Reflection... continued

I feel very content with what I have achieved in the blogger posts. I have been working very hard, and all my effort is paying off. I can see the difference in all of my writing works, including the Writing down the Bones project, my chemistry and biology lab reports, and my personal writing. This activity has enhanced my writing skills by contributing to my creativity, phrasing, critical thinking, and every other skill concerning writing. It has also served as motivation to continue writing and to express myself in artsy ways. Additionally, analyzing the movie and the play has stimulated me to want to analyze everything! I usually always analyze many things, but now it is more frequent. For example, when a friend is in trouble, I give him or her an advice based on my analysis of the situation; when I go to the movies, I not only analyze the film, but also the trailers and commercials being displayed; and when I feel overwhelmed with work from my classes, I calmly analyze everything, and effectively plan out what to do during the week. I really hope that our next activities involve critical thinking!

Reflection

I absolutely love working on these reflections. I enjoy analyzing literary works and movies (Two can Play and The 60's). As we write these reflections, we become more persuasive, and our writing begins to carry more substance. By analyzing certain events or scenarios we found interesting, we also develop our argument skills and we become able to defend our thesis in a stronger manner. Working in the blogger has been a totally new and wonderful experience. Expressing my opinion about some topics also creates response. My peers not necessarily agree with me, so by submitting the main points that support his or her thesis, counter-argument is created. When I commenced making my first posts, I was a little lost and disoriented, when using the website, but I gradually "took the hang of it" and learned how to use the system (some of my group friends helped me along the process). Looking back on my first post, I realized that my writing has gotten a lot better (in terms of quality and quantity). I am aware that there are aspects I still need to work on, but as I continue writing and exposing my thoughts and opinions, I believe that those areas will improve.

The 60's, the Resolution

In the final part of the movie The 60’s, everything started to calm down after a big crisis. Michael found a new girlfriend when he was helping in the campaign of a politician. However he was still in love with Sarah, and goes one more time after her, he seems to be a hard learner. Sarah, on the other hand gets sick of Kenny, who is a complete idiot, and does not take care not even a bit about her, or about anyone else, he is just concerned about the “cause”, which could be means that he is only after personal glory at all. He is hiding from the police, because they are after him to put him in jail, so he hides, let his beard grow a lot (resembling a lo to the Che Guevara), and prepares bombs in a tiny room with a couple guys that are as sick as him. Eventually, one day Sarah visits him, throws him money (only seen in movies) and goes really exasperated. Kenny stayed for the cause smoking near to a bomb that he was making, and as is natural, and I hoped form the beginning of the movie, he exploded in a thousand pieces. Rest in peace Kenny.

            Brian comes back from Vietnam, and he was not happy at all, looked like he forgot to speak English, because not even a word came out of his mouth at his arrival. He hides in his room for a couple days and let his beard grow, looking like a copy of Chewbacca. This part of the movie is a representation, of how soldiers were sent to the Vietnam War, to fight and die for reasons that they did not understand. The reasons for the psychological trauma of Brian is not explicitly explained on the movie, but it could be assumed, that his behavior is a result of his experiences in the war; facing death, watching his partners die, while he was killing by himself Vietnamese in a effort to survive. He becomes a part of the opposition to the war and accompanies Michael to a hippie festival, where he had a mental crash and tried to kill a man whose head was not on earth and was desperate asking if someone had seen his lady. Brian gets knocked and then everything starts to get fixed when he wakes up.

            Katie on the other hand, understands that the father of her son is an idiot and he does not give her a penny for her son. She starts to work doing striptease but she quits the same day she begins, because a man offended her. It is degrading what some women have to do for necessity in order to maintain their families, in extreme circumstances, and because of the lack of support of their families or partners. She goes along with her baby and escapes to the farm of her mother in law. There is like a small community where everyone cooperates in order to coexist. Then, she goes to a hippie festival, where she finds her brother Brian knocked and takes care of him. She did not recognize him at the beginning, because he changed a lot his appearance, but finally she realizes who he is when he says his name. Then Michael arrives and they reunite, and both brothers met their nephew, Michael Rainbow, Katie’s son. They all go together to their home, with their parents, and they reunite. Both parents, Bill and Mary, were astonished at the arrival of Katie. They make a barbecue, were Bill quits his role of Macho man, and says “I am sorry” to Katie, because of all the suffering she passed through and because he thought more about what people would say than in his own daughter. Sarah arrives from nowhere and now she is really decided that the only man she loves is Michael, maybe because Kenny is dead, but they get together again. Meanwhile, the new girlfriend Michael had disappeared from scene and never came back.

