I have to admit that I enjoyed doing the 'America is a Movie' presentation much more than the summer chosen essay presentation that we did last quarter. I think that it is super interesting to see how my different classmates view America. Some have totally optimistic points of view, and others view America in a very pessimistic way. Usually I've noticed that everyone focuses on family, which I believe is a huge part of America (and the rest of the world, for that matter!)
(For the 4th block AP Compers, the movie that I chose was Gran Torino). Not only do I HIGHLY recommend this movie, but I think that it represents America very well. Mr.Kunkle told me a funny story about his cranky old neighbor who is really racist and he ACTUALLY told Mr. Kunkle that Gran Torino was written about him! (I guess it actually does hit home closer than I thought!)
One of the main themes of Gran Torino that I've noticed in a handful of works that we've read so far is racism. I wouldn't consider myself a racist, but in certain situations it is very hard to not notice or even discriminate against those who are of a different color than I am. I am always kind to people from other races, but it can create a barrier that makes it awkward of difficult to be completely normal around each other. America is known as the giant "melting pot," so we are surrounded by so many different races and cultures. I think that more people need to learn the history of other races (such as Walt did with the Hmong in Gran Torino) in order to fully understand others and be less judgemental! We can all improve just a little bit more to make the world a better place :)
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Alright so its like 1245 am and I just got home and I couldn't think of anything better to do than comment on some blogs. Gran Torino is a great movie and I'm really glad you decided to show the last scene when Walt gets blown to bits like a pinata during my birthday party. Plus, your presentation took up like half the class so that's always a good thing. Damn, this is a long comment.
ReplyDeleteI think it's good that people did their presentations on Gran Turino, because it really does show who the majority of Americans are as people. The main point of the plot (while masked in many colorful racial slurs), is not to show that America is racist but to show how people have overcome the racial barrier in the history of our great melting pot. For showing this, I believe it's a great movie and one of Clint's finer works.
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