Extra Credit, American History X continued

The film is set in a suburban nieghborhood and tells about the struggles of a white family that is linked to a neo nazi group. The main character of the story is a man named Derek Vinyard, who used to be a neo nazi that realized there is good nature in every group of people during his times spent in prison. When he returns he see's that his younger brother Danny is on the brink of the same path the lead him into trouble. The story centers around Derek's struggle trying to keep on a good path and along the way his fight to save his brother from the path of hate and prejudice.
This movie I feel has very strong ties to the articles we read on stereotyping and in particular it shows the lessons that Snyder tried to portray. In Snyder's article it was said that a stereotype and prejudice is deeply rooted in human character and that is evident in the characters in the film who participate in this "race war". They dont take account of the person, they just see a color and react in extreme prejudice towards that color. Derek is one of the few that was able to rehabilitate himself from this mind set during his time in prison. In prison he had to interact with a wide variety of races and when his "brothers" turned their backs against him he had the opprotunity to reavaluate his ways of thinking. The turning point of the story is when he meets a black man who helped show him that he is a person not just a color. With this new view in his mind he goes out into the public world in hopes of helping those who are close to him like his brother from commiting the same mistakes he made. However he faces strong opposition from his former "brotherhood". This opposition show Snyder's thought on stereotype and the difficulties in seperating these false assumptions once they have been rooted in the mind.

-Michal Tokarski

Extra Credit, American History X

American History X can be linked to many of the reading we focused on in class. The plot of the story shows a literal view on many of the concepts we talked about such as rascism, prejudice and stereotyping. The film is set in a suburban neighborhood

Persopolis the movie

I have to admit that the film version of Persopolis was nowhere near as complete as the book was. The story felt very rushed and seemed to be missing a lot of vital points from Marji's life which were needed to show the development of her character. But the part which I feel would dissapoint most, atleast the viewers that had read the book before or after watching the movie was the messages from the story. Also the life expierances of a girl who had to grow up all by her self in a world that was much different from her own.
I feel especially that the story taken from the second part of the book was very watered down and rushed. This was dissapointing because they ommited many important pieces on how Marji's character had grown during those times. If I hadnt read the book first I think I would feel a little confused about Marji's mind set during her times spent in Europe. In the book her actions always flew from a few specific causes but the film made her seem very all over the place and very senseless and nieve. All in all I think the major flaw of the movie was the failure to portray Marji's growth.

-Michal Tokarski

Persopolis part 2

The second half of Persopolis was most interesting because you got to see the complete change of Marji's character. After having a hectic and unstable childhood during revolutionary times in Iran she traveled to Europe were she was still struggling to find her identity. Marji was without parents and without a stable role model to guide her through her growth to womenhood. She had to rely on a series of unstable relationships with friends and boyfriends to support her growth.
You can see that a piece of her life was missing and she was in a very negative point in her life, the only way to account for that was to go back and interact with her family and see again the place where she came from. Upon her return to Iran her family accepted her with open hands and helped her climb back up to a mind set that was vital for her to start adulthood. The tragic part of the story is, that although she gained the moral support she needed back home there was nothing more for her in a country to oppressed. The story ends with a new beggining, she goes on her way back to the west to start a new life for herself.

-Michal Tokarski

Perspolis Movie

Honestly the movie was ok. Probably no where near as good as the book but then again not too many movies come out as good as their book versions. What could have made the movie better if had gone more in detail and would not have cutted out so many scenes. If the movie would have grasp detail, it would have probably been more successful to grasp the audience as much the book. The book, for me, allowed me to undertand the author on a emotional level. It presented me with the feeling that I could actually almost place myself in shoes as I read. The movie unfotunately failed to incorporate this.

To be fair I would say the movie did enhance some of the comical scene, such as the eye tiger moment for Marjane. This is probably the most humorous part of the movie. Another aspect i like, was the use to differentiating the timing go the present from the past story by displaying the present on color and her past in black and white. It gave it sort of a flashback sense, which was very interesting.

Persepolis Movie

I was really looking forward to watching the movie version of Persepolis but I was fairly disappointed in it after watching it. I felt like a lot of things were left out that shouldn’t have been left out, like when Marjane’s mom comes to visit her in Austria. I also didn’t like how there was less character development in the film, I left like if I just watched the movie I wouldn’t have understood all the characters, especially her various boyfriends. I also found that the movie didn’t flow as well as the book did. I felt that in the book you got more of the complete story of each of the individual stories whereas in the movie they were all smooshed together. I felt like the stories were just told better through the book rather than in the movie, like the key story, I much preferred the way the key story was told in the book, it seemed more complete and better developed in the book.

--Emily Suchyta

Persepolis Part Two

I really found the second half of Persepolis to be very interesting, I think it really showed how strong of a person Marjane could be even when she goes through hard times. Section two started off with Marjane moving to Austria to go to school because she was no longer welcome in her school in Iran. She moves from place of living to place of living but she still finds ways to keep moving forward even when she was faced with obstacles. I also really like how Marjane gained so much confidence as the stores progress. This can be shown when Marjane is in her second part of the exam to get into art school and she just tells the truth instead of reciting what she was suppose to, which ended up working out in her favor. She also shows her confidence when she is at the assembly about the new dress code and she spoke out about the unfairness of the dress code which also ended up working out for her, she got to revamp the dress code.

--Emily Suchyta