To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Review

To Kill a Mockingbird, based off of the novel by Harper Lee, was made in 1962 showing the coming of age tale of Scout Finch growing up in a racially divided Southern town. Scout, along with her brother Jem, stand by their dad, Atticus Finch, as he defends a black man accused and trialed for a crime he did not commit which causes  tension among their family and the town. Throughout the movie, Scout has a key lesson of how harsh this world is through the trail, showing the last summers of her innocence. The movie To Kill a Mockingbird is cinematic masterpiece as well, the shots so clean, the lighting very contrasting, that is the epitome of early to mid twentieth century cinematography.
One thing that I have always liked about To Kill a Mockingbird is that fact that the roles are sort of reversed, perfect examples to study are Scout and Atticus. For starters Atticus, is not a 'man' in the sense of what a man was back in that time period where he wasn't doing physical work, he was a thinker. One could even say he was somewhat effeminate as he nurtured his kids into being rational, being rational is something that is not something that is usually seen as homogeneous to a 'man'. However, it is not to say he isn't manly, as Harper Lee creates an in depth character to Atticus as he is very manly, in protecting and raising his kids, at the same time as he feminine. Scout is also interesting as she gets into fights at school and prefers to wear overalls to dresses, not to mention she likes to speak up when ever she can with her very tenacious personality. She is not the usual female role who is quiet and curious to others, which presents another deep character that makes this movie and book interesting.

Precious (2009) Movie Review

Precious (2009) is a movie about an overweight sixteen year old who all her life was abused mentally and emotionally by her mom, and raped by her dad. Precious the protagonist, at the beginning, is pregnant with her second child and gets kicked out of her school and finds education at an alternative school. She struggles at school and at home, which makes her feel stupid as she is told by her mom she will never amount to anything and she is basically ilterate; however, she has a sportive teacher who helps her learn and who eventually gets Precious out of living with her abusive mother. Precious has dark themes; yet, it is matched with hopefulness and even comedy, making it something that everyone can relate to.

One aspect of the film that I loved is that even though it holds serious themes, it is not as tragic by the added comedy that makes the whole movie lighter. This design is purposeful as is mirror’s Precious’s character. One thing that characterizes Precious is that she is hopeful and an escapist by day dreaming when times are tough. The light-heartedness of the movie when it is at the same time dealing with difficult themes mimics Precious’s character as she herself is lighthearted amongst her difficult life to make her life less miserable. This character trait of being an escapist is what makes everyone relate to this movie as everyone's difficult situations has a natural instinct to daydream, or joke, to escape the horrors of what they go through.

We Real Cool Analysis Response #4/30

               

We Real Cool

BY GWENDOLYN BROOKS

The Pool Players.
        Seven at the Golden Shovel.

            We real cool. We   

            Left school. We

            Lurk late. We

            Strike straight. We

            Sing sin. We   

            Thin gin. We

            Jazz June. We   

            Die soon.

We Real Cool by Gwendolyn Brooks, is a rhythmic poem that mimics a singsong-y vibe of smooth jazz. It is very different from the other poems by how it is written and devised, as in the couplets the speaker indents to another line while the sentence is on going. Each of the lines ends with 'we' and if not it is easy to pick off a shift in the poem. This intention makes the rhyme scheme extremely noticeable, as the reader is forced to take a pause and take emphasis on the rhyme, almost like: 'we--Lurk late. We--Strike straight'. At the beginning there is an introductory phase of lines 1 and 2 where the speaker establishes the 'we' in this poem are pool players. This is introductory phase is made obvious by the shift that follows when the poem starts using 'we' at the end of every line; however, at the end there is another shift, the line only consisting of, "die soon," creating a dire tone, since the rhythm is thrown off without the 'we' and the nice almost happy rhythm stops. The tone becoming dire reveals a theme in this cool lifestyle that there is a price for living 'cool'. The life the pool players live is more of a fun lifestyle by drinking gin, staying up late, and leaving school earlier because 'they real cool'. The purpose of this poem is almost to say living recklessly with your life by trying to be cool is idiotic.