Change Your Image
melech333
Reviews
Los olvidados (1950)
Always getting in trouble
I think this was an excellent film. As the beginning of the movie states that this could be taken in any big city in the world. In Los Angeles there are 14,000 homeless children around the age of these kids. Its unfortunate that this poverty and condition exists. I especially felt bad for Pedro. He always seemed to be in the wrong place and the wrong time. If it wasn't for Jaibo always getting him in trouble, I think Pedro could have been a good kid. It goes to teach us that its important what kind of company we keep. If you hang around a bad kid you are going to get in trouble. This reminds me of Psalms 1 in the bible. Happy is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the wicked, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; And in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, That bringeth forth its fruit in its season, And whose leaf doth not wither; And in Whatsoever he doeth he shall prosper.
Not so the wicked; But they are like chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord regardeth the way of the righteous; But the way of the wicked shall perish.
Just like at the end of the movie Jaibo perished. I would have like the other ending of the movie where Pedro kills Jaibo because I really believe that he was trying to do the right thing. Unfortunately he got dragged down into the mud with Jaibo and could not get out. Thus he ended up being buried.
I thought this was an exceptional movie that goes to show you choose your friends wisely. Also, its never to late to get out of a bad situation. Stay away from bad people. Your not going to change people, they will only bring you down.
Nothing Is Private (2007)
When parents are not around
This is a story about a young girl who did not have the proper parenting. A 13 year old girl is shipped off to live with her father in Texas. The mom chooses her inappropriate boyfriend over her daughter. In Texas, the father is never home always at his girl friends. This leaves an opening for a creepy neighbor and a overly hormonal black boy in school to take advantage of the girl. The girl does not see her value and has very low self esteem. Often we get our value from our parents and our friends. When we don't see ourselves as having any self worth we act out like Jasira and resort to inappropriate behavior. Is it OK for 13 year old girls to have sex. Where is this girl going to end up. She probably will end up with a disease, pregnant or worse. I think this movie is condoning the girls behavior. I didn't really agree with the message of the movie. Its sad that the girl viewed herself in the way she did.
La otra conquista (1998)
The Other Conquest
The Other Conquest raises some interesting questions. Was there a difference between the pagan idol worship practices and the Catholic beliefs that El Cortes and the Spanish brought over. Was there any difference between the Aztec sun god and the Virgin Mary? We know that G-d is infinite and there is not any way to define Him. Through transcendence G-d is able to relate to each of us in different ways. For the Aztecs they were able to relate to G-d through their practices. The Spanish were able to relate to G-d through the Virgin Mary. Is one more right than the other? Is there a difference between the two? At the beginning the Friar said that the Aztecs god was just stones. They did not have any power. But than the Friar realized that he may have been wrong. Maybe there was very little difference between the two. Is there power in idols? Or is the power only in what we give it? I think that we owe it to ourselves to all search for the truth. Topiotzin did not hold back in his quest to find G- d. He became obsessive. He would do whatever it would take. To me this is like fanaticism. Although fanatical people are often looked down upon. In order to find the truth and get close to G-d I think that we have to be fanatical like Topiotzin. We might see him as going crazy, but I think he was just putting everything on the line. I think that Salvador Carrasco did a very good job in exploring a very difficult topic. I think this movie was very well directed and very well written. I can really appreciate the dedication and hard work that went into this film. From all the research to all the beautiful detail, it really shows that this movie was very well thought out. This film is a remarkable accomplishment. I give this movie a 10.
Once Were Warriors (1994)
Once Were Warriors
Once Were Warriors is of the best movies that I have ever seen. From the very first scene of the movie in the way they introduced the main characters to the last. For me this is a story about a group of people that have lost their way. As a result of Colonialism this Maori family is living on the edge. The father spends his time getting drunk at the bar, fighting with bar patrons, throwing party's, etc... He has abandoned his roots and where he has come from. He wants to have nothing to do with his language, culture, or customs. Unfortunately when we stray from where we come from we do not have much to hold on to. The movie teaches us through his sons that its important to get back to their Maori culture. We need to stand on the shoulders of our ancestors and bring down their blessings. If we try to make it on our own merit than we will be consumed by the world. In order to rise above the world and break out of their conditions they must remember who they are. They have become like animals like rabid dogs. We see what drinking can do to a family. The answer is not in the bottle but in their traditions and language. There is always hope no matter how far gone you have strayed off the path.
