Perfect 10

"If you had that one extra chance, wouldn't you be tempted?"

I really enjoyed this movie because it was fun to watch. It's a different feeling when you know it was filmed where you been and it just felt more familiar, it seemed like I was watching a local true love story. At first it is very sad how she doesn't feel comfortable about her own body and how she looks at her self in the mirror. Her name is Mara, a girl who has her own line of clothing and products for real women, she shows in her adds plus size women who she believes are the true real women. Mara is married with a great husband, but apparently he wasn't the love of her life, even though to me it seemed like she had a great successful life, she did not feel that way and some how she had an empty space in her that wasn't being filled yet.

Getting a phone call from a high school girl who would make fun of her everyday was very extreme to Mara, but not because she felt oppressed by her, but because she mentioned the name of Danny. He was the dream for Mara and the best part was that he asked if Mara was going. Mara was absolutely going to her ten year high school reunion, but the worst part was that he wanted that second chance with Danny. In my opinion I could not believe she wanted to do that to herself but most important to her husband and their marriage. That is very confussing how she wanted to have that opportunity for her first love and be able to get what she wanted, but after being married with her husband, what would that mean now? What did she feel for her husband for real? But then I thought and decided that is ok to love more that one person, because it was at different times of her life. Also I can understand her a little about how she didn't feel comfortable in her body and wasn't able to be confident with herself.

I can relate this movie to the class very clearly because it shows how the perfect image should be, and the stuggle that this particular girl had when she was in high school. The way she was perceive and how young people treat this issue, but then they mature and don't see it in that harsh way. Also we can see how the really girly girls are suppose to be dressing up like, and how they are suppose to behave, and we also have the girls who might look lesbian, since they have short hair and don't dress as pink and sparkly as the others.

After the movie it was interesting to listen to the questions and answers with the producers, and the actors. It was very interesting that is my favorite thing about Siff because it is a new way to experience a project, to really know the background of the story and why it was filmed. In this case the producer wanted to tell her story about how she felt being a plus size woman and felling what she expressed through her character Mara. I do have personal experience with her story, because I would feel chubby when I was younger and I would stop myself from doing so many things in my life, and only because I was not comfortable with my body, but most important I did not have confidence.

Double Take (extra siff)

Double Take was mostly funny in many ways. But it took me a while after this movie to really figure out what was going on in the movie, it was very different than from any movie I had watched before, but then I figured that it was because it didn't give that sence of the typical movie, it was only footage from other kinds of films but all tide together to make something new. This was amazing because everything was tied together in a very interesting way, the footage will flow together, it gave out interesting information, and it also gave in sneak peeks into Alfred Hitchcock' present life. Mostly I found it very funny to watch, because of the hilarious and random things Alfred would do when he was younger.

In this movie you would see old commercials, news reports, previews of different footage of history of the world, and mostly about wars like the cold war about the bombs, footage of President Kennedy in a speech, also Cuba was involved into this because of the communist of Fidel Castro, and wanting to kill him. Well to me it was a film of sort of flash backs of the past, like in a dream. When you have a dream where it's so random and you never know what your dream will turn to. I feel like it is the same way flash backs of different things that had happened in the past but yet tied together to the present. In this case I am referring to Alfred who is the one casted in the film.

I could really relate this movie to the class concept sexism. My feeling about sexism are mostly in the middle, because I don't agree in certain ideas of sexism, but I do agree in others, but this is mostly what made me laugh, and the whole theater too. It was these coffee commercials that would come up once in a while. They were very funny now, because now to society it sounds very unreal how the roles of women, and men were played in the 60's. First of all it gave power to the male, making him the worker, the tired man who wants to come home to a beautiful wife and a delicious dinner, and good coffee. Giving the female to be that dumb beautiful wife, who can cook and have the house cleaned and make good coffee for her husband in order to get something as a compensation.

This video is one example of what was screened on the film, and they were just hilarious to me and the crowd. It is very interesting how it was during that time, it became very different now, how people start to arrange many things, and views, and ways of living simply because they don't enjoy the way they are being treated. This movie gave out many other topics, which I really enjoyed watching, it made you want to wait and wait and wait to see what would end up on, it was engaging because so much interesting footage, it makes your brain comfortable, but also makes you wan to find out more. This sort of film sort of made me think about Dada art. In a way that since this footage was already done in other ways, but for this film was put together and was shown to an originality of simply putting a bunch of other films together, and making it your own.

The Ugly American...

