Run Forrest Run

                “Run Forrest run” is probably one of the most famous movie quotes of all time, and of course it comes from the infamous Forrest Gump featuring Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump himself. But what exactly is this movie about? Well that’s actually a very good question because it can come with many answers. It’s all on how one sees it. This is how I see it; overall, Forrest Gump is a life story of a man who did what he always felt was right and let life take him in just as he took it in himself.

                Forrest Gump may not have been the brightest person as some may say, but he maintained to keep his determination and courage and to me that’s the smartest thing that anybody can do. He also loved and loved he did. He not only felt love from and for his family, but he fell in love and was fallen in love with and along with that, he created his own family that also loved. So another good question is why does this film linger with those who watch it. However the answer to this question can be very opinionated because again, it all depends on how one looks at it. Someone could look at it as a comedy, another person could look at it as a drama, and the next person could look at it as a life lesson at its purest. So how it lingers with different people is dependent on how they look at it.

                How does Forrest Gump himself embody the quote “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get?” Well, from how I see it, that’s exactly how Forrest’s life was. Life took him as it went. Overall, “life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get.”

The Shawshank Redemption

                What I could do is give an entirely specific down to each point type of summary of the movie/film The Shawshank Redemption, but, believe it or not, I won’t do that. But instead I will fully and properly do my best to fully and properly answer the blog prompt without going on about what I am and am not going to just to use random words to fill up the page to get this blog done and over with which is exactly what I have just done. But I’m not done with the blog yet so I must go on.

                So to start off with, is the Shawshank Redemption a redemption tale, and if so, does it live up to its name? Well I guess so and I know that that’s not very convincing, but to be honest I don’t have much of an idea of what redemption means. So as for our next question, which man is redeemed? Well for me it’s hard to tell because, once again, I have almost no idea of what redemption means so I guess I could just answer this question quickly and get it done and over with, but I won’t do that and in fact I will instead put some thought into it. So, now that I have put some thought into it, I could say that Andy is the one that has been redeemed and be done with it and let that be the end of answering this question, and I could say this because he’s technically the main character. But again, to be honest I’d rather put some deep thought into this and along with that, I could say that Red is the one who’s been redeemed and I could say this for a couple reasons. These reasons start off not with the fact that he was the second main character, but with the fact that he was in prison longer and with that being said; I guess one could say that that place had become his home. I mean that because when someone spends so much time of their life in a place it basically becomes all that that person knows and it’s hard to imagine a place outside of it and those images turn into faint memories. So anyways, when Red did eventually get out things were different and he had three main choices; to live his new life the best he could, end his life in all, or do something to get himself sent back to jail. Fortunately, he took the first choice and made a life for himself so I guess one could easily say that he was the one redeemed. But then again, I could be completely wrong. So in all, who truly was redeemed? Was it our main character who had escaped prison after being sentenced for something that he hadn’t even done and started a completely new life under a fake name, or Red; the man who served out his long grueling prison sentence and struggled but maintained/managed to create a new life for himself? Well that’s that. The end.

Music in Movies

                The mood that music can set in a film can be very powerful and usually is. However what are these moods that music can set? Well music (especially in films) powerfully sets moods such as happiness/joy, fear/terror, and calmness/serenity. A few films that we have watched in our Read the Movies class are Ten Things I Hate About You, Empire Records, and Here Comes the Boom. These films do an excellent job of setting a mood for its viewers. So I’m starting off with Ten Things I Hate About You, and this film uses music to not only set the mood, but to also put you in the shoes of the actors that are in the scene. Ten Things I Hate About You uses music to strongly encourage feelings for the viewer, and does this especially in scenes of anger or frustration. Now as for Empire Records, there was music all throughout this film and not just because it was a movie that was about music, but because they used music to set the mood. In this film, they used music to set moods like excitement and happiness, but they also use music to set other moods too. Last but not least we have Here Comes the Boom which is a film that is titled after the main song in the movie (“Here Comes the Boom”) that is known for setting a specific mood. That specific mood is energy/aggression. So overall, music has a great impact in setting moods in films and in life in general.

Arts in Schools

                To start off with, and I know that this doesn’t specifically go along with the blog prompt but I must say this; yes, the arts in schools are important and of course I say this for many reasons. These many reasons include things such as the basic, but truly important, fact that arts in schools allow students to express themselves in a positive way. I also think that (and I don’t know if this is a proven fact or not) the more positive outlets you give students/kids, the less trouble they will get into overall. I say this because the arts in schools aren’t just drawing, painting, or sculpting, but are also playing, conducting, and creating music. The arts in schools also include shop class, sports, and clubs. I personally include all of these things that I just listed as arts in schools because they all require some form of creative energy or another. Another reason for as to why I say that arts in schools are important is that (and I’m just saying this out of my own opinion) they keep kids/ students out of trouble. How though? You might ask. Well the more free that a student feels to express themselves, the more relaxed they are with themselves, and the more relaxed that they are with themselves, the less they feel like they have to prove themselves, and it overall leads to a healthier environment not only in the students mind, but also in the community. Last but not least, arts in schools also keep kids out of trouble by keeping them busy. So overall I guess what I’m trying to say is that the more positively expressive and busy a kid is, the less likely they are to get into trouble and fall behind. Plus arts in schools are usually fun.

Rent

In my overall opinion of the movie Rent, it was phenomenal. Just absolutely excellent. It even made me tear up; multiple times. So that’s how it made me feel overall. Now, as for all the different parts of this movie that made me feel these emotions I will tell about them. To start off with, every time that Mimi sang I began to tear up because she has such a beautiful voice and is an amazing singer. However, to be honest, I also began to tear up when they thought that she died, but she didn’t and, when she came back I began to tear up because I was happy that she didn’t die.

                So as for how the creator of Rent addressed cultural issues, our main characters were struggling with paying their rent and finances although that may seem to pinpoint where the creator of Rent got the name for this movie, it is more than just paying the rent for a house, it is also about paying one’s dues, or rent, to society to be socially acceptable but then again, who cares what other people think and why should someone care what someone else thinks anyways. So our other main cultural issue is sexuality discrimination. Well it goes to a certain point in other words I’m saying that caring and not caring both go hand in hand. In other words, once again, there is manners, which is a form of caring, and being unaccepting of other people’s opinions, which is a form of not caring. But in my opinion being gay and happy should be socially accepted because love is love no matter what and that also leads to another part of the movie that I began to tear up to which was when Angel died, and she was a true angel.

                Overall, even though some parts of the movie were kind of confusing to me, I still loved it.