I had the opportunity to view the film Hidden Figures and the listen to the discussion that followed regarding the role and growth of the STEM fields. The film was fantastic and followed the lives of women who faced much discrimination because of their race and their sex. Though these woman faced many challenges they over came their hardships and perserviered in fields that only men were thought to be able to study and do well. Despite these issues, these woman furthered the space program as well as provided role models for future young woman that have been discriminated against. The panel that followed the film discussed the role STEM fields have played and will play as society and technology advances further. Additionally, it was discussed that not as many women are involved in STEM fields as men. This film as well as the panel was very interesting and provided a lot of information as to how women, societies ideals, as well as technology have evolved and will further evolve. I do recommend that if you have not seen the film Hidden Figures, that you see it
Author Archives: rfc96
Perfecting a Musical
I attended the Cornell Cinema screening of the well-known Oscar nominee, La La Land. This film was fantastic and followed the lives of two individuals, Mia (played by Emma Stone) and Sebastian (played by Ryan Gosling), who were trying to become a household name in show business. It examined the challenges these individuals faced in their personal and professional lives they faced together and separately. Though this film was fiction, it successfully portrayed many of the challenges normal, everyday individuals face in relationships and in their jobs, while trying to improve themselves. It did a great job of depicting real-life challenges, allow the audience the chance to connect with the on-screen personalities. Unfortunately, this film did not win the best picture Oscar, though Emma Stone, who played Mia, won best actress for this film. I feel that if you have not had a chance to view this wonderful film, that you definitely should watch it the first chance you get. Throughout the movie, it was interesting to see how the directors incorporated Stone and Gosling’s musical scenes, as they do not strike me as the type of actors that would play characters in a musical. Overall, they did a fantastic job.
Is It True?
Through the Rose Scholars Program, I was able to attend a very informative table talk on fake news. Fake news is the spreading of false information through common news outlets and broadcasting stations. Fake news is common in today’s society and became very apparent in this past presidential election; it is all around us. Sometimes fake news is extremely apparent and other times it is hard to decipher and can spread quickly through social media sources such as Twitter and Facebook. In order to avoid reading and spreading fake news, follow the following steps: consider the is the article reliable, read more about the information discussed in the article, pay attention to the text itself (look for satire and ridiculous comments), is the author reliable, is the support for the news claim legitimate or fake, check the date of the article, and last but not least, double-check your own bias and make sure it is not overly-influencing you. Outlined above is a list of steps that can help individuals avoid believing fake news. Though time consuming, it is better to be informed about what is truly going on in the world. As fake news can potentially harm individuals and miss-inform the general public.
Surrounded by Beautiful Music
Last Sunday I had the opportunity to see the Cornell University Wind Symphony and the Ithaca High School Wind Ensemble perform. The music they performed blew me away, it was a magical experience. During the performance, the composer, David Maslanka, spoke about a few of the pieces and how he wrote these pieces. It was very inspiring. Overall, the piece I enjoyed the most from the Ithaca High School Wind Ensemble was Mother Earth, composed by David Maslanka. I enjoyed this piece greatly because it incorporated so many instruments into a harmonious piece of work. The students at Ithaca High School did a wonderful job on this piece. The piece I enjoyed greatly from the Cornell University Wind Symphony was Symphony No.8 composed by David Maslanka. I would recommend that all Cornell students go see a performance by the Cornell University Wind Symphony as it is a very enjoyable, relaxing, and a fulfilling performance that incorporates emotional feeling and many instruments into its music.
Going Separate Ways
Last Friday, I watch the film City of God. The film depicted the lives of two individuals- Lil Ze and Rocket who grew up in Brazil-and more specifically examined how the choices made throughout their lives, and how different role models, can shape an individual’s future and influence their choices. The first individual, Rocket, grew up to be a photographer that had a long, more-so peaceful life, than Lil Ze. Lil Ze never had a role model, like Rocket had, in his life and as a result, lead a brutal, short-lived life. He sought to prove himself through violence and, as a result, became a feared drug lord. The City of God painted a violent picture of how life worked in the Favelas (slums) in Rio de Janerio during the mid to late 1900s. I feel like this film accurately shows the violence and the quality of life that occurs in Favelas during this time period. The directors of this film, Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles, used individuals that lived in Rio de Janerio, Brazil as extras in the film. This film showed how drug lords and gang leaders used fear and manipulation to control their favelas, leading to death, rapes, and trafficking. When the police attempted to intervene, this led to shoot outs in the streets between the police force and these gangs. Essentially, police did not have the ability to intervene in these favelas or stop gang wars from occurring. Personally, I thought this movie accurately depicted life during the 70s and 80s in Brazil.