This movie being my first Siff film to watch was very interesting, I never had this kind of experience of being at a film were the screen writer, Stewart Stern would be present. It was surprising to me that he was actually there. That was a new experience for me, and I took more respect for the Siff festival, I saw that it wasn't only watching a movie that will only be there to see, but I really liked that even after all these years since the movie was made, they still wanted to show it and have Stewart Stern present giving him the time to express and tell his story. If I was in his place, I would have felt very honored that at this time people would still be honored to have me there wanting to listen to what I had to say.

I found this photo of Stewart Stern at a website called Northwest Film Forum.

Stewart Stern talked about his hollywood life, but mostly about his and his friends of the film's adventure and what they went through just to be able to bring along this film. Like figuring out thing there, who could they actually persive the culture and show how the lie and stituation was there. They had to get permission from the president of the United States so they could be allowed to be traveling in Asia and being accepted there. That was a big challenge they had to face, not being welcomed there. He said it cost them a lot of money, because mostly all the crops were made new just for the movie, everything was original, and it was hard for them to keep up with everything. But on the side of that, what he mostly expressed with joy was his experience he had doing this movie, mostly because he expressed that they were sent to Asia to come up with a certain kind of movie to make, and they spent a lot of time and energy trying to figure that out, but in the long run later they made up the story as they went and figured out.

Watching the film 'The Ugly American" was very interesting, it had a lot of different views and perspectives to look through. One was having the view of the Asian people and their view of an American person, how an American is being perseived, and this brings me back memories. I couple of years ago I was traveling over in europe and the people that knew I was Mexican would tell me to hide my American, meaning United States passport. Since I didn't look white like an american, and if I hid the American passport I would be safer. Why would they say this? Well because ever since that movie and since now present in my life time, the United States has had another view from mostly European Countries. It is sometimes a threat you give yourself if you show your american passport, because you never know how they will treat you, or what they will do to you. But coming back to all the different views of this film, it shows how at that time war has very present and how easy it was to kill people. The movie also showed us some culture, but mostly about the true history that those people had to go go through and their history. Maybe that move might be very interesting and beautiful made for our view, for own joy, but just put yourself in the place of those peoples persived there in the movie. These people went through that history, they suffered, they had the experiences and most important their memories. When they watch this film, they will sertainly hav another feeling to it that we will never be able to experience.

got health care?

I put myself in the category that mostly everyone puts themselves in as the working class. There have been so many cases where around me and my community there have been people who have needed the health care and just have not gotten it. My brother was telling my about how often many people leave the hospital just because they know they will have to pay the bill but they won't be able to, because they won't have anything to pay with.

There is certainly something wrong with this country if the whole world thinks that everyone here lives in heaven and have the american dream, then they probably all assume that we are all taken care of by our government. I remember when I was a little girl living in Guadalajara, Mexico, and talking about the United States like if it was something as wonderful as heaven. My friends and I knew that Disneyland was there and probably that was the reason that we saw the United States as something wonderful.

It was also probably because we heard elders taking about it in a good way and mostly economically better. Everyone knew that to have a better life you would need to live in the United States and work there and you will be fine. At least this idea is the one that most village people from Mexico have of the U.S. that is why they all want to come over here to work. I don't have a clear view of how exactly the healthcare system works in Mexico, but I do have the view that it is much simpler down there.

There is probably more technology here in the United States, but when you need a hospital in Mexico there are many types of hospitals. Like hospitals provided by the government, hospitals provided by convents and by the Catholic church. These bigger hospitals are not that expensive, but there might have high pricing but something affordable for the people. Not only that but it is easier to go to the doctor since many doctors open they own clinics and are able to help out their community.

"Fight Big Insurance. Everyone needs HEALTH CARE" This image was found at zazzle.ca which was posted by a 'antipublican' poster in that website. It should totally be like this. My point of view on this image is that it expresses how will the people be able to pay for healthcare when they can barely make it with what they have. I find it very ridiculous to make healthcare very expensive, since it is very essential to have healthcare. It isn't something just some of us need, it's something that everyone needs at every time in their life, and why would it have to be so expensive. It would be like putting the groceries price up, many people will simply stop eating foods that they don't exactly need.

Health care will always be expensive just because the cause is to find a cure for all the diseases and bad things that our body gets, but hopefully there will be a time were there will be equal opportunity for everyone to receive that help for their health.

Who can see it?...only a few can see that difference.

Through out the time, there has always been some disgustment between different groups and races, and I believe there will always be a privilege to a certain group. I wonder how it would feel like to be white, or how white would feel if they were to have darker skin.

