Author Archives: Joanne Li

The Merge of Good and Bad

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I enjoy watching movies that don’t take themselves too seriously, and I never say no to a good action movie. Described as a “musical crime comedy film,” the Blues Brothers seemingly hit everything I look for in a film. However, it fell extremely short of my hopeful expectations. I thought the movie was ludicrous throughout, completely random, and didn’t develop any redeeming characters. Though the overall plot made sense and was followed, the utter lack of normalcy in any of the scenes made me cringe. At many points, for example, during the scene at the restaurant of the band member, I found myself asking “why?” mentally. The whole movie seemed overdone and unnecessary. It reminded me of children’s movies, where the characters are often overly exaggerated.

The brothers were on a selfless, admirable quest, yet, to reach their goal they conducted themselves in thoughtless, criminal ways. The religious undertones of the film were apparent and well-done. The protagonists’ goal was portrayed as a mission from God. However, the protagonists were very flawed as past thieves. This juxtaposition between the goodness of their intention and the sinful nature of their behavior portrays the idea that we are all sinners but we can work towards redemption.

Despite my personal negative opinion of the movie, it seems to have a large cult of fans. I enjoyed the music in the film very much and thought it the only redeeming aspect of the movie. Though the Blue Brothers was not for me, I’m glad to have crossed it off my list.

 

The Modern State of Loving

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Loving was a touching that had me on the verge of tears multiple times. After watching the movie, I was curious to learn more about the real story of Mildred and Richard Loving. I was amazed the decision to make interracial marriage constitutional was only made in 1967.

As the Asian half of an interracial couple, this film resonated with me. Though the existence of overt racism in regards to interracial couples has become very, very, uncommon, in my experience, racism still exists in more subtle, perhaps unconscious ways. I’m from the midwest, where the population is friendly, conservative, and not high in minorities. I started dating my boyfriend over three years ago, the summer before my senior year of high school. But this almost didn’t happen. My boyfriend described a conversation he had with his dad before we started dating, when we were good friends. His dad asked him if we were dating, and my boyfriend responded by saying that I was Asian. His dad told him that wasn’t an issue. To this day, I wonder what would have happened if his dad responded differently. And I’m amazed my boyfriend even thought that. It has made me more aware of prejudices and assumptions that people have. On numerous occasions, people have been surprised to find out my boyfriend is not Asian. Little encounters like these show how we have lots more progress to go in regards to racism in dating and relationships. Mildred and Richard Loving were formative in tearing down racial boundaries, and I owe a lot to their perseverance, and love.

Newfound Awareness

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I found the discussion with Erin Sember-Chase from Cornell’s Student Disabilities Service to be eye opening. I had no idea that so many students on Cornell’s campus are affected by disability. It made me more aware of how I perceive disability: as something visually obvious. However, there are so many mental or cognitive obstacles that seemingly physically-able people have to overcome on a daily basis. I haven’t grown up aware enough of disabilities and it is not addressed enough in my communities. Because of limited exposure, I have had an unrealistic image of a disabled person. I enjoyed hearing people’s personal anecdotes surrounding disability stigmas.

I do feel conflicted about the word “disability.” It implies that someone is a less able person due to something they’re affected by. And I don’t think that’s a good way to construe a setback. I think it impedes on growth-mindset.

The Nuances of Perception

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Citizen Kane follows the story of Charles Foster Kane through the eyes of a reporter, Jerry Thompson. Kane lives an empty life, never knowing true companionship. He is wrought with the inability to navigate personal relationships, and his childhood spent unwillingly away from his family certainly plays a role in his dysfunctional relationships. I thought the movie was thought-provoking and deserving of the high ratings given my critics.

