De/Re Construct Project

Like many other top heavy cars, Jeeps are known to easily tip over and crash. 

On Monday night I went to the Zion I show at the Abbey Theater. I have been listening to Zion I for a long time but this was the first opportunity I had to see them live. It was a really amazing show and I had a great time. I think concerts like this are powerful because they bring so many people together and spread messages through music. It is a different way to share information, ideas and beliefs.
Here is a link to their website:
http://www.zionicrew.com/flash/index2.html

The Celluloid Closet

I really enjoyed the movie The Celluloid Closet that we watched in class on Wednesday. I had never really thought about how gay people had been portrayed in movies over the years. I have studied how women and different races are shown in the media in some of my previous classes, however this video opened a whole knew perspective for me. It was really sad to see how badly gay people were and still are usually presented in the film industry. It scares me how much control movies have over their viewers. In the United States today, people learn things from television and movies rather than their elders passing on information. When gays are portrayed in such a negative and stereotypical way, it teaches viewers that gays are really like this and never explains how gay people and culture really are. I really liked all the interviews that the film contained as well as the many clips it featured. The video clips helped to hold my attention and it gave me a first hand look at what the film was talking about. I wish we could have finished watching the film in class because it captured my interest so intensely. I hope that the film industry will continue to change and improve that way they portray every kind of person including the gay population.

Today I was thinking about how women are portrayed in the media almost always as ex objects. For example, when a woman is in a commercial or some other from of advertisement, they are there for sex appeal. A man can be shown in the media and sex is usually not even thought of but if a woman is placed in the same media it usually becomes sexual. Is this because women’s bodies are more outwardly sexual? I think it’s very unfair that this is the case but I have no idea how it could be changed because even if a woman is fully clothed, it still adds sexuality into whichever media from she is portrayed in. 

Durango Film Festival

When I heard we were required to attend the film festival held here in Durango during the week of March 4th, I was very excited about going since I have never been to a film festival of any kind. Many of the films looked very interesting and I had a lot of curiosity about them. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the film festival. Instead I watched two documentary films that I had never seen before. My friends suggested a few documentaries to me and I ended up watching Lords of Dogtown as well as Mad Hot Ballroom. I really enjoyed both of these films.

The first documentary I watched was called Lords of Dogtown released in 2005 and directed by Catherine Hardwicke. This documentary was different from any documentary I had ever seen. Instead of the usual slow pace of most documentaries, this film moved quickly and grabbed my attention. At he beginning of the film, the camera takes you inside a map to the exact location of Dogtown in California. I think this is creative and very effective because it gives viewers an idea of where the film will take place and it puts them in the setting in an unusual way. The soundtrack throughout the film really contributed to holding my attention. The music flows well with the documentary and adds to the excitement featured in the storyline. The film is about a group of skateboarders called the Z-Boys and how they changed the sport and made history. It includes old videos and photos of the Z-Boys when they were young and also current interviews with these characters. This documentary had a huge impact on me. I loved how carefree the culture of the Z-Boys was. It made me want to skateboard because of how fun, exciting and creative the film presented it.

The second documentary I watched was Mad Hot Ballroom, which also came out in 2005 and was directed by Marilyn Agrelo. This is a documentary about a program in New York public schools, which required elementary school kids to attend ballroom dance classes. I really liked this film because the kids featured in it were very funny and cute. It was interesting to think about how after school activities like dance classes can have such an immense effect on the children involved. It helped many of them to stay out of trouble and to create goals and dreams for themselves. The film focuses on a group of eleven kids who at the end attend a dance competition and it really created a sense of connection between the viewer and this group. One of the unique things about this movie is that it is told from the perspective of the children and I think that makes it all the more interesting to watch.

I went to a Bassnectar concert the other night. I think it is so amazing how fast music travels. Music as a media I believe is universal. Everyone can here it and relate to it. This video is from a concert by Bassnectar and even though I wasn't there I can relate to it.