Being raised in Guadalajara, Mexico I grew up with no idea of racism. In my community we had people with light skin and blond hair, with orange hair and also tan skin with black hair as well as very dark tan. But we were all from the same place, which we just see it very normal. Something I did notice when I watched Barbie adds was that there was always some sort of power given to the blond barbie. In one way, she is always shown or positioned in a way to show that she is the important one, or that she is the good one.

The first picture I found was through someones myspace website it just lets me show you what I mean about the importance given to the blond barbie. The second picture is through jamspot website, and is also very clear to see who is getting the priviledge.

<<<<>high school supposedly there is alway the popular girls, the most important one is always walking in the middle, the others are just to the side doing everything for her.

See in this one they >>>>

put the blond one covering almost the whole cover and the other 3 are just in one corner.

When we think about this we see how media plays a huge part, because now and since a long time ago, children are getting raised by the media and Disney mostly, and less by their parents. Therefore these children are exposed to all of this types of issues that we see now, and are taking in ideas that in a way they aren't very clear and normal ideas, they are ideas and views only from the white population.

Going back to what I was talking about the feeling of being white and how it would feel to be privilege. I found an article by Robert Jensen, and he says that he found this article in the Baltimore Sun newspaper written by a caucasian professor from the University of

Texas. They article talks about how it feels to be white, and how this person admits that he has had many privilege. This quote from the article caught my attension, "I have struggled to resist that racist training and the racism of my culture. I like to think I have changed, even though I routinely trip over the lingering effects of that internalized racism and the institutional racism around me. But no matter how much I "fix" myself, one thing never changes - I walk through the world with white privilege."- By the professor

I found it interesting how he looks back at his life as a "racist training" he has had, and how it has shaped his life. How he can see the difference and how he sees that his culture is racial. as well as how he feels about it and tries to "fix" himself. I really like that, and I am glad there are some people who aren't that way. I knew that not everyone who is white is racial, but I know that they will always carry their white privilege.

This picture made me think of the professor's feelings. How it talked about trying to fix himself, trying to get another point of view. He did achieved that by getting an understanding that he did feel different, but how also the zipper could not get zipped all the way, how he is simply still walking with his white privilege. This image was in a website called counter punch. I didn't quite understand what the website was about.

Through out my life I have lived with many types of skins and it wasn't a big deal for me to see a white person or a tan dark person, since my aunt had twelve children, and I have these twelve cousins and one has blond hair with green eyes, when the other is very dark skinned and dark hair, brown eyes. They all came from the same mexican mother and father. That is what I mean that it has always been normal to see the people that way since there are many families like that, and only when I came to the US I got exposed to this type of thinking and points of view. I have experienced to many times as recent as last week. I guess it is just something we always live with, and individually everyone needs to find their way to live with it. It is only harmless to the ones that believe it.

Hump Day, really!?...living in an OVER~SEXED world!

Points of views from so many different groups define how different everyone is, but how much we categorize our selves in different little groups. After watching the movie "Hump Day" it reminded myself about many other movies I have watched, and at the end I say, "And the point of this movie was...?" Basically, how come I just watched this movie at school? College is not high school, so I get that part, that we are all adult and it doesn't matter what we are exposed to, we will be mature enough to handle it. What I am trying to get at, is finding the real moral lesson, or values does this "Hump Day" movie has, that I will be able to take in and apply it in my life? Because I believe that every project should be done, to send out a message or not, but to have a purpose. If the purpose of showing this movie was to apply it to the class, in the angle of "how women are treated by men" then I believe that there could have been another way to portrait it, another way to show it.

It seems like every decade the world gets a little more liberal, by the time babies now grow up to be adults, they will see many 'wrong/bad' things as normal. This way, the morals, values, lessons we have learned will be all gone. Little by little, more and more humans won't be scared to do anything inappropriate, because if their peers see it normal, they will too, and the world will be more broken. We now live in a exaggerated over sexed world...

In the movie "Hump day" I might have been OK with it if maybe it would have turned out this way...

Ben's wife, who seemed like a wife who will be dedicated to her husband for ever, was out of her mind. I believe that the reason why the world has turned out this way, is because there isn't any respect. Some women, like this wife, don't ask respect from their husband. What if the wife, would let him know that she was someone to receive respect. Obviously if she let him, it's because in the long run, she never cared of the relationship between them. If there is no respect at that level of situation, then what exactly is there between them? Absolutely no real relation ship. As I said earlier, this world has so many people with a different and unique point of view, and I call myself a daughter of God, and I am positive that someone might agree with me on this. This was my point of view were I tried to connect and hopefully gab someones reasoning to give my thoughts a chance to become their thoughts and ideas too.