Ever get the feeling you're being played?

Do all criminal minds think alike? Not according to this film. In the 2004 drama Criminal, with humor interspersed, director Gregory Jacobs makes the audience sit on the edge of their seat and pay attention. Through twists and turns the plot thickens and as the movies tagline promises, you get played.

In the beginning we meet Rodrigo, played by Diego Luna, a small time con artist stealing a few bucks from waitresses in a casino. He attracts the attention of the bigger crook Richard Gaddis, played by John C. Reilly, who happens to be looking for a new partner. Rodrigo happens to look like a nice guy and Gaddis decides to try him out for a day, no strings attached. Rodrigo appears to be happy to oblige since he is stealing money to help pay for his father’s surgery.

Suddenly we meet Gaddis’ sister and brother who only muddle our view of him further. What appears to be a con artist with a good heart is now a brother attempting to dupe his own family. Through it all Rodrigo holds on, apparently to keep hold of his chance a getting a big score on the coattails of the larger crook. Then a man who collects rare money comes into town and the pair has a chance at passing a counterfeit bill and getting their big score.

While it may seem like you know the humble Rodrigo the family man, you know nothing at all. Take the plunge and get played, it’s a ride that will never be forgotten.

No Crash and Burn Here

Crash, brought to life by director Paul Haggis, is an enlightening view of stereotypes and prejudice in today’s world. For those who think that discrimination is gone it will rattle their cage. For those who know see discrimination around them it will show a more in depth view of the inner workings of relationships.

A set of people who appear to have no common ground interact in modern day L.A. It is through “crashing” into each other that they see inside of themselves to the person within. The main focus of the film is exposing characters back-story. To see the why behind their actions that it may be better understood why they make certain choices. After viewing the film I began to question, what was that man’s back-story who was working at the counter who I snapped at? The movie strives to remove racial barriers and does a good job of it. It also helps to show the barriers that still hold people of color back in the world. The interaction of the characters, which are a rainbow of races, shows the true nature of interracial relationships. This includes policeman to citizens, politicians to policeman, upper-class to maids, and many other variations. While these day to day interactions may not seem significant they help to define the world which is L.A.

The film also utilizes dramatic circumstances to enhance the meaning of the film. At times it is so gripping that I felt myself clutching the seat, hoping for the scene to resolve and pass. And, the title does not disappoint, there are literal crashes throughout the film that help add to the dramatic impact.

The only drawback to the film is that snap stereotypes are used over and over. While it may be necessary because of how many characters are presented, it still diminishes the film at times. It seems like you are being hit in the head with stereotypical character after character. While they unfolded to a deeper person eventually at times, it put a damper on trying to minimize racial stereotypes.

Overall the movie was a true gem. It opened my eyes to the fact that while we may all be players on a stage, there is a backstage where people choose their mask. I highly recommend it to every moviegoer.

The Farnsworth Story

The story of Philo T. Farnsworth is a sad chronicle of how big business pushes out the little man in American history. He was a fairly uneducated man who taught himself electronics using magazines in his family’s attic. When he was only in high school Philo began to draw sketches of electron tubes. This fascination continued and he eventually decided to try his hand at making an electronic television. He convinced a few investors to back him and set up a small lab in California. This became like a family, with even his investors working by his side to create the first electronic television. Eventually, after much work, he accomplished his goal and was able to transmit an image.

At the same time, RCA was working towards the same goal. Their researcher, Vladimir Zworykin, visited Farnsworth’s lab in 1930 and essentially stole much of his work sending back to RCA a 400 word telegraph. Realizing that they would need to buy Farnsworth out because he had documentation for his discovery, they offered him a lump sum for his design. Farnsworth saw the need for his invention and joined the company Philco in an attempt to protect himself within a large company.

RCA would not stop and began to pull Farnsworth through a long legal battle. Eventually Farnsworth left Philco for personal reasons. He then had his own company which broadcast television regularly. Unfortunately, he was drug through the courts over and over again, eventually giving up and selling out to RCA. This caused him to have severe psychological damage and was an alcoholic for a large part of his life. The television was revealed at the World’s Fair in 1939 as though it was brand new, with no mention of Farnsworth.

This story, though sad, is just another example of a little person being pushed out by big business. Farnsworth was a genius and had amazing ideas. What he didn’t have was enough money to be able to withstand a long legal battle with one of the biggest corporations in the nation. RCA did not want to pay Farnsworth for using the parts he had patents on and instead tried to force him into submission. They used their power, which was money, to force a small businessman into selling out his idea.

