I need to see movies more often...
I went to a (free) documentary tonight in SOHO. The film was called "This film has not yet been rated". It was a special screening, so we had to fill out a questionarre at the end about what we liked and didnt like about the film (i felt important).
In any case, the movie was about the national film rating association's "secret" standards and limitations for the types of movies they allow to be shown to the public. Without getting into further details (because you really should see the movie -- it was excellent) I found it to be a critical portrayal of the nation's/government's decisions about what Americans can "see" which in turn, establishes an underlying notion of the "purity" of American culture...should non-consequential violence (i.e. seeing people killed without blood) override any type of physical intimacy that shows more than a back and a face?
... i realized how much of this portrayal of "american purity" has formed me to believe that certain things are "bad". who are they to tell me that my morals are not up to par, and that i should only believe what i see to be true???
...what is with "america" wanting this (seemingly) picture-perfect fantasy life?-when the truth is, for a large portion of us, it is not reality. When we refuse to accept that life is more than a fantasy of killing without consequence, and sex to be something other than an everyday human function - we are refusing to accept life as it is!
...in the past few years, my liking for American culture has decreased tremendously (more or less because i have been repulsed by the government's actions). However, in this movie i realized that Americans are a complete mix of thoughts and ideas. And yes, the ideas that i do not agree with are the ones in power - but, at least there are others who feel the same way as i do. And that is the beauty of it...even if there is someone whose opinion i COMPLETELY disagree with, there will always be the other person who couldnt have said it better... Maybe i do love america after all?
going to this 2 hour movie made me realize that there is so much more to the world than what i see everyday. and sometimes i forget that my reality is not the only reality. that there are so many factors in shaping the world that we all live in...and so many details, so many IMPORTANT details.
i really need to see movies more often...
In any case, the movie was about the national film rating association's "secret" standards and limitations for the types of movies they allow to be shown to the public. Without getting into further details (because you really should see the movie -- it was excellent) I found it to be a critical portrayal of the nation's/government's decisions about what Americans can "see" which in turn, establishes an underlying notion of the "purity" of American culture...should non-consequential violence (i.e. seeing people killed without blood) override any type of physical intimacy that shows more than a back and a face?
... i realized how much of this portrayal of "american purity" has formed me to believe that certain things are "bad". who are they to tell me that my morals are not up to par, and that i should only believe what i see to be true???
...what is with "america" wanting this (seemingly) picture-perfect fantasy life?-when the truth is, for a large portion of us, it is not reality. When we refuse to accept that life is more than a fantasy of killing without consequence, and sex to be something other than an everyday human function - we are refusing to accept life as it is!
...in the past few years, my liking for American culture has decreased tremendously (more or less because i have been repulsed by the government's actions). However, in this movie i realized that Americans are a complete mix of thoughts and ideas. And yes, the ideas that i do not agree with are the ones in power - but, at least there are others who feel the same way as i do. And that is the beauty of it...even if there is someone whose opinion i COMPLETELY disagree with, there will always be the other person who couldnt have said it better... Maybe i do love america after all?
going to this 2 hour movie made me realize that there is so much more to the world than what i see everyday. and sometimes i forget that my reality is not the only reality. that there are so many factors in shaping the world that we all live in...and so many details, so many IMPORTANT details.
i really need to see movies more often...
posted by stephanie at
10:05 PM
3 Comments:
and I'll make 'em!
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...in the past few years, my liking for American culture has decreased tremendously (more or less because i have been repulsed by the government's actions).>>
A comment from your aunt who believes we can never stop fighting for what we believe and what is right, even though it often seems pointless and hopeless.
Never give up the battle! Although it often seems hopeless, pay attention, get involved, fight to make things better, and always, always vote!
There is a great "coverall" organization that sends out action alerts making it easy to respond and email regarding various issues of importance. I will send you some info and perhaps you will sign up. You will get email alerts, and can respond to the ones you support. A way to get your voice heard.
Hey Stephanie. I'm in Minnesota here for a few days, not long enough, and lately i've started my own blog, jsut through facebook. Kind of not much of an outlet, maybe i'll enter the blogosphere soon, but it made my blog seem slightly less meaningful that no one was responding to my posts, so i thought i would start by responding to other people's blogs first. First, that's one cool thing about New York, you got to see a film in April that is not opening next week. Puts you way ahead of the pop culture curve.
I would think one good film about the film is that the filmmakers themselves are passionate about trying to be as truthful as possible about society in their films. Directors wage war against the MPAA over minor little things like a cuss word here or there, and if they're that concerned over their vision to that small an extent, that i think at least the big picture is getting through.
Second, at least we're not in the 50s with shows like Leave it to Beaver, I Love Lucy or Happy Days which didn't portray society anywhere near correctly.
I once told Yasmine this would make an interesting thing to talk about Hillel, but in studying film history I learned that there was a great amount of discrimination against Jews from the start when Hollywood was founded (pretty much exclusively by Jews who became studio moguls) and a lot of censorship in the early days stems from people thinking that Hollywood wasn't a respectable prople nor a respectable industry. You'd really be interested in a film that deals with that called Gentleman's Agreement
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