1. Did you like the movie? Why or why not?
I'm going to show two perspective to look at the movie. Then, I would provide a conclusion.
1) Why I liked it
I liked it as it showed me the problems in the 1960s in the United States of America, especially the Southern parts. Through different scenes, the movie showed the serious problem of racism. Also, it was fair as it not only showed the Ku Klax Klan (KKK) terrorising the blacks, but it also showed some whites also empathised with the blacks. In addition, there was a happy ending, in my opinion, where people from the KKK were caught and sentenced to jail. There was too successful characterisation through showing different personalities of the two FBI agents. Moreover, the last scene of the people singing is, in my view, a very powerful scene. Althought I do not really know what it means, I can see that it showed how some whites did not mind the blacks and sang together with them.
2) Why I disliked it
There were certain parts of the show which I disliked. For instance, the many scenes of the KKK terrorising the blacks were scenes which I hated. They were extremely violent and cruel, which I found hard to accept. I did not expect the problem of racism to be so serious then. However, I know that this was the motive of the movie in the first place, therefore, I just tried to imagine the scenes into words. This made the scenes not as scary as they were shown on the screen. This movie was rated R because of its adult language, adult situation and violence. I feel that the violence was really too much for us 14-year-olds to accept. Even some adults cannot accept too much violence suddenly. My next point would be about the adult language and situation. In my opinion, some of the scenes relating to the men's groin were inappropriate to show to 14-year-olds, especially those immature ones. Some people may make a joke out of it, which I feel should not be the case as we should understand why the director had certain scenes. One reason I can think of is to develop the characters and to show the distinct differences between the two FBI agents.
Overall, I did not enjoy myself watching the film, but I have indeed learned much. I do know that the violent scenes were essential to show the main idea of the director, therefore, I understand the uses of it. In conclusion, I like the film and would definitely recommend it to people who have at least some maturity.
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Hi Kee Xuan!
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can tell, you liked the development of the story and not the scenes. True. Some sense are a bit too much even for me to handle. Daniel even took the initiative to go out of the classroom.
Like you, I have learnt much from the film. When reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird', I was puzzled when reading about the situation at the jail(if I am not wrong it's 157~159). I do know that there was a gang carrying guns, there was Atticus, and there was Tom Robinson. However, I do not get what was happening. I was like: don't-tell-me-they-are-going-to-kill-Tom-Robinson. It is only after I watched the movie that I found out that my previous assumption was a fact. The gang of man was serious about the murder of Tom Robinson. Like you, I did not get the seriousness of discrimination until I watched the movie. The movie broadened my perspective of the world by quite a few inches.
Shiyao
Hi Kee Xuan,
ReplyDeleteYou stated in your first paragraph under "Why You Liked It" that you thought that the film ended off happily. You also stated that the last scene was very powerful. However, I think I have a slightly different point of view than you.
In my opinion, I think that the film did not end off happily at all. Despite the film showing the capturing of the various members in the KKK, I think that although this meant that the lynching of the Blacks was going to be stopped, the trauma which the Blacks felt would never be erased away. Imagine one's family being killed by the KKK just because of their skin colour. I think that even if justice was served, that individual will never feel happy that the entire event is over, because the vivid memories of the situation will still remain. If that is the case for all the Blacks, from their perspective the ending of the discrimination would both be a happy and unhappy thing for them at the same time. That's my perspective! Not down-playing yours!
Cheers,
Raphael
Oh I forgot to mention my second part on the last scene!
ReplyDeleteI have a different perspective than you on that issue as well. In my opinion, I did not think that the main focus of the last scene was on the Whites singing with the Blacks but it was instead the entire graveyard which was in front of the crowd gathered. They sang songs to comfort themselves and bid farewell to their loved ones who were killed. Furthermore, the location which they stood on while singing in front of the hundreds of tombstones was the burnt down church. This was a very powerful scene to me as it showed that whatever the Whites had done, killed their people, burnt down their churches, the Blacks would still continue to stand together and keep their faith in God strong.
Yup, thats my view on the last scene.
Cheers!
Raphael