While it is comforting to think that this doesn’t happen anymore, that there are enough laws to protect small businesses, it would be a naïve view of the world at best. Wal-mart is tearing through communities and sentencing the small business to death. My parents own a small business and they cannot raise their prices because there is a Wal-mart down the street. So, they are forced to make significantly less than what they should be making because they have to compete with a corporation with an endless supply of money. In America that is what it comes down to in business, those with money on top and those without on the bottom.

Source:

Philo T. Farnsworth. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philo_Farnsworth

Bluest Eye Doesn't Always Lead to Blue Skies!

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, is a poignant look at the life of a black girl growing up in a society that does not value her existence. This tale follows the life of Pecola, a young black girl who is in the eyes of those around her ugly. She absorbs this opinion making it part of her own personality and also adopting the idea that blue eyed, blonde people are a true vision of beauty. The story is not only seen through the eyes of Pecola, but also through the eyes of her best friend Claudia. Claudia resists the opinion that blonde hair and blue eyes are necessary components of beauty. She sees a light in Pecola that no other person is able to find.

Pecola is not only burdened with the thought that she is ugly, but also with a family that borders on psychotic. Her mother and father have an unstable marriage fraught with abuse and turmoil. Sammy, Pecola’s older brother, is not a force in her life and also suffers from his parents’ relationship. Throughout the book there are people telling Pecola that black is not beautiful and that Shirley Temple is who she should model herself after. Even the dolls that the girls are given to play with are not black like them, but fair skinned with big blue eyes. Pecola’s mother shows her this by preferring the fair daughter of her employers over her own daughter. Eventually, Pecola believes and drives herself to madness. Claudia sees the beauty within her but is unable to help Pecola to see it in herself.

It is clear that Pecola is driven to hate herself by the actions of others upon her. She also adapts a vision of beauty that is unattainable and simply untrue. The actions of society on Pecola drive her to a point that even if she was the cutest child to ever walk on the earth she would not see it in herself. She only sees herself as not good enough because she does not fit the mold of beauty that society has laid out for her.

Toni Morrison wrote this novel to help black women deal with the pressures society forces upon them. However, I think it is a powerful read for any person willing to be open to the experience. At times it is difficult to keep reading because the imagery is vivid as Pecola deals with oppression, abuse, and sexual harassment. However, it opened up my eyes to some of the issues black women may have to deal with. I have always felt pressure from society to be thin but because I am the norm, white, I have never had the urge to completely change who I am. Toni Morrison addresses this issue and helps to empower black women to see the beauty in their own skin and reject the opinion that only fair skinned, blue eyed is beautiful. I would highly recommend this novel to all people, especially all women.

Documentary Definition

In contemplating the meaning of the word documentary my first instinct was to consult my ever ready source, Wikipedia. There I am exposed to the definitions given by those who helped to define the genre in the 1930’s. John Grierson was the first person to apply the term to films and he described a documentary as “taken from the raw” and “creative treatment of actuality”. Dziga Vertov, a Russian born pioneer director of documentaries, described it as “life as it is” or “life caught unawares”.

In the spirit of their definitions I began to look at the development of documentaries. I found that they were first short films made by the French that were of everyday activities, like people boarding a boat. Then in the early 1900’s they developed into stories such as travel films or scenics (re-enactments of historic events). Thus the concept of a representation of real life was introduced. In the 1920’s newsreels began to be a big part of the documentary industry as well as films which were, once again, interpretations of history. An example of one of these films is Nanook of the North, the poster for which is shown below. In the 30’s and 40’s documentaries became in large war propaganda. An example of this is Triumph of the Will a documentary shot in Germany as war propaganda for Hitler. A screenshot of this is shown below. In the 60’s and 70’s documentaries became “cinema truth” meaning that they were often of important events or personal reactions and did not have many sit down interviews. They were simply shot with a handheld camera and it was placed in the face of the participants as needed. Today documentaries are often full length films that convey a message. They often contain re-enactments. A spin off of this is reality T.V. which is similar but often clearly staged.

After looking at the development of the documentary, it is, in my eyes, a film that shows true, unscripted events. I feel that it can push an agenda but cannot be pre-conceived. For example, a show which puts a character into a unique event or situation can be a documentary. 30 Days, the Fox series by Morgan Spurlock, is a small documentary in that it looks at a unique situation but is not crafted or scripted. However, reality T.V. shows, like The Real World, due to their scripted nature do not qualify as a documentary. Also, game shows, due to their scripted nature, do not qualify in my mind as a documentary. If the hosts had no idea what was to take place or what was happening it would be a different story.