Throughout the movie, I was most intrigued by the role perception played in developing Kane’s character. The film is set up as flashbacks from interviews Thompson conducts of people in Kane’s life, all to find the meaning of “rosebud,” the last word Kane uttered before his death. Thompson never finds the meaning of rosebud, which is revealed to the audience in the closing scene as the name of his Kane’s childhood sled. The fact that this remained unknown to researchers delving deep into Kane’s life shows how individual the human experience is, and how little we can read about the lives and minds of others. It’s very possible to gather information about a person’s life through events and encounters and piece together who that person is, but the accuracy of this completed puzzle is difficult to ascertain. Indeed, the very idea of “accuracy” implies that there is a truth to a person’s life, and I’d argue there is no such thing. Our individual experiences of life are shaped by how we perceive events in our lives, and this perception may be entirely different from how other perceive the same situations. This difference in perception is something Kane never comes to understand, and is one cause of the destruction of his relationships.

Old-Fashioned Humor

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I found North by Northwest very enjoyable for its action scenes, romance, and humor. What stood out most to me was the humor used in the film. I thought it to be more subtle, yet at the same time bold. For example, when Eve tells Thornhill, the leading man, that she’s a big girl, he responds that she’s “big in all the right places.” A compliment with the same meaning would not be as delicately given today and likely seen as rather rude. Additionally, this humor went on continuously for lengthy scenes, while I feel like I’m used to comical one liners in modern movies. Humor was incorporated in scenes that weren’t meant to be comedic. For example, the scene where Thornhill is in the open field waiting more the bus is meant to be suspenseful, but humor is incorporated by the scenery chosen and the random character who gets out of the mysterious car, all without breaking the suspense. Even with all the humor, I wouldn’t at all classify the movie as a comedy and this demonstrates how subtly the humor is incorporated.

The strong prevalence of high-quality humor had me laughing throughout the movie. I’ll definitely be adding other Hitchcock movies to my watch list.

The Power of Friendship

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The King’s Speech followed the ascension of Prince Albert as King George V to the throne of England and his struggle with speech impediments. I first saw this movie about 7 years ago, and it left no lasting impressions and I remember disliking the movie, thinking it boring. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention or my taste in movies has changed, but this time around, I thought the movie was humorous and moving, and the characters were well-developed.

My biggest takeaway from the movie was how impactful personal relationships are in an individual’s life. The King’s childhood was strewn with people who overlooked him such as his family members. Lionel, the speech therapist, becomes a close friend of the King’s and genuinely believes in his capability and wishes him only the best, even risking treason to do so. This relationship serves as a secure safe haven for the King and allows him to become a more confident person and overcome his speech impediments. On the other hand, the King’s brother associates himself with a woman of loose morals and this affects the path his life takes as he is forced from the throne and loses respect from others. The connection between the people we surround ourselves with and our life outcome is clear. We are easily influenced by those around us and it’s important to choose our friends carefully.

Truth and Trust

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“The Entire History of You” was the first episode of Black Mirror I’ve seen. I was on the edge of my seat the entire hour and was impressed by the depth and subtlety of the story. But as soon as the screen went black, I was consumed with a numb feeling and felt disheartened at th. This impression was likely Black Mirror’s intention. I thought repeatedly about what-ifs. What is this story had played out in my present world?  Would they just be a happy family, oblivious to the truth that could tear them apart? What if Liam had been happy in his marriage and work-life? Would that have given him security that would have prevented his obsession with his wife’s relationship with another man?

Later on, I moved away from thinking about the what-ifs of this story that played out in a surreal world. In fact, I think the story says a lot about our current world. The episode follows the destruction of Liam’s life, with the memory device playing a large role in this destruction. Though one takeaway from this is that the past is dangerous, I believe the bigger takeaway is that the truth is dangerous. We value truth greatly, in our justice system and advertising and the media. At the same time, we place great importance in trust. Strangers trust others to stop at red lights; we trust our significant others to stay true to us. How can we value both trust and truth when these two entities are so often at odds with each other? This ironic relationship between truth and trust speaks to a greater values of our society. Our values of honesty and goodness. If honesty and goodness are observed to be true, then trust is earned. In Liam’s case, he prioritizes the truth over trust in his wife because he sees signs of dishonestly.