            In other waters, Emmet joins the Black Panthers, uses a leather jacket and thinks he is a bad guy. He is part of the protection team of Fred Hampton, an activist of the Black Panthers in Illinois. Later, Fred is killed while sleeping. This meant a point of high tension in the civil rights movements. The falling action of this movie was steep, and it had a happy ending for the principal characters, excepting for Emmet, who was drastically affected by the murder of his father. Some secondary characters did not have a happy ending, like Kenny, who became fireworks. The crude reality of that time and the resemblance it has with nowadays is marked, meaning that many of the problems of the 60’s are still alive, and while other problems ended, many others arose. But I guess it is how life is all about, problems ending and other ones arriving.

The 60's directed by Mark Piznarski (part 1)

The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski is a film that portrays important events that marked the 60’s as an important period on American history. These events are presented through the lives of two fictional families that are affected by most of the things happening in that period of time. The first part of the film presents the Herlihys, who represent a “common stereotypical” American family and that throughout the film have to face different situations that will bring them together at the end of the story. The father, Bill Herlihy is the “support” of the family and he presents an indirect sexist character towards his daughter and wife. The wife, Mrs. Herlihy, is submissive to her husband and resigns to the social opinion of women not having a voice of their own. The youngest daughter, Kate, also has to deal with the sexist society and discrimination towards women. This is shown when she gets in trouble for dancing with a colored man on a school dance which also presents the discrimination towards colored people. Later on, at the end of part one, Kate gets pregnant and due to it his father is ashamed of her and her mother suggests that she could go away until she give birth and give the baby for adoption and then everything would go back ton normal. What other people thought had a lot of importance to their family it even defined who they where, this is also why the mother wouldnt dare to speak up her opinions. The youngest son, Michael, is the ideal son, all A’s kind of student and his father expects great things from him just because of it. He is exposed to the idea of fighting for a cause or fighting for what one believes in. The film even shows when Michael takes a course in Loyola University with a certain father Dennis who makes clear to his students that he is against the war and that he believed in social protest. Michael gets involved in protest and learns more about the war when his brother Brian decides to join the military. Last but not least there’s The oldest song, Brian, who’s not as smart as Michael and doesn’t care much about grades. Even though he’s not that good in school his father expects him to get in to Notre dame. Brian decides to get into the military to make his father proud. This shows how Brian has not defined well his identity and needs the aproval of his father by joining the war. A mentality that the goverment has put in its citizens, "fighting for a greater cause", a cause that is not even defined because young men joining the military usually didnt know the purpose of the war. The second family that the film presents, are the Taylors. This family has to deal with racism in the United States. Mr. Taylor is a reverend and is usually trying to make statements against racism with fellow friends who share his same ideal. Because of his manifestations he gets beaten up and his church gets burned down. This first part of the film ends with a national teach-in against the war that Michael assists to. Here is where the characters of Kenny and Sarah are first presented. Kenny is a revolutionary young man who has many ideals against the war and seems to be focused in only one thing, make an impact that would stop it. Also on this meeting is when the character of Sarah is presented she is shown as a strong character, she wasn’t afraid to raise her voice and to speak her mind in the teach-in meeting. She's also brave because cosidering that at that time women's opinions wheren't even looked upon she still spoke up. This carelessnes upon womens opinions is also shown when Kenny tries to ridicule Sarah's opinion by asking her what organization did she speak for. Lastly something very important that Kenny starts to show with his behavior is that he doesn’t really care for the safety of people, he just cares for the cause that he's fighting for.

Final Reflection on "The 60's"

Throughout the final scenes of the movie the same issues were addressed such as gender roles  and racism.  Nowadays racism is not as strongly noticed in society as it used to during the 1960’s decade but its presence is recognized. There are numerous examples of situations where black are discriminated over whites in politics, work and even in neighborhoods. An example in the field of politics can be the very own President of the United States Barack Obama. His campaign in 2008 was a very controversial one not only because of his muslim heritage but also because of being black. He received numeral threats and offensive comments from specific groups from numerous communities just like Congressman John Lewis has been insulted numerous times. Congressman was a significant leader in the civil rights movement of the 60’s and up to the present day he has encountered protesters and verbal assaults from them.  Regarding gender roles, these are still common these days. Compared to previous years women have progressed in society and acquire numerous prestigious positions in society. Many women are underestimated in the labor area as if they cannot do as good as a job as a man can. For example, as a mechanical engineering students I have faced numerous comments on how it is strange that a woman would be so interested in that field, do a man’s work and be as good as them.  In different households the scenario prevails as the woman who does the entire house cleaning and taking care of the children while the man goes to work. I cannot remember clearly what brand of car it was but there was an advertisement where it showed a minivan for the woman and a sports car for the man. This clearly addressed the gender roles mentioned before. Homosexuality is addressed in a scene in the movie where they weren’t allowed to join the military and were discriminated against.  Throughout history there has always been discrimination towards them from society and the different religious groups present. They were prosecuted and murdered. Nowadays homosexuals are still adapting to society and many homophobes have murdered homosexuals just because they think it is immoral in their perspective and lack of respect towards them. The 60’s movie addressed very well the issues during that decade and demonstrate us that there is still work to do in order to try and diminish these prejudices from society and keep poisoning it causing violence and disorder.  

