Author Archives: Elizabeth Riley

Politics and Society: The Potent Effect of Laws and Court Cases on Everyday Life

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Last Friday, I attended Rose’s screening of the historical, touching film Loving. It chronicled the incredible story of Richard & Mildred Loving, an interracial couple whose efforts culminated in the famous Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, during which race-based restrictions on marriage were found unconstitutional.

I have always loved passionately debating and respectfully arguing with others; TV shows and movies showcasing court cases and trials have consistently interested me. Therefore, throughout the film, I was getting geared up to watch the final battle – a debate amongst educated lawyers in a courtroom, finding loopholes, making counterarguments, and stringing together both logical and emotional appeals to facilitate real change in our country. However, the film did not portray this groundbreaking Supreme Court case and, initially, this choice by the directors left me feeling disappointed and confused.

Nonetheless, after ruminating over the film for a few days, I finally have recognized that the movie’s purpose was not to show how the legal system works and how court cases are won. Loving instead sought to showcase how lives are shaped by the decisions of other people – judges and legislators. I’m not a politician, and I don’t reside in Washington D.C. nor do I live near my home state’s capital. Because I am far in distance from the political system, I often neglect to remember how much it affects me and the level to which it impacts our society. However, watching this movie reminded me of the magnitude of the effect a written law can have on a person’s way of life. Richard and Mildred were arrested multiple times for being involved in an interracial marriage, just because a few politicians decided that it wasn’t acceptable. The decision by a couple of judges to make laws against interracial marriage unconstitutional vastly changed Richard and Mildred’s lives, for the better. They could live in peace because people in D.C. said so.

As a woman, I have the right to vote and exert a form of power over my government because of a single Amendment written into the Constitution. My female ancestors did not have this same right because of ridiculous sexist laws conjured up by a few misogynistic politicians. It’s honestly insane to think about the potency of written laws and the decisions of a few judges/legislators. The great effect of laws and court cases on the human race makes it all the more important that we continue to fight for liberal laws that will make our lives better, and to fight against oppressive, inhumane, and unjust laws.

In the end, although we may feel distant from politics, we must recognize the impact of laws and court cases on our society and on our ways of life. We can’t ignore the government; we must instead work to improve it.

Longing for the Past and Resenting the Present: A Lesson from Charles Foster Kane

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I watched Citizen Kane years ago as a child and didn’t appreciate its meaning. However, viewing it as a young adult last Friday gave me a greater respect and admiration for the movie’s potent messages, depth, and relatability. Citizen Kane has been ranked as the greatest movie of all time by various media outlets, and I finally understand the reasoning behind these honors.

The renowned film begins with the death of a wealthy newspaper magnate, the fictional Charles Foster Kane. His last word, uttered upon his deathbed, was “Rosebud,” and the movie centers around an investigation of this word’s meaning. We eventually discover that the word “Rosebud” was inscribed on the wooden sled Kane had as a child, an item with which he was playing moments before he was sold by his parents to a rich socialite named Robert Thatcher.

Therefore, Rosebud is symbolic of Kane’s childhood, the only time in his life in which he felt genuinely loved and nurtured, carefree, and happy. It is interesting to consider our own, individual Rosebuds. Sometimes I, like Kane, do wish to return to my days as a kid, when the world seemed so simple and so innocent, and stress was essentially nonexistent. Its hard to grow up and realize the evil, immorality, and corruption that exists on this planet. It is difficult to come to terms with the struggles and hard lives that many members of low-income communities, minorities, and third-world countries face on a daily basis. Life gets increasingly complicated and feelings of anxiety become commonplace. Thus, it is difficult not to sometimes want to return to the days of naivety and pure, uninhibited fun.

However, there are many benefits of being an adult that I would not want to lose in returning to my childhood. Despite having to accept the presence of poverty and immorality on the planet, as adults, we gain the power to induce change in these societal issues. We are taken more seriously by others, and have the ability to speak up for ourselves and be heard. Additionally, as adults, we have more freedom and the independence to choose our individual paths. We get to decide our own priorities and how we want to live our lives. So, every period in our lives has its advantages and disadvantages, its happy and its sad moments. However, we always tend to look back on the past positively, when in reality there were many hardships we faced. Meanwhile, we are often unhappy and ungrateful in the present moment. This is an important point, as Kane’s childhood didn’t seem like the greatest experience – his dad implied that he had corporally punished Kane in the past. Kane’s home seemed isolated, in the middle of a snow-covered Colorado. Did Kane have neighbors with whom he could hang out? Because Kane’s family was so poor, it is unclear how high Kane’s quality of life was at his parents’ home. This is not to say that I agree with Kane’s mother’s decision to sell his child to a rich socialite with the intention of giving him a better life — that is a whole other discussion. My point is that the past is not always as great as we remember it to be, but we always long to return to it rather than enjoy what we have now. This was Kane’s problem – he resented being taken from his childhood home so much that it affected his capacity to live a happy, wholesome life full of love, enjoyment, and appreciation for his privilege.