White Dog (1982)
Sam Fuller and White Dog
Sam Fuller was able to fly under the radar because of his B-rated type movies. However this movie got a lot of attention, but not the attention one would want. Paramount did not release this movie because of outside pressure that dubbed White Dog as a racist film. Sam Fuller disagrees that this is a racist film. From my perspective it is possible to conclude that the film teaches us that racism is a learned behavior and we are not born with a racist gene. White Dogs are trained to attack black people from when they are puppies. The earlier they are trained the better. The dog is instinctual. Unfortunately humans are also animals just like dogs unless we rise above our animal nature. It's how we see ourself. Do we see ourself as an animal or as a human. In the creation story animals were made first and than man was made. This comes to teach us that if we do not act like we are supposed to than we are actually lower than the animals. The plants and animal kingdom are all doing what they are supposed to. They do not have free will. They don't have a conscious. But Man has the freedom to choose what is right and what is wrong. Unlike Mr. Hyde in White Dog we have the freedom to choose whether or not we are racist. The dog was programmed and did not have the ability to choose. It was programmed and trained to attack black people. Our parents might be racist. We may have grown up in a racist home or been taught racist values. Our friends may have been racist and we did not know any different like the dog. But as we grow older and we realize that racism is wrong than we have the responsibility to make a conscious decision to not be racist anymore. A dog is unable to do this because it does not know the difference between right and wrong. But luckily we are given a moral compass and can determine that racism is wrong. Hitler was a racist. People like Hitler use racism to gain power and control. It was strategic to have a scapegoat like the Jews in Nazi Germany. It rallies people together when you have a common enemy.
Some people thought that White Dog should not have been released because it might promote people to train their dogs to become white dogs. I am not sure that this is a good enough reason to have not released this film.
If I look at the world like Mr. Hyde, than everything is black and white. But humans see the world with color. The world is not black and white. There are many different shades and colors that we have to appreciate.
Unfortunately we live in a world where there is a lot of racism. When we see a black person we automatically draw conclusions. We stereotype and profile people every second. This is a tragedy. Maybe we cross the street if we see a black person coming the other way. Why do we do this. Is it rational? Is fear rational? Perhaps we are more like the white dog than we care to admit. Yes it is a learned behavior but as long as we continue to live like animals we are going to live out our conditioning. What is it going to take to rise above our animal instincts? White Dog is an interesting movie that makes someone think about their own racial prejudices. I am not sure if this is a racist film or not. On the surface it does not seem to be promoting racist. On the contrary, it blasts all the racist values that the dog holds to be true. It blasts the trainer of the dog, the actions of the dog and everything to do with racism. Unlike the dog, we have to take responsibility for our actions. The movie does not blame the dog for its behavior. It blames the owner of the dog. However, if we are racist we can not blame our conditioning or our environment. We have to take responsibility for our own behaviors. Maybe that is why people had a problem with this movie. If the dog served as a metaphor for us. Then the dog is excused for its behavior. The dog sees a black person and just attacks. That is like us. We see a black person and cross the street. We excuse our behavior. We thinks it's okay. There is no recourse. There is no shame. There was no shame when the dog attacked black people. That is what it was supposed to do. What are we supposed to do. It's not a black and white world. In order to make sure that people don't train their dogs to be white dogs we have to eradicate racism. We have to change the lenses in which we see the world. There is no excuse for racism. Racism is evil. White Dog did a sub par job in teaching this message. Throwing a box of candy at the owner that trained a dog to kill people does not seem to be very compelling stand against racism.