Final Reflection of the 60's!

As the movie approched the resolution, new prejudicial aspects surfaced. Racism, Gender Roles and "homophobia" are very vivid in the final scenes. Situations concerning these three universal and controversial themes can still be viewed today. Racism has always existed in America, and it will always exist as long as hatred and ignorance remain there. It has attenuated to some some degree since the era of The 60's, but not completely. For example, in job interviews (whites chosen over blacks, despite experience and preparation), general treatment (ex. being less amicable when they order food), and even in elementary schools (they get chosen last in games, and get reprimanded more often), which later has worse effects. Gender roles are also common nowdays. Woman have acquired a lot of power, but gender bias is still seen. For instance, as I mentioned in class, one of my (girl) friends quit her job after learning that she was being paid 50 cents less than all male workers. As with Kenny and Sarah's relationship, many women nowdays are subjugated by their male companions in different manners. We see how they are constantly physically and emotionally mistreated. Not so long ago occured the Tara Lynn Gant Case. Tara Lynn was a woman murdered by her husband, Stephen Grant in Michigan. When Stephen reported his wife missing, the policemen executed a search warrant and found Tara's torso in his garage. After several events, Stephen finally confessed his crime. He strangled her and then took her body to a family owned tool and die shop were it was dismembered. This is an extreme case, but it really shows how some men feel the need to overpower women and lessen them in al possible aspects. Homosexual bias was and is still present in our society. In The 60's, gays were not able to participate in war. Homosexuality was viewed as a defect, something unnatural; therefore, making them unable to go to war. In November 2009, right here in Puerto Rico, 19 year old gay George Steven Lopez Mercado was brutally killed for being gay. His body was found burned, dismembered and decapitated. His arms, legs, and head had been torn off before the body was dumped. The police investigator of this case asserted: "People who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen". He warned other puertorrican gays as if they were citizens unprotected from the law. The cases displayed show that prejudice still exists. The movie The 60's merely portrays a subtle reflection of the racial, gender, and homosexual bias that the incidents show. Equality will only reign when we forget our differences and somehow comprehend that we are all the same.

The 60's continuation

The plot has been fully developed, and the main crisis has reached its apogee. The protagonists are placed in tedious crossroads which lead to certain realizations that contibute to the categorization of the nature of each of them. The audience can easily grasp the symbolism in several acts, which carry out significant meanining in the film. For example, the moment in which peace and equality dominated the scene of one of the strikes. Michael placed a flower in the muzzle of one of the soldiers' guns and this single act presents the same thing that protestants commenced to assert: "We are not against the soldiers, we are against the war". Michael's passion and hope towards the whole movement is vehemently expressed by this action. His genuine desire for the success in "changing the world" is even observed by Sarah Winestock, who put an end to their relationship when she met Kenny, a protestant with much fervor who almost got killed by a train when demanding his rights. Sarah felt immediately attracted to Kenny when she saw his furor when protesting. Kenny was the epitome of her "perfect" man, thus leaving Michael for him. During this time, marijuana was greatly consumed. I believe that this is attributed to the rebellion of youth against the Vietnam War. They used it to escape the war-like environment and to submerge in one filled with peace and love. Additionally, in the 60's not much scientific research was done on this drug; hence, people thought that consuming marijuana was actually benefitial for them. Sarah eventually realizes that leaving Michael was an immense mistake. Not only was she in awe with Michael's eminent act on the strike, but also she begins to feel subjugated when noticing Kenny's attitude towards her. In terms of Katie, she has joined the hippie movement when she found refuge with the father of her child (whom she decides to name Rainbow). When Rainbow is born, she faces many economical adversities, since the father of her baby does not cooperate on any of her needs because he is so focused on his band. Katie feels devastated and desperate for money to take care of Rainbow. She decides to become a stripper, thinking that it was a worthy sacrifice for her daughter. She quickly quits after being treated as a whore. Katie's situation portrays how the conservative society cannot accept her as a young mother and how women's sexuality was somewhat controlled, giving more power to men. As her last resort, Katie calls her family through a payphone. but fails to mention her location during the phone's time limit. Furthermore, Emmet exemplifies a pacifist in the Black Movement, but after perceiving no change and observing many injustices, he reccurs to violent means. A scene with much sentiment was ascribed to Willie's unexpected and heartwarming death. While convincing Emmet that violence was not the answer, and taking his gun ,a policeman shoots Willie thinking that he was menace with the possession of a gun (which was actually Emmets'). After this touching and moving part, Emmet returns to his nonviolent ways, but the struggle for equality augments as the racial segregation intensifies.