Skip to main content

Week 7

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you a child, your world is about to turn upside down. Especially when the film's protagonist, Valentin, is stuck with a one-year-old child as a result of one of his previous hookups. Thrown into dad-hood, he struggles to find suitable work in America in order to support his growing daughter. His primary goal is just to make her happy as she has a terminal illness and he wants to make her childhood as fulfilling and wholesome as possible. After failing the paternity test, the court orders separation from the little girl that he loved and raised which raises a moral dilemma among the audience. Overall, the film was pretty good (until the last five minutes I guess) and threw in some controversial topics without directly alluding to them. In the one scene with the "mom lineup", a trans named George walked up the mic and was immediately swiped aside. Although George probably wasn't going to get the part, it possibly broadens the assertion that there is a major bias towards roles with transgender/LGBTQ actors in Hollywood. Another subtle case made by the movie, was about Valentin's heritage as Mexican and the fact that he can't speak English. He had to take a high-risk job in order to financially support his daughter, as many immigrants do. Many immigrant's prioritize their family's welfare over their own safety and assume risky jobs because many American citizens do not value or do not HAVE to value their safety against their welfare. When the court ordered him to find a less risky job in order to legally take care of his daughter, this caused turmoil for Valentin because there aren't many jobs (as he found out) that hire a Spanish-only speaking immigrant. The language barrier also led to him being taken advantage of by leaving his translating daughter to do the negotiations. However, he proceeded to face his fears in order to provide for his daughter and keep her spirits joyous. The stereotypes are not unique to Mexico and central America, but can be found throughout the world, but Mexicans and Central Americans are usually the first to be cast when these stereotypes are presented in film.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Week 3

Communication is a major proponent for improving basic human behavior and conduct, inside and outside of a professional setting. How we communicate poses a great potential to elevate or decline the impressions we give to others. We must constantly seek understanding through an open mind and with a respectful character in order to effectively communicate our own ideas and insights. In the classroom, our communication with our peers and teachers enhance our educational experience by collecting and assimilating contrasting views of a topic and having a mutual, respectful conversation explaining why we think a certain way. The " process involves listening with empathy, searching for common ground, exploring new ideas and perspectives, and bringing unexamined assumptions into the open " ( London ). This is how we begin to understand each other. As outlined by London, we need to move from a "din" culture of meaningless dialogue to a more progressive "dialogue...

Week 1

College isn't just about graduation. Often many people have cliched the phrase "It's isn't about the end result, it's about the journey" and I totally agree. I have been told over and over again that while I'm in college, take advantage of everything that it has to offer before my time is up. This included scoping out the clubs, sports, and activities outside of class. Engage in those activities. In class Wednesday, we talked about how important it is to engage in the classroom but also everything else happening around you. Find a club or sport that interests you, because not only is it fun, it can help you figure out your career path or decorate your resume (if it applies to a related field of study). We also watched a  TEDx talk about how acquiring a substantially successful career is getting increasingly difficult and more higher-educational degrees are required to apply for a surface-level job than in the past. This is what makes those experiences...

Week 8

Make Your Home Among Strangers  is a fictionalized novel (but based on the author's experiences) about a young Cuban-American girl in college who is struggling to discover who she wants to identify ethnically. She is constantly caught between pressures of her own family saying "You act too much like a white college girl" (generalized) and her college friends saying "You act too much like a Cuban" (generalized). She struggles with trying to 'choose' who she wants to be. Topic 3: I believe Liz's family is not enthusiastic about her going to college because it is not exactly the "norm" in Cuba to obtain higher education. After mandatory school, many enter the work force to support their families. College is an interesting concept because you pay a lot, (a lot more for a prestigious college) to attend the university in hopes that you can graduate with a degree that will cover the total cost as well as earn a higher standard of living with yo...