Gamelan Concert

Let me start off by saying that they performed really well and I could tell that it would not be easy to learn to play those instruments. I would look like a fool if even attempted to play one note.  That being said, Gamelan music is just really not a musical preference in mind at all. Half the time it was about to put to sleep and the other half of the time I felt like it caused a headache.  To me, being musically inept, it all sounds the same to me; I could not for the life of me tell when one song ended and another began unless it was announced. It just sounded like a constant ringing of bells, door bells, and wind chimes without any musical change-up, again that I could pick up on. The instruments sounded like they were played right but I could not wait until the ringing stopped. It was just very difficult and made time go by very slowly.  Again the situation is probably not helped that melodies, and tones, and bridges, and whatever else goes into a song is just way over my head.  I wanted to like it but I just couldn’t.

Oktoberfest (2nd art cultural event)

I actually volunteered to work at Oktoberfest on El Cajon at the pastry booth and decided that I learned a lot about the German culture and the huge festival that it would be interesting to write my second cultural event as that. The first thing you see when you enter the festival is little stands lined up next to each other, similar to that of a marketplace. In these booths German citizens set up and sold artwork, crafts, and jewelry that was typically associated with Oktoberfest…so there was many symbols of beer (go figure).

It was packed when I got there. But there was a couple of booths where you could purchase German food like huge schnitzel pretzels, sausage, sauer krout, hot dogs, and beer.  The beer was cam from Germany–actual legititmate breweries in Germany donated kegs and kegs of beer and brought over here for is to celebrate. When I got a break from the pastry booth, they gave me a free meal ticket and beer ticket, and they told me to go try the beer and come back.  Apparently their culture does not frown upon drinking on the job.

When I worked the pastry booth, I learned all about their different German pastries and got to sample some and take home the leftovers. The desserts were soo good! Learned some phrases of the language like Guten Appetit, “enjoy your meal”. And they were busy! It was a Saturday and Sunday but the line was insane and we had to work out an organizational system behind the pastry booth to maximize efficiency, so of course an attempt at an assembly line was involved–but it didn’t matter because it was complete chaos. Overall it was an invaluable experience and provided great insight on the German culture.

American Indian Festival

Friday November 21: On and Off the Res with Charlie Hill

The documentary was about the shocking story of a Native American stand up comedian, Charlie Hill.  He was the first American Indian to perform on The Tonight Show, and considered by many contemporary Native comics to be the “godfather” of Native stand-up. The video captures humor to challenge the racism about Native peoples that is so pervasive in America, while also sharing the biography and story of Hill’s life and rise as a stand-up comic.

This absence of information, the silence about real, living, Native peoples perpetuated by the American entertainment industry is indicative not only of American mainstream racism, but also of our shared ignorance. There is such little awareness of the Native American culture among the general population that it was interesting to see a Native American stand-up comedian participate and contribute to a typical American form of entertainment. It being represented at the American Indian Festival appeared to be a great platform for Native Americans to express themselves and explain to us what life is like in their point of views–in the most humorous way possible.

The film included interviews with his family, Dennis Banks, and Vine Deloria, who says early in the film, “Charlie’s valuable to the Indian community as a person out there on the edge, acting as a bridge between cultures.”  That, to me, would be a lot of pressure but Hill fills a much needed role. He takes the offensive approach and enters our culture to bridge that cultural gap that we aren’t as a whole aware of. It was a rewarding experience because even though this was an assignment it taught to look at a culture differently. Not only that but to merge their culture with our culture–because it not only opens us up to new experiences and new ways of life but also–why not?

Encounters at the End of the World

The sky is endlessly blue, the sun bright even in the thick of night. In this odd and unforgettable place, Herzog has made his own poetry.  From this movie grew the perspective that respect for the environment is not a moral issue for Herzog, but a common sense issue of survival. In the harsh environments of the polar regions, his point is made with transparent clarity. It’s truly debatable if the cinematography and the environment captured is more interesting than the insights gained from the interviews. What I liked most about the film was you got to see what you ordinarily don’t on a day-to-day basis. You’re brought into Herzog’s world; full of humor and the revelation of nature at its most mysterious, brutal and implacable.

As a nature documentary, the underwater imagery is visually stunning, it still has a familiarity to it and a subtle loyalty to its genre. As an observational study of people and place, it’s truly fascinating. Overall, I thought it was a compelling film that is by turns thought-provoking and very funny.

Video in the Community

I just didn’t see the purpose of watching this video in an arts world cultures class.  It seemed irrelevant and out of place. It did spark a lot of class discussion but I felt like I was in a health education class instead of anything relating to art. This particular class, in summation, was not my favorite. On top of that, what the girls were saying in the video and hearing their point of view just upset me that that kind of ignorance of pregnancy can exist. Pregnancy is a serious, life-changing thing and should be treated as such among every culture. I have very little sympathy for these girls, and although I understand I don’t know their entire life story and maybe the parents weren’t actually there, I don’t understand what in the universe could possibly convince them that they can’t get pregnant.  Especially for those who got pregnant multiple times; it’s just ridiculous to me that they can blame anyone but themselves.  All I ask, take responsibility. And don’t make the same mistake twice.

