Movies for Children with Deeper Meanings

Zootopia, although inherently a movie marketed towards children, has deeper meanings that only adults can fully comprehend. The predator/prey and different animal species issues in the movie are representative of the racial issues that are happening in our country. The sheep was trying to make the predators seem like the bad guys in order to make her own species superior. There is also the issue of all the predators in the police precinct being discriminatory towards Judy purely because she is not a predator. She had to work twice as hard in order to prove that she was worthy of being a police officer even though she had passed all the same tests and even became valedictorian. This is representative of the issues that minorities face in the US.

The “Talented” Mr. Ripley?

This past Friday, I attended the Rose Friday Film for “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” A New York judge was also in attendance to discuss the crimes committed in the movie. Therefore, the focus was on the murders that happened during the movie. However, my focus was more shifted towards Tom’s obsession and “talent.” In the beginning, Tom is portrayed as a hard-working man trying to support himself, making the viewers have sympathy for him. However, as the movie develops, we see that Tom has a dark side. Unsatisfied with his life, he attempts to take over Dickie’s life… by murdering him. That was the turning point in the movie. Although Tom loved Dickie, he ultimately loved his lifestyle more. So he lies to Marge and tries to impersonate Dickie and his lifestyle. This ends in more murders and lies. What I found interesting was that Tom killed all these people to obtain Dickie’s amazing life but in the end, he ended up hating himself more than before. Instead of choosing an honest path, he tries to cheat life, failing. If Tom had decided to keep living is own life fully, he would have been better off.

Wall-E Revisited

Before I attended the Friday Film “Wall-E,” I had probably seen the movie about 20 times before, but not by choice. In elementary and middle school, Wall-E was the first choice movie to show students. As a result, I quickly grew tired of watching it and eventually resented it. But I thought watching the movie as an adult would be a different experience so I decided to attend the Friday Film. I turned out to be right: the movie was an entirely different experience watching it as an adult. The hidden messages were much clearer and resonated with me on a higher level. As a student deeply concerned with climate change, the setting of Wall-E was also much more complex than I thought when I was a kid. Overall, revisiting Wall-E made me wonder what other movies would be better revisited as an adult.

Childhood Movie

Nightmare Before Christmas is arguably the best Christmas movie in existence. When I heard that Rose House was playing the movie for Halloween, it felt strange because I had only ever watched the movie during Christmas. It is a family tradition to watch Nightmare before Christmas during the holiday season. However, because the movie is a personal favorite, I decided to go watch the movie. I hadn’t watched the movie since last Christmas so I was excited. In the end, the movie gave me strong feelings of nostalgia and happiness because it reminded me of my childhood. I hope that Rose Friday Films show more classic childhood movies in the future.

Apples

On September 29, I took the trip down to the Ithaca Commons to explore the famous Applefest. Everyone told me that the apple donuts were fantastic but I was really looking forward to the caramel apples, a personal favorite of mine. So the first thing I did when I got there was get in line and buy a caramel apple. It turned out to be one of the best caramel apples that I had ever eaten. I also tried the mini donuts, which were small but made up for their size with taste. Other than the food, there was a musical performance by a group of kids and a lot of cute dogs to also enjoy. All in all, I understood why so many people travel from far to enjoy Applefest.

Teamwork makes the Dream work

At the Rose Cafe talk last week, we discussed networking and the challenges of teamwork. Although I haven’t had many experiences with group work at Cornell, the few experiences I did have made me realize a few things about myself. If the members of the team showed disinterest and lack of motivation, I tended to just do the work myself to ensure a high grade. However, through the talk I realized that making sure members participate equally is important. I realized that I didn’t even try to motivate the other members but just assumed they would not do the work. We also discussed the importance of networking and building connections at Cornell. We need to strive to make at least one new connection with a staff or faculty member every semester in order to build a large network, which will ultimately help us in future endeavors.

A Walk Worth Walking

This previous Saturday, I had the opportunity to take a trip down to the Ithaca Farmer’s Market. Although the walk there was long and a little sweaty, it was 100 percent worth it in the end. Even the walk there provided fascinating sights as I had never seen so many different colored and decorated houses before. By the time we reached the farmer’s market I was a little tired but excited to explore what the market had to offer. I made my way through the market one store at a time, making sure to visit each stand. I ended up buying some Korean food, a small succulent, and chapstick. The most interesting stand I saw was a bread stand that brought a huge bread-making machine to make fresh bread. In the end, the market was a highly enjoyable experience and I understood why it is one of the best farmer’s markets in the country.