I also think that documentaries should be entirely factual in nature; none of the subject matter that is ultimately displayed has been crafted in some way by the people involved in making the film. That means that at the end of shooting there is what there is and though it can be edited it cannot be manipulated in a way that takes the true content of the original film and twists it. There should be no piecing together clips to create the desired shot. A documentary is, in essence, life unscripted.

Source:

Documentary. 2007. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film

30 Days Immigration Episode- The Turning Point

Rigoberto is quiet through most of the episode but towards the end he challenges Frank to go to Mexico and see the plight of the people that they sought to escape. Frank takes this offer and goes to stay with Rigoberto’s brother for several days. He sees several houses and also visits where the family used to live. It is only one room and there are no modern amenities. There is a corner where they had a fire pit to cook and over the hill a watering hole. Frank is appalled by the conditions that the family lived in and begins to understand why their immigration had been so pressing.

At the conclusion of the episode Frank emerges with a new point of view. “What I’ve learned most here is to see and understand your perspective straight from you,” he tells the family. He also states, “There comes a time when you love people for who they are, all politics aside.” The show cleverly allows Frank to arrive at this point on his own using circumstances that had a predictable outcome. Though, the show does have merit for showing that people often need to see the other perspective to understand and to help the intricacies of illegal immigration to emerge. So, while the outcome may be contrived and predictable, watching Frank on his journey to understanding and ultimately observing his change in thinking is a rewarding process in itself.

The show is very entertaining while presenting the message, but raises the question as to how much of the actual experience is being represented in the episode. 30 days worth of material has been compressed into about 50 minutes of show at most. Often the cuts seem to be almost systematic in carefully building the change of mind from Frank Minuteman to Frank the Concerned Citizen. While the transition is an important message to give it appears, in the case, to be carefully constructed.

Overall the show is a valuable learning tool. It shows how frame of mind can change based on the amount of knowledge and involvement of the person. While it is a very contrived situation, this setup is somewhat necessary for the situation to work. It would be far less effective if Frank himself had not gone through the immigration process and was unable to communicate to the family. Therefore, this show is worth a watch at least once. It gets 1.5 thumbs up out of 2.

30 Days Immigration Episode- The Setup

The television reality series 30 days created by Morgan Spurlock (of the documentary Supersize Me) provides a unique perspective on the issue of illegal aliens. The show uses a format fond to people who may not normally get the news, such as college students. Since this topic has recently been under serious debate the show allows people who do not like the news to receive the information in a way which is palatable for them. The protagonist of the show, Frank or Francisco, a Cuban immigrant who came to America with his parents when he was young, is a legal immigrant. It is convenient but necessary to the plot of the show that he himself has gone through the immigration process from a Spanish speaking country so he can relate to and communicate with the family. He joined the minutemen after 9/11 to help guard America against illegal aliens from Mexico which he feels are going to stage a revolution within the country. He states, “It will bring about the dissolution of this country and tear it apart completely.”

Frank is going to stay with a family of illegal aliens namely who have come to America from Mexico in pursuit of a better life. Before meeting the family Frank has a strong opinion on illegal aliens and states, “The only right they have (illegal aliens) is to be deported back to the country they came from.”

Frank assumes their life by working by day with the father, Rigoberto. He is a laborer and does odd jobs around the neighborhood. By night, he lives with the family in their one bedroom apartment which wife Paty, and children Armida, Alba, Karina, and Ricardo share together. He also leaves behind any way of identification to fully appreciate their situation.

Frank works with Rigoberto and this gives him an appreciation for the type of work he is doing for little reward. The family is making under $15,000 per year and Rigoberto is working as a laborer doing jobs that most Americans would refuse. In order to keep their apartment, which is clearly not large enough for their family, Rigoberto also is a handyman for the apartment building. Through this work he begins to develop respect for Rigoberto in that he is a very dedicated worker and is making an honest effort to support his family.

Frank also gets to know Paty, the mother in the family, and her way of contribution. He spends a day with her where they collect recyclables and Paty is able to make about $5 which that goes toward the money she is saving for Christmas. Frank is shocked at how little money will have to provide presents for all four of the children.

Frank’s closest tie is with the oldest daughter, Armida. She is in high school and attempting to go to college. Armida is a good student and also an avid golfer who would give anything to just be a typical American student. Through many discussions Frank comes to truly enjoy Armida’s company and even offers to sponsor her if she decides to go through the process of becoming a citizen.

While Frank is living with the family there is a rally to legalize immigration. Frank attends this rally with the family but is just appalled. He insists that the rally is just a fake and that the immigrants are attempting to have us allow them to come into the country so that they can stage their revolution and take over. He states, “It’s a prop for their cause…if this isn’t the beginning of a revolution I don’t know what is.” He even refuses to take a vigil candle.