Fight Club

     
         

                                                                     Fight Club

       This film Fight Club by David Fincher is a great movie exhibiting the way your ID and Ego play in your life on an every day basis. This movie kind of took that to an extreme though. The 'Narrator' Ed Norton is an everyday guy stuck in the same boring life and everyday routine with his white collar job that he hates so much. He is tired of this life and begins to stay up all night like an insomniac not being able to sleep days after days. Norton starts attending support meetings for people with all kinds of different medical problems. He enjoys them because he can cry and be himself in them so he makes this a regular thing. These meetings and him being able to cry also lets him sleep at night, like a baby. He notices another faker though. This newcomer all of a sudden attending all the weird and wacky support groups hes going to makes Norton feels uncomfortable. He is intimidated by her and gets really frustrated with the fact that her being there restricts i'm from being himself such as things like crying and letting his emotions out. He takes a bit of time to confront her because he really is dreading it. Once he does they lay everything out straight. Although Norton had a reason for going to these meetings, she on the other hand does not. She is an extremely heavy smoker by the way. By the amounts of cigarette she smokes you ask yourself how is she even still alive. The next character you meet is Tyler Durben  (Brad Pitt). The soap maker. Tyler Durben is a cool laid back kind of 'go with the flow' type of guy but he fights for sake of reaching rock bottom, so when he does so he can finally be free.
    Characters that are driven by the Id in this film would defiantly be Brad Pitt. His character does nothing but please himself. He is wild, and laid back all at the same time. He does what he wants and when he wants. He is a man driven by his wants and needs. He is careless and doesn't have a care in the world if him or someone else gets hurt. Although his friend Norton tells him things to slow tings down, and stop because some of the things Pitt tries to do he still always finds a good purpose for his bad doings. Maybe the message won't be good or obvious to some viewers  but that's really up to you to decide whether what he does is worth the whole "people should appreciate life more" thing.
      The Ego on the other hand is kind of what makes you have like common sense and its like having natural born manners you could even say. The ego is a way to fore fill your needs with manners. We're not animals so we can't just go up to someone who has something we want and snatch it from them. Norton, or the "Narrator" is defiantly the ego in this film. He even like I said before tries to stop Pitt from doing very cruel things. Norton is polite in the sense that he doesn't go around smashing cars, and holding convenient store cashiers to gun point. Although it it Pitt doing all these things Norton is still there.
    The both of them together side by side in this movie you get a sense of good and bad. They're complete opposites. Them being friends shows the id and ego interacting all the time. Since I know that the whole time Pitt and Norton were all one character there is defiantly a huge liking to death. Not only are the two characters combined crazy and dangerous but he also begins to grow feeling for Marla. Someone not afraid of death someone completely okay with dying at any second. The two of them (which is one person) enjoy fighting and getting hurt. They like the thought of pain in a way. Its weird because they endure so much physical violence you just assume they literally like it because of how much it frequently happens throughout the movie. They are fascinated by death and not the least bit scared. Although his ego side shows a little bit of fear but his id always takes over.
Overall I liked this film because its not just about violence and fighting  I got the sense that you shouldn't take life for granted and enjoy the little things. Material things aren't worth everything. Personally I got the message but who knows if other viewers interpreted it the same way. There are many different ways you could go with this film. I just think the film kind of tells you that every day is a gift, and its okay to hit rock bottom, its okay to lose.

Ed Norton, the "Narrator" is a character who represents all three. The Id, Ego, and Super Ego

Do The Right Thing

Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee

This film is quite an interesting film. This film is Spike Lee's way of showing us how racism is a very big deal in today's (well back then in the early 1990's) society. Race is a very big role in this movie. The whole movie takes place on this one or two block neighborhood over the time period of just one single day. There is racial tension all up and down these blocks. Whether you were black, white, Spanish  or Asian  Throughout the movie you're always hearing the same song "Fight the power" by Public Enemy. You hear it as the theme song in the beginning of the movie and its non-stop played by Radio Raheem on his boom box where ever he goes. Its actually kind of significant because he is the one who ends up being killed by the cop or aka the 'power' and and the song obviously says 'fight the power' over, and over. It kind describes the whole movie is one song. 

This movie says that racism is such a nasty thing that can't be avoided where ever you are or who ever you are. Literally. There is this one specific scene where this guy who is Caucasian happens to be riding his bike home, and accidentally shoulder bumps the trouble making character buggin' out. He also dirtied his new shoes. The man didn't pay any mind to it, and kept walking to his door step but to buggin' out it was such a big deal. Also because she left a dirty mark on his sneakers. Buggin out curses the man out and even questions why does this 'white man' ever choose to live here? He says 'go back to your own white folk neighborhood'. My point is that is it had been another black man bumping him it wouldn't had mattered as much as it did because this man happened to be white. 

