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Entry tags:
Film Review and Television review
1. Just finished watching the award winning and highly touted film Lion starring Devon Patel, Nicole Kidman and David Wendham, which is based on a true story. This is a beautiful film - not visually so much as thematically. It's about an Indian Boy from Ganash Tali, outside of Calcutta, who gets lost, is adopted by an Australian couple, and years later manages to find his mother and family.
Not at all what I expected, it surprised me. We follow the little boy with his mother, see how he gets horribly lost, watch in his point of view, as he asks help in finding her...and when the authorities are unable to do so they let an Australian couple adopt him. Years later in a heartbreaking scene, he tells his Australian adoptive mother that he's sorry she couldn't have children of her own, or blank pages, who did not come with their own baggage. Her response...surprised me and Saroo...
I'm hesitant to say much more...because I went into the film with little information. Just what I noted above.
At any rate, this is film that shows the beauty and compassion inside the human spirit. And how people are not so tribal after all, or racist. It's loving film...the emphasizes kindness over cruelty. Not violent. And just...kind. Made all the more uplifting because it is true and has overall a happy ending.
2. Dear White People -- streamed about five episodes before I stopped. Also not quite what I expected. This is available for streaming on Netflix. It focuses on the experiences a variety of black students at an Ivy League College in the Northeast centering around a student run radio program "Dear White People" hosted by and run by Sam, the lead character. Each episode takes the point of view of a different student, Sam and her friends, frenemies, and associates - regarding her cause, protesting a black-face party put on by the all white satirist club, Pastiche.
The series much like Americanah focuses on what it is like to be young and black in the US. Also like Americanah...it shows how the European and American slave trade colors our relations with each other, even though it ended over 100 years ago. It also shows the costs of racism. And how even within a sub-group people are racist. With the African-American culture -- dark skinned blacks are racist against lighter skinned blacks and vice versa. Also there's an emphasis on labeling, although various characters attempt with little success to avoid.
It's satirical in places, poking fun at how our culture divides us over racism, how it discriminates based on physical attributes. And it shows how there are cultural differences due to these divisions.
I found it very realistic in some respects and satirical in others. Not as relateable as Americanha.
Part of my problem with it, is well, I'm the wrong demographic. This is a series focusing on millenials...who have a very different take on racism and feminism than I do. In that, they appear to be surprised about certain things and act like that's the worst thing ever, and I'm thinking...not so bad. It's actually gotten a heck of a lot better. Granted not perfect, but a whole lot better. When I was in college the whole concept of series such as "Dear White People" would not have been green-lit by any one. We've come a long way. But if you grew up under Obama and not ahem Regan, you're going to have a different view of the world. Also, Trump is going to horrify you a bit more, if you don't remember Nixon and Regan.
Overall? It's okay. I found it to be amusing and compelling in places, and informative in others.
Not at all what I expected, it surprised me. We follow the little boy with his mother, see how he gets horribly lost, watch in his point of view, as he asks help in finding her...and when the authorities are unable to do so they let an Australian couple adopt him. Years later in a heartbreaking scene, he tells his Australian adoptive mother that he's sorry she couldn't have children of her own, or blank pages, who did not come with their own baggage. Her response...surprised me and Saroo...
I'm hesitant to say much more...because I went into the film with little information. Just what I noted above.
At any rate, this is film that shows the beauty and compassion inside the human spirit. And how people are not so tribal after all, or racist. It's loving film...the emphasizes kindness over cruelty. Not violent. And just...kind. Made all the more uplifting because it is true and has overall a happy ending.
2. Dear White People -- streamed about five episodes before I stopped. Also not quite what I expected. This is available for streaming on Netflix. It focuses on the experiences a variety of black students at an Ivy League College in the Northeast centering around a student run radio program "Dear White People" hosted by and run by Sam, the lead character. Each episode takes the point of view of a different student, Sam and her friends, frenemies, and associates - regarding her cause, protesting a black-face party put on by the all white satirist club, Pastiche.
The series much like Americanah focuses on what it is like to be young and black in the US. Also like Americanah...it shows how the European and American slave trade colors our relations with each other, even though it ended over 100 years ago. It also shows the costs of racism. And how even within a sub-group people are racist. With the African-American culture -- dark skinned blacks are racist against lighter skinned blacks and vice versa. Also there's an emphasis on labeling, although various characters attempt with little success to avoid.
It's satirical in places, poking fun at how our culture divides us over racism, how it discriminates based on physical attributes. And it shows how there are cultural differences due to these divisions.
I found it very realistic in some respects and satirical in others. Not as relateable as Americanha.
Part of my problem with it, is well, I'm the wrong demographic. This is a series focusing on millenials...who have a very different take on racism and feminism than I do. In that, they appear to be surprised about certain things and act like that's the worst thing ever, and I'm thinking...not so bad. It's actually gotten a heck of a lot better. Granted not perfect, but a whole lot better. When I was in college the whole concept of series such as "Dear White People" would not have been green-lit by any one. We've come a long way. But if you grew up under Obama and not ahem Regan, you're going to have a different view of the world. Also, Trump is going to horrify you a bit more, if you don't remember Nixon and Regan.
Overall? It's okay. I found it to be amusing and compelling in places, and informative in others.