Are We Living In A Matrix?
Last Friday, I watched the movie The Matrix which is a science fiction film produced in 1999. This movie was based on the early philosophical thoughts of Rene Descartes. He created a thesis on the ability to think for oneself. He felt that some experiences-especially sensory ones- did not always match reality.
The Matrix is about the main character, Neo, and his realization that he was living in a computer-generated dream world. His reality is not reality at all, but a dream world. During the film, Neo meets Morpheus who is the leader of a resistance group that is trying to combat the machines and break the matrix. Per the movie, machines put all human beings into a matrix as they are farming humans for energy.
Today, influential individuals such as Elon Musk feel as if we could be living in a matrix-like world. Some individuals feel that there is a very slim chance that we are not living in that type of world. The possibility that we are living in a matrix-like world is still being explored. Either way, the movie, The Matrix explores a controversial topic that we are living in a machine-controlled world. Overall, the movie was very interesting and fun to watch, though as I still do not completely understand it, I would recommend watching it again.
I want to be me!
Last Friday I viewed a documentary, They Call Me Muslim. This film explored how different policies from various countries in the world have impacted the lives of Muslim individuals that live in the depicted countries. One country examined was France. In France, a law was established that did not allow female Muslim students to wear the hijab in public schools. As a result, some Muslim students were expelled from school and others had to go to school without their hijab. One student felt like this law did not allow her to express herself fully. This film highlighted that even in a democratic country like France, that women still struggle to express themselves and what they believe in. Across the world, in Iran, Diana Ferrero, the filmmaker, interviewed a woman who was trying to express herself differently than the individuals in France. Unlike those in France who were not permitted to wear their hijabs to public school, K who lives in Tehran, does not necessarily like to wear the hijab. Therefore, K wears a translucent scarf as a hijab, putting herself at risk of being arrested. These two individuals from different sides of the globe have different views on how they should be allowed to express themselves, although they both depict the right to want to express control over their own bodies. This film brought up very controversial topics and stressed that women should be allowed to express themselves.
Behind The Scenes
Last Friday I viewed the film Shakespeare in Love. In the movie, Shakespeare is in the process of writing the play Romeo and Juliet. This movie was completely fictional but hypothesized where Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet originated. In the beginning of the movie, Shakespeare unknowingly casted a woman for the part of Romeo, due to the fact that she pretended to be a man, at the time known as Thomas Kent. It later turned out that Thomas Kent was in fact Viola de Lesseps, a woman of the upper class that Shakespeare would have a love affair with. At this time, the play started to shadow his interactions with Viola. Later in the movie Viola had to marry Lord Wessex, creating an end to their affair. During the final scenes of the movie, Shakespeare had to play Romeo while his love interest, Viola played Juliet. As they thought these were their final moments together they expressed their love for each other in the play. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet, Viola and Shakespeare had a happy ending in comparison. Neither of them died, but Viola did marry Lord Wessex. Overall, I thought that this movie posed an interesting question to where Shakespeare’s idea for Romeo and Juliet had originated. It is possible that these events did occur, but it is unknown. I thought this movie did a wonderful job in portraying the Elizabethan era, I for one was disgusted by the majority of everyone’s teeth during that time period. The movie did a good job highlighting the cast differences and explaining a potential hypothesis on the origin of Romeo and Juliet, as it was not thought that a love like Romeo and Juliet’s could be caught on screen.
Who’sThe Boss?
The movie Fight Club, which I saw last Friday, examines the loss of the masculine identity in gray-collar workplace. This is the second time I have seen the movie Fight Club. This movie succeeded in being thought provoking. The movie starts out with a nameless individual that we later know as Jack, and shows how he met Tyler Durden. It is later found that Tyler Durden is actually Jack’s alter ego. Jack had a boring, routine life: wake-up, go to work, and go to support group meetings, while Tyler was a rebel who wanted to live his life the way he saw fit. Tyler and Jack created an under-ground, male-only fight club. As the movie continues, the under-ground fight club evolves into Project Mayhem, which is made up of gray-collar workers. The movie succeeds in analyzing the masculine identity created by our society. Overall, I thought that the movie was very interesting as it played out moments in our every-day lives and the struggles that arise. I feel that this movie needs to be seen multiple times in order to be understood completely.