At the end of the movie where Mookie throws the trashcan through the glass window of Sal's pizza shop to me symbolizes all of them breaking free, and 'fighting the power". I don't think it was necessarily the right thing to do, but neither was Radio Raheem dying. I think they all went over board with everything and took it to the extreme with the whole place burning down and death, but they were all tired of the racism that, that pizza shop caused. Maybe if Sal would have compromised with his customers things would of worked out better, because personally I do kind of agree with them because if it wasn't for them they would have no business. I think Mookie played a tough character. He was like the peace maker through out the whole film. He had to keep his white boss happy and still stay true to his community and race. He basically had to play both sides of the story to please everyone.

Overall I have mixed emotions about the movie. For the most part I really didn't like it because it was sad, and mean, and it just gave every race a bad look. I did like the fact that no one race was favored though. I noticed that they made ALL of the characters races look bad, and one wasn't more exploited more than the other. Another reason why I didn't enjoy it that much is because the it just reminded me of what pain this world has been through because of racism. It reminded me how unfriendly a human can be just because of our skin color. The film "Do The Right Thing" I think opens peoples eyes in a sense that they question themselves on who or what was right in this movie. Did Mookie do the right thing? If so does that make you favor one race more then the other? Or did he do the wrong thing, and did he betray Sal? What do you think?

Tootsie

         Tootsie is a movie about a talented but misunderstood male actor who finds himself more successful playing a role of a women then actually being himself. Dustan Hoffman better known as Michael Dorsey is an actor just trying to find his big break in New York City. Although he would like it if acting were his first and main job its not. He is constantly trying out for roles in soaps, plays, anything really you name it, but he is always getting rejected because of his reputation of being difficult. He is a really bossy man if you ask me. Not in such a bad way but he always seems to have a way to improve something especially when it comes to acting or reading lines. When his good friend Sandy tries out for a roll in a soap opera as being an assertive , strong hospital consultant she immediately gets rejected because of her "soft look" and Michael saw an opportunity. Since he thought he could play the role so well he decided to dress up as a women and give it a shot. The director didn't really like her look but of course Michael being so difficult he didn't take no for an answer until he auditioned. Once they saw her act out a couple lines they liked her and the part was Michaels.
           As soon as he starts his new job as Dorothy he begins to notice how the women on set gets treated like they objects. They really don't get much respect, and the male director acts like they cant speak for themselves. Overall gender roles are very distinct in this movie. Men are the powerful leaders, and women are just there to please them and basically have to no say in much. It also shows are women are 'weak' and instead of doing something about it like sticking up for ourselves we just let it slide by as if it never happened. Another thing I noticed is that it comes as a big shock to men when a women wants to do something for herself and take a stand. Like this one part where the director of the show says something around the lines that his wife or at least one of his women is being assertive to him because of her watching Dorthy on the show and he said that hes ready to just about "strangle" the both of them. I was appalled because that's a good example of how when men feel like there manhood is being pushed around by a women they get all defensive.
         Overall I really liked this movie because even though playing a women changed one mans life im glad someones eyes were opened.
is strong and assertive

Boyz n The Hood.

