Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now was the film that was the closet to depicting the Vietnam War. That is probably why the film won Palme d’Or at Cannes and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture. The film sought to show Americans just how gruesome and violent the war was. It gave us an opportunity to put ourselves in the shoes of the men that fought in the war also. Still the film could only show so much and wasn’t nearly as gruesome as the actually war.

It is sad to say that most Americans don’t know much about the Vietnam War. I myself don’t know too much about the war as well. Watching the film brought out many emotions. Some scenes such as the scene where the commander officer tells his men to surf in the water during a battle were just ridiculous. Other scenes such as the ending scene where the chief is killed at the same time a cow is being sacrificed were just gruesome. It made me feel sad for the men who had to be a part of that.  I could only imagine how life was forever different to them since they say that war changes the way you think and act on things.

The film made me realize how cruel the government can be and how much they use their own people. We had no business fighting that war but still 58,000 American troops lost their lives for the President’s selfish wants. It’s the same thing with the war we are fighting against Iraq. It makes me not want to ever join the army. It makes me sick to my stomach to think that some of these prideful people who are willing to die for this country are dying for no reason.

    All The President’s Men

This week’s movie, “All the President’s Men” was ridiculous to me. I couldn’t believe that what happened in the film actually happened in real life. How could someone of high power hire some buffoons to do a bad job on something so scandalous? Especially since two of the men were from the C.I.A and it really wasn’t necessary to have five men work on one mission. Although we all knew the outcome of the film, I thought the film was pretty good. It was interesting to see how the two young reporters got all their information against members of the White House. 

I would agree with the reading that “All the President’s Men” was a paranoia film. Remember during the time, people started to mistrust the government. America didn’t fear foreigners as much anymore, they more so feared their own kind. Wives started to mistrust their husbands and the whole Ideal American family went out the door.  People started to do their own thing.  In the film, people immediately began to question why the men tried to steal the files.  Even while working on the case, the two reporters started to become paranoid themselves thinking that maybe the government would hire someone to kill them. Also, I myself started to become paranoid, thinking that the reporters would run into trouble.

The film also showed the rise of media.  As seen in the film, reporters started to play detective. Everyone wanted to be the first to dish the dirt. Lives of celebrities and important figures were exposed to the public. Scandals were main headlines and were portrayed in books and films. Through the years this has become more and more common. Now we have the paparazzi, they basically make a living off of following famous people. They dish their dirt out to internet websites and television shows designed to let viewers know what’s going on kind of like the entertainment version of the news.  For an example, 9/11 was a huge tragedy but it inspired two films and some books/documentaries.  

Blackboard Jungle "Analysis"

Everyone watch your back because the juvenile delinquents will attack!  
This was the message shown in this week's movie, Blackboard Jungle. First and Foremost the movie starred not one but two great actors, Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier. Glenn Ford played as an inspiring teacher(Richard Dadier) that fights to gain the respect from an African American boy named Miller(Sidney Poitier) whom he believes to be the source and leader of juvenile delinquency in an all boy high school class. Later in the movie Glenn Ford character realizes that he sought this respect all for the wrong reasons and realized flaws within himself that he changed, thus, allowing him and the student, Miller, to become friends.

The overall movie was entertaining to me. It had a lot of aspects that we look for in movies today. It was a mixture of drama and comedy. Besides that the main purpose of this 1950's "B" movie was to attack social and ethic clashes and anxieties going on in America such as: 

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION:  As early on in the movie the camera constantly focuses on the African American student whenever something bad happened. For example, while having his back turned Dadier gets a baseball thrown at him, immediately the camera focuses on Miller. After class, Dadier holds Miller back to talk to him and accuses him of throwing the baseball even though he had no real proof of him doing it. In this case, the movie uses Glenn Ford's character to symbolize the "color blindness" in white middle class Americans. Dadier's constant negative attention towards Miller proves to be racist and this is clarified in the scene where Dadier explodes and screams at Miller "Why, you black . .." but immediately realizes what he said and apologizes.

AND,

SEGREGATIONIST ANXIETY: At the time, Americans had the idea that African American males longed for white women. Thus, white females avoided African American males due to the fear that they would be raped. The reading discussed this anxiety as well as a social structure called, Triangulation.  This triangle structure consisted of a white male, black male and white female. It stated that in order for a black and white male to become friends the white female has to be removed from the equation. This relates to, Blackboard Jungle, because for Dadier and Miller to become friends Wes, the white delinquent that takes the role of the female in the triangulation, had to be removed. This was evident and proven to be correct because when Dadier finally realized that it wasn't Miller that was causing him stress and that it was Wes, and when Miller realized that the real racist was Wes and not Dadier, the two were then able to oppose Wes, thus, making their bond stronger.