In conclusion, Citizen Kane revealed that longing for the past isn’t necessarily the best endeavor. It is absolutely important to reflect on our past, but when these reflections inhibit our ability to thrive in the present moment, it becomes problematic.

Women in ’50s Pop Culture: Either A Sexual Object or an Obedient House Wife

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Last Friday, I attended Rose’s screening of North by Northwest, a critically acclaimed, Hitchcock-directed film with a score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. I of course had high expectations going in.

I was more amused than I was moved by the thriller. I was particularly shocked by the level of sexual innuendo in a movie made in the ’50s. The writers dedicated long scenes to sexually suggestive dialogue between Cary Grant’s and Eva Marie Saint’s characters. The final scene of the movie, in which a train enters into a tunnel, was quite obviously a phallic symbol. Hitchcock has admitted that this was no accident. He purposefully inserted that scene into the film to be sexually suggestive.

When I think of the ’50s, I imagine it as the era of I Love Lucy, a show in which the married main characters were shown to be, unrealistically, sleeping in separate beds. CBS, the channel on which I Love Lucy was shown, even banned the word “pregnant” from being said on the show, despite the fact that the main character was obviously expecting. However, in contrast to this rigidity and reserve of media, North by Northwest and Marilyn Monroe represented the more sexually liberal side of pop culture at the time.

In these two contrasting pop culture-spheres, we see that the role of women in film and television remained limited. Either the woman played an the obedient housewife or she played the sexual object. In sexually reserved media like I Love Lucy, female characters were portrayed mostly in domestic settings, working to please and dote upon the men in their lives, whilst being dependent and obedient upon them. More sexually liberal media like North by Northwest, instead, made women into one-dimensional characters purely present to serve as the object of the main man’s fantasies. Although the atmosphere has changed in the modern era, with more independent, complicated, three dimensional female characters taking over film and television, we must still be sensitive to presence of franchises remaining steadfast to painting women in sexist, unrealistic ways. For example, the James Bond movies continue putting a woman in every film to simply serve as an objectified sex object for Bond. These portrayals are unacceptable and we can no longer have such a primitive view of women in the media and in society. Media needs to recognize its influence on society and make its representations of women more realistic.

Carpe Diem: A Lesson in Aiming High Without Selling Yourself Short

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I attended Rose’s screening of the ’80s classic, Dead Poets Society, last Friday night. I had been shown a scene from the film years ago, in a high school English class. However, without any context, the scene had very little impact on me. But now having viewed it full-length, I can say that Dead Poets Society is an absolute masterpiece, and, although flawed in some ways, it affected me very deeply. The last time I felt so moved by a film was when I watched Avatar, maybe 7 years ago.

The movie tells the story of an all-boys boarding school that demands intense discipline and exacts corporal punishment against those who don’t comply. The students face pressure from their parents to get into Ivy League schools and pursue typically high-earning careers in business, engineering, and the sciences. In comes Robin Williams’ lovable character, Mr. Keating, the new English teacher who shares his romantic view of life with the students and encourages non-conformity, individualism, and dream-following. Obviously, drama thus ensues.

The film affected me because as a science major aiming for pre-professional school after my undergraduate education, essentially the only courses I take now are science prerequisites and major requirements. I truly do love and am passionate about science, and am happy to be taking these courses. However, the film made me recognize that the arts are also important to study and appreciate — just because you aren’t going to be a writer or an artist does not mean you should not experiment with courses in literature and art history. Therefore, the film has motivated me to add an arts course into my science-heavy schedule. I want to keep the arts in my life, even if they are not my future career.

The movie also encouraged me to get outside more and enjoy the Earth. Often, I think we college students get so conjoined to our schoolwork that we spend all our time sitting at a desk, hunched over whilst reading textbooks and typing on our laptops. Work is important, but the benefits of the outdoors should not be ignored.

Overall, the film teaches us to seize the day, which is continuously repeated in its Latin translation, “carpe diem,” throughout the film. Yes, we should work hard and aim high; but that doesn’t mean we need to eliminate from our lives everything that is not directly synonymous with reaching our career goals.

 

The Division of the Disabled and Non-Disabled: How Our High Schools are Failing at Integration

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Last Wednesday, I attended a talk given by Erin M. Sember-Chase, the Assistant Director of Cornell’s Student Disability Services. During this café, we discussed the daily struggles of handicapped people; students also shared their own personal experiences with disability. This chat brought to mind memories of my high school’s treatment of disabled students.

In my high school, students with serious mental/physical handicaps were separated from non-disabled students both by classroom and floor. For class, the disabled students were relegated to the basement, a place to which no one else really ventured. It set up a weirdly segregated environment in which there was this fraction of the school that I essentially never saw. Because I go to a small high school, it was strange and sad at graduation when I did not recognize a few names called to the podium for a diploma. All of these unrecognizable names were the names of disabled students.

