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.

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.