                                                                Boyz n The Hood


                 Whats the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the title "Boyz n' The Hood" ? Probably gangs, guns, and a lot of violence right ? Well sadly you're correct. This movie is about all that and more. Boyz n' The Hood is about a couple of friends who live in a bad neighborhood, and violence is the norm to them. Some get raised up well and don't get caught up in the chaos, but others do.
 One of the most interesting characters in this movie to me is Dough boy. Dough boy is Ricky's brother, and Ricky is Tre's childhood good friend. The tree of them and couple other young guys are all good friends.
 All the way from the beginning of the movie you can automatically get a feel of how each character is going to play out, but Dough boy kind of surprises me. At one point he's this "tough" cold hearted  guy, and then he can be such a good friend always looking out for his "boys". His relationship with his mother also is intrigues me as well. Its obvious that his mom favors one of them more then the other. Dough boy isn't the favorite one though. His brother Ricky is, but even though he isn't as loved by his mom as much as she loves his brother he doesn't ever take much notice. Others notice though, and they do say things but he kind of shoves it aside, and respects her regardless, although hes not the perfect son you can still tell he has that love for her.
         Dough boy to me has two different sides. For the majority of the movie he is a typical "brother" you know always having his guard up, always carrying a gun, always drinking a 40 etc. His other side kind of peeks in here and there. Its hard to describe. Like when a professor came to their house to have a meeting with Ricky he had this respect for the man and while everyone else was cracking jokes Dough boy tried to shut them up because in a way he knows when to be serious and when its okay not to be. Another scene is obviously when his brother died. Even though he didn't shed any automatic tears or run up to him you could tell he was extremely hurt. That you could tell really hurt him deep. Its kind of ironic though how when his brother was killed his softER side came out, but that only led to anger, and back to the violent guy he pretends to be leading him to kill the guys that supposedly killed Ricky.
     Another character that I find interesting is the main character himself, Tre. From the beginning I really liked his dad, Furious. I like how he was wise even when he was a young father. Although there was violence left and right Furious was never caught up in it unless it was brought to him. Furious taught Tre to not go down the same path as everyone else to only end up shot and killed. Furious being a stern father always showing Tre good disciplinary doesn't hurt really made him grow up to be a nice young man. Yes even though he still hung out with his neighborhood 'boys' he was never really involved in violence or doing something illegal. He was always a calm young man. His girl troubles were the same as any other teen age male back then, but besides that Tre was a really good example how it is possible a well behaved respectable man in such a bad neighborhood. Even though he doesn't act like a hard 'thug' he does break down, and admits is was embarrassing for him to do so because he is a male. So I guess it doesn't matter the way you grew up it matters on what gender you are. Its like whatever gender you are comes with different roles to play, and when you feel like you're playing the other genders role its unacceptable. At least something like that. (its hard to explain what I want to say so sorry if those last couples sentences don't make a ton of sense haha).
   Overall I think there are many characters that will surprise you and these are just some that really caught my attention. You just have to watch the movie to really understand what I mean when I say a lot of roles are switched, and people who you think are on your side aren't, but then the last person who you think is there for them really  is in the end.


                   

My views on the film Thelma & Louise

                               

                                     Thelma and Louise  

       Thelma and Louise is a movie about two women who are best friends breaking free from a mans world. 

This is a story of two women thinking they're going on a small get away road trip but things quickly take a turn for the worst. Little do they know that this road trip will change their lives forever. In the beginning of the film it shows you the perfect example of how a man thinks he can treat a women how ever he wants. Darryl, the husband speaks, and yells at Thelma in such a disrespectful manner that it was really unnecessary, and of course Thelma being a good house wife with her hair up, and an apron on she just pushes it aside, and lets it go like it seems that she does all the time. So just with that beginning/little bit of the movie I could already tell where this film was going.
       After that her best friend Louise a more independent strong women called her up to remind her that she was going to pick her up after work to leave for their weekend at her bosses beach house, and to also ask her husband for permission which sounds ridiculous I know. This direct quote explains how I feel about that scene - "he's your husband not your father", and that whole scene basically sets the mood for the entire movie and gives you an idea of what its about. Thelma I guess being had enough of her husbands disrespect packed all her things and just left for the road trip.
        Through out the entire movie there were plenty of examples where men treated women like objects, and not like human beings. The first big one, and basically whole purpose of the movie is right after they leave they stop at a bar/road house for some drinks, and to dance. Thelma being more easy, outgoing, and approachable was asked to dance by a man named Harlan. Keeping in mind they just met only some minutes ago at the bar. Louise had her doubts, but nothing really stopped Thelma at that point. After the whole bar and crowd saw them two being together all night friendly and happy they suspected nothing of it when they went outside together. Long story short he tries to rape her, but thankfully Louise was there to protect her. Louise like I said being strong, stern and independent didn't take no disrespect from no man. Harlan trying to explain how they were just "having some fun" didn't care that he was caught, but Louise said "when a women is crying like that she ain't having no fun" so one thing led to another and she shot the man out of self defense after him verbally abusing her. So when that bullet was fired is where to story began. Thelma and Louise were in utter shock when he fell down dead to the floor. They ran to their car, and drove as fast as they could. Right after this part is where Louise's strength comforted Thelma because she was going mad. Then when they both had their heads screwed on right Thelma suggested they went to the cops, but Louise knowing, its a "mans world" said no of course. She knew that no one would believe their story because everyone saw Thelma and the man Harlan drinking and dancing all night .
        This film shows a lot of disrespect towards women, and also that to men marriage means nothing. I think a big point in this movie is that men basically have no respect for women and they don't take us seriously. Close to all of the men in this movie screw Thelma and Louise over and them being ladies can't do much about it. But it you just let your hair down, and take a stand men will actually pay attention to the fact that you're a human being too, and you're not just a piece of meat. Personally I really enjoyed this movie for several reasons. Two main ones being their rights and freedom and their friendship. Their friendship is so strong and it really gets them through this whole experience. I think them having such a strong friendship lets them break free from this so called "mans world".

Trailer for Thelma and Louise

                                         Watch trailer for Thelma and Louise here !

                                    http://www.allmovie.com/movie/thelma-louise-v49351