Singin' in the Rain in Chicago

So, here we are comparing once again. Identifying and defining the similarities and differences between Singin’ in the Rain and Chicago, but where to start is the real question. Well I guess I will start off with the similarities between these two films. Okay, so, as we have seen, both of these films have strongly portrayed what an actor will do for stardom (fame) and love, or even, hate and out of fear. However, the question is, what will these actors do for stardom, love, and hate or out of fear? Well the answer to this question is not simple, but is instead quite complex actually, due to the fact that we’re dealing with love, hate, fear, and fame.

                So, I guess I will start off with the easiest topic and that is what our “stars” will do for stardom. But wait; aren’t love, hate, fear, and fame all connected in some way? Like don’t our stars of Chicago portray that they love to hate and that they fear having a lack of fame? Well from what I have seen, the answer is yes. How though? Well, these actors fear not being famous so they begin to love to hate and act on that for fame. So they become murderers. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depends on how you look at it) Singin’ in the Rain is a lot less complex. It’s basically about falling in love and becoming famous without committing a major crime to get there. So, overall, I guess that that basically sums up both the similarities and differences between these two films (Singin’ in the Rain and Chicago).

Overall, that is what I have gotten out of both of these films and overall, that is that.

The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns

To start off with, the first question is, and I quote, “How does Green’s work resonate with us?” Well the answer to that is quite simple actually, but also quite complex.  The answer is that, in my opinion, Green has a very fascinating and understandable writing style that is very good at capturing and holding the reader’s attention throughout the story. Green’s work is also good at feeding the imagination, especially of teens and young adults. So that is how Green’s work resonates with me.

                The themes in both The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns have a lot to do with the human experience. For instance, The Fault in Our Stars seems like it has a lot to do with death, but if you truly look at it, it has just as much to do with life as it does death. It’s pretty much about how to live life when you’re dying. Now as for Paper Towns, from what I saw, it’s about how to live. What I mean by this is that it’s about all the miracles, fortunes, the death of feelings, and misfortunes of life and how to deal with them. It’s about finding yourself. So in all, The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns are basically about how to live with death, or the thought of.

                Through both The Fault in Our Stars and Paper Towns, there is a lot that we can learn about ourselves and others. What can we learn about ourselves? Well it’s basically this; we can learn not only where and what we are, but also who we are and why. Now as for others, we can learn that you can only control what’s in your control and to keep that under control, but as for others, treat them properly and expect nothing. You know what they say, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” So that is how these stories teach us about ourselves and others.  

Lost and Found

Each of the films (both Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Reign Over Me), have main characters that are and have been affected by the horrible tragic incident of September 11. However, it’s how our main characters cope (deal) with their tragedies that makes these films different and yet slightly the same.

So, to start off with both films have characters that have lost people in the incident of 9/11. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close our main character (Oscar) has lost his dad in 9/11. Instead of coping with the incident, it seems like he locked his grief in a brick box and threw it out in the middle of the ocean for it to sink to the bottom of the ocean floor and ran away to never look back. However, he is constantly secretly staring it in the face as he tries to find out and solve the mysteries that his dad left behind. Whereas in Reign Over Me, it is our second to main character (Charlie) that has lost his whole family in 9/11. In my opinion, he copes with his loss basically in the opposite way that Oscar does. He copes with it by basically allowing it to consume him and hasn’t really tried to cope with it. So, to sum it up, Oscar avoids it but is still aware of coping with it whereas Charlie is aware of it but avoids coping with it.

Overall, both of these films have devastating stories, but to choose one that is more devastating than the other, that’s a difficult one and in fact, I would have to say that they’re both equally devastating in my book. I say this because even though both of our discussed characters have tragically lost someone close to them, they both gained something along the way. So as something is lost a journey of grievance and healing is formed and along the way something is gained.                

Saving Private Ryan

Here it goes, were finally comparing the similarities and differences of Saving Private Ryan, Stripes, and 1941. To start off with, they all happen to war/military based films. However 1941 is a full blown comedy that is basically about the Japanese that wanted to attack Hollywood from inside a submarine out in the Pacific Ocean whereas in Stripes, as it was also a comedy, seemed to have some more serious parts in it and, in my opinion, was more interesting than 1941. Last, but definitely not least, we have Saving Private Ryan. Saving Private Ryan is definitely not a comedy; in fact it is very dramatic as it is intended to be. Saving Private Ryan also happens to be very gory due to the fact that it is a war movie. So, from what I remember seeing, these are the comparisons between these three movies.

                Of these three films, in my opinion, the more/most powerful one would definitely have to be Saving Private Ryan. I say this for many reasons and these reasons start with the fact that Saving Private Ryan is far more way realistic. As for 1941, the intentions of the characters in this film were very unrealistic. 1941 is unrealistic because of the whole idea of the Japanese’s intentions of attacking Hollywood from inside a submarine that is out in the Pacific Ocean. Once again, last but not least, we have Stripes a movie that was intended to be a comedy but had a few forms of being realistic. These few forms of being realistic include the part of the basic training. So overall, these are my ideas of these films and how I view them.

Racism in Film

Okay, here it goes, a topic we’ve been circling (like eagles) for a while now; racism in film. This topic within itself can be portrayed in two ways; realistically and unrealistically. Now, before I say anymore about this topic, I must say something that I believe I have said before in previous blogs and that is that I am not racist in any way what so ever and I never could be. So now, back on topic (if we look at this realistically), films take actors and stories and put the two together and BOOM you’ve got a film, and what I’m trying to say is that it’s like playing the telephone game, the film either gets the story right or wrong and either way, it gets put out in the open. So this is how it can either be realistic or unrealistic. The film can either be right or wrong and Hollywood makes it famous.

            So as for racism in film being unrealistic, it can either be over exaggerated or the opposite. As for it being over exaggerated, the n word might get thrown around like there’s no tomorrow and saying it is the only way to save one’s life. However, along the lines of the opposite, Hollywood might totally sugar-coat racism and portrays it as something that isn’t much of an issue and never was in the first place, but it is a problem and always has been as seen in all the films that we have watched recently.

            Now, for answering the prompt, yes, I do think that the stories would be different if they were told from a racially different point of view. I say this for many different reasons and some of these different reasons include the fact that different people have different experiences. As for the first question, yes, if Spike Lee was white, the story would be told from a different point of view there for making the story different. And as for the second question for the prompt, yes, I do think that the story would be different if it was told from a different point. I say this because, what I saw that was very evident in the film, the story of Schindler’s List only took on a Jewish standpoint and left out other details of the holocaust. And, last but not least, comes the third question to the prompt and, once again with my opinion, I think that Glory would also been told differently if it was told from a different point. And those are my opinions on what I think.