive. As he said at the end of the movie when speaking to a group of younger students, he didn’t focus on the fact that he was going to die and let that phase him. Nor did Mark get overwhelmed by trying to boost his morale and convince himself that he would survive. He did not get caught up or obsessed in the matter of whether or not he could survive- rather he remained level-headed, simply sat down, and started doing problems, and eventually did enough math that he was able to go home (as he said at the end of the movie).
Ithaca Farmer’s Market
My trip to the Ithaca farmer’s market last Saturday was a really fun and rewarding experience. The farmer’s market had a quaint feel to it, with its wooden walls and ceiling and small stalls. All the sellers were super friendly and very eager to help me with various questions I had about what they were selling. Interacting with everyone reminded me a lot of being back home in Minnesota. The stereotype of being “Minnesota nice” holds very true: everyone greets you with a chipper “hi” or “hello” and everyone says their “please and thank you’s”. I sadly cannot say the same about Cornell. It isn’t a bad thing- everyone’s stressed and busy with schoolwork and classes, so people don’t stop to be polite. The farmer’s market also felt very calm and peaceful- it wasn’t too crowded and wasn’t too loud, and you could hear acoustic guitar being played outside the market. In the serene atmosphere of the farmer’s market I forgot about all my work and felt free to wander about.
The market was very rewarding for my stomach. I got many different kinds of food. I started off my journey with kombucha, which was delicious. It’s tart taste proved it to be much fresher and more authentic than commercial kombucha brands, which in comparison are a couple grams of sugar short of being considered a soda. I then had a garlic herb pizza for lunch, and finished with a chocolate coconut macaroon for desert. Unfortunately, my appetite was finite, and I could not try many other tasty dishes I saw at the market. I look forward to going there in the future to try chocolate croissants, milkshakes, Thai food, and more.