Obviously, there needs to be a better system of integration between those with and without disabilities. We need to be exposed to what the real world is like, rather than kept in bubbles not representative of the global population. Integration of non-disabled and disabled students must be carefully and smoothly done, though, as I learned from another student at the café. Her high school used a “shared classroom” system, which put disabled and non-disabled students into the same classroom. The student said that the atmosphere of these classrooms was unsettling and uncomfortable, as teachers created an environment in which they made clear that the disabled students were slower than the non-disabled students, vocally encouraging the non-disabled to help the disabled with the material. This is a lose-lose situation for both sides: Disabled students were made to feel inferior, leading to diminished confidence, feelings of competence, and self-esteem; meanwhile, students who weren’t disabled may have felt they were spending valuable class time helping other students instead of getting the educational support and instruction that they themselves needed. Additionally, they probably felt uncomfortable in these positions of teacher-asserted authority. There needs to be a better system where we can have integration with equality, where everyone gets to feel confident and competent and gets to focus on their own learning.

A Stutter and a Struggle: George VI’s Speech Impediment As a Symbol of Strength in WWII

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Last Friday, I attended Rose’s screening of the Academy Award winning movie The King’s Speech. Despite its accolades, in all honesty, the synopsis for the film sounded like a bore to me and thus I was never inclined to view it. However, I can now say that I was wrong. The movie was enthralling, the actors were tremendous, and the narrative was beautifully portrayed.

The film tells the true story of British King George VI (played by Colin Firth) who, fearful of public speaking due to a stammer, sought the coaching of speech therapist Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush. It made me realize that I have taken the power of speech for granted, which is surprising, considering it makes up a vast portion of our everyday lives. Speech strikes the heart and can drive people to righteous behavior or, on the other end of the spectrum, immoral actions. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches moved Americans to fight racism, while Adolf Hitler’s speeches pushed many to embrace Anti-Semitism and inflict harm upon their neighbors. King George VI’s anxiety probably stemmed from his recognition of speech’s potency, and thus he wanted to make speeches where the words rather than the seemingly weak man behind those words would be focused on.

However, I think that George VI’s disability actually made him that much stronger of a leader. During his reign, the Nazis bombed and battled the UK, striking fear into the hearts of women, children, and men alike. Therefore, I feel that George VI’s attempts to fight his own disability functioned as a sign of hope and strength for British citizens – just as George VI was fighting his own impairment to show strength for his people, he would also fight off the Nazis to protect his people. Therefore, the man behind the words was actually just as important as the words, standing as a symbol for endurance, toughness, fortitude, and courage in the face of adversity – exactly what the terrified British citizens needed in a time of turmoil.

Should Humans Seek the Truth or Live in Blissful Ignorance?

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Last Friday, I attended Rose’s screening of Black Mirror‘s season 1 finale, an episode entitled “The Entire History of You.” In a dystopian future, characters have had their necks implanted with tiny grains that record everything the user does, says, sees, and hears. Therefore, the consumer can replay  moments from their lives anytime. As our society unceasingly proceeds with technological advancements, the Black Mirror poses the question: Should we be able to relive our memories at the click of a button?

Based on this episode and my own logic, I say no. Although watching old memories may seem fun, similar to viewing nostalgic home movies, there are too many costs that would burden our society were we to adopt memory grains. Under this technology, trust would disintegrate, the bliss of ignorance would be destroyed, and living in the present would no longer be an desirable option. Rather than trust loved ones, we would be able to investigate the truth through our and their memories. Sometimes the truth comes at a price, as humans discover things that ruin their happiness, uproot their relationships, and break the comfort and stability of the present. Honestly, although the truth is what we humans constantly seek out, ignorance can be desirable.  With memory grains, humans would constantly nitpick at past interactions and relive good moments in their history, possibly wishing to return. By living in the past, we stop ourselves from making progress in the present and creating fun, new moments, memories, and relationships.

The primary character, Liam, manifests all these pitfalls of the memory grain. After a dinner party with his wife (Ffion), friends, and a man named Jonas, Liam drives himself mad replaying memories from the occasion, repeatedly, from dusk until dawn, analyzing his wife’s facial expressions, dialogue, actions, and reactions in the presence of Jonas. Eventually, after much intense interrogation, Ffion admits to a previous relationship with Jonas, before her marriage to Liam. So, Liam, angry, beats Jonas and demands that he remove, on a TV screen, every memory he has shared with Ffion. Afterwards, while replaying this disturbing memory with Jonas, Liam discovers that one of the memories removed by Jonas implicates his wife in an affair with Jonas, around the time when Liam and Ffion’s baby was conceived. His wife insists that the affair is over and that Jonas wore a condom, but Liam, mistrustful, forces her to replay the memory of her sexual encounter with Jonas and discovers that Jonas did not wear a condom. Therefore, Liam’s baby may not even be his own. With this memory grain, a marriage has been destroyed and a fatherhood thrown into question.

Liam has thus showcased the memory grain’s power to promote mistrustfulness, ruin relationships, stability, and comfort, and encourage an inability to live in present. So, although the memory grain would undeniably give us a greater ability to access ultimate truths – at what cost? Is the truth worth it if it destroys our happiness, our trust, our love? In my opinion, it isn’t. Sometimes, as hard as it is to say, ignorance is blissful, and people couldn’t function or live in the present without it.