Billy Elliot

This is a film that earns its feel-good ending without turning a blind eye to the compromises and little sorrows of everyday life.  The story is familiar, to be sure, but director Stephen Daldry and writer Lee Hall tell it so persuasively it’s irresistible.  The movie brings the plot to life for this one, not the other way around. The execution of this movie was stunning but had it been sub par, this movie would not have a whole lot of originality to take credit for. Watching it, I felt like I saw it before, but with this movie’s lens it felt like it was coming from a different perspective. Because the story is so entirely straightforward, the beauty is more in the performances and in the subtle touches than in the journey itself.

This movie does take about an hour to actually get started and actually draw the audience in. In some ways it’s worth and in other ways, not so much. Behind a triumphant tale of self-discovery is a subtext of anxiety that ultimately enhances what might have been a pretty ordinary film.  It is definitely and eventually entertaining. Towards the end of the film, a purpose does seem to manifest a shape, but overall not my kind of movie. My criticisms include too slow and too emotional.  My pros for this movie is that is does have unique spin on it and the acting was pretty believable, and most importantly the message was there.

Smoke Signals

It was shocking to realize that as late as 1998, this was still one of the few movies made by insiders, written, directed, and acted by Native Americans. The father-son narrative is conventional but it has humor. The film pokes fun at the interaction between life on “the rez” and the dominant white culture. It also reveals how ritual and friendship can be healing medicine or therapeutic. Unlike earnest and preachy films about Native Americans, “Smoke Signals” presents an affectionate portrait of friendship. The only real problem I could see throughout the film was the actors seemed too enthusiastic or not enough and that made it hard to believe.

It did feel like I was watching a movie about Native American lifestyle and not really watching Native American culture. I think that was the biggest deterrent for me.  I enjoy learning about different cultures but I almost would have preferred a documentary on Native American culture than watching a film like this. The story was a nice touch, to try and put things in perspective but ultimately did do much for me. It had it’s pros and cons and therefore I did not fall in love with it. Still worth attempting.

Swoon & El Anatsui

I’m extremely interested in learning about artists but equally as important as learning who they are is the perspective their art derives from.  That’s very intriguing to me because I love looking at art and I appreciate many different types of art; surrealism being my favorite but it’s rare that you learn about an artist from their artwork–you can interpret, you can guess, but unless you researched the artist or meet them, your chances of hearing where they stand from their own point of view are virtually nonexistent. If I walked by Swoon’s work on the street, it would capture my interest, and I would look at it for awhile trying to find the source of inspiration or the meaning that’s not explicitly stated and that is where I would end. I wouldn’t go home and try to look up the artist on the internet, I just wouldn’t be compelled to and I don’t think many people are.  So to have these interviews presented to us in class providing insight on these artists’ creative process and why they male what they make is enlightening and appreciative. Damn right educational. I’ll throw out the word invaluable because unless you see what the artist sees, you don’t know for sure what it all means and your horizon is dimmed by that much more.

The Whale Rider

This movie was amazing. And the main reason is because of Pai.  Who doesn’t love her? She stands for a lot for females even with her young age. What I love about Pai is her relationship between her and her grandfather.  She idolizes her grandfather and only wants to make him proud but it’s as if she’s attempting to win an uphill battle with how disappointed he is about the loss of having a grandson.  Feeling like you’re not good enough is a feeling that I feel every woman has experienced given a number of different situations.

I swear I’m not a crazy feminist but I believe men and women should be equal, treat each other equally, and that’s all. But it’s definitely easier said than done, writing from a female perspective. There have been times throughout my youth where I could tell my dad (separated from my mom), and my stepdad (married to my mom) didn’t know what to do with a girl.  Even my grandfather was much more hesitant towards me than my grandmother. So I tried to act and be like a guy.  I wouldn’t say I went over the top with it, but I’m far from a girly girl.  Part that I knew came from me wanting to make my male guardians (lack of a better word haha) proud and more comfortable that I could do sports, play poker, fish [insert supposed male activity here] and be a girl. Worked out not-so-bad I would say. Long story short, that’s why I felt attached to Pai.

More about the film and less about me…..the third apart– where all our predictions come true — has a quiet dignity and, although it moves from A to B as expected, how it gets there is surprisingly mysterious. This is the kind of movie that encapsulates the grace and beauty of international cinema.  Something I’m not accustomed.  In short, this was a great unexpected gem of a movie.

The Sapphires

Although it was based on a true story, this movie seemed very predictable. It had its moments that separated it from the typical “road-to-fame” stories or “success stories” but when boiled down to it that’s what I basically felt it was without the cultural enrichment. The cliches are rendered painless by excellent performances from the five principles, with O’Dowd and Mailman particularly standing out.  This is a movie that doesn’t seem to ask a lot from its audience and that works in both good ways and bad. In one sense, it’s a kind “feel-good” happy movie that doesn’t take a lot of effort to follow and on the other hand, you’re sitting in the audience wondering where the originality stems from. There’s definitely an equilibrium that needs to be achieved when producing a film such as this. Again I want to stress that this wasn’t a bad movie; the sass and the fun made this movie enjoyable for me. From my perspective it wasn’t difficult to understand, relate, and eventually like the characters but again that brings into question the depth of their characters for me. Overall, I’m left feeling content, not overly joyed and it’s a film of slightly superficial cinematic quality.