Delivering Justice through the World of Cinema
It’s quite amazing human nature, isn’t it? Day after day, we harness on the bad and the ugly and the evil. We see it, we realize it, we know it. It amazes us, leaves us dazed and confused. Movies are a special way for us to envision and dream. We see life to be an inevitably scary thing, the world as a place full of hate and wrong. But, the beautiful part is that we still have hope, and with having the idea, the vision of justice and happiness and righteousness become a possible reality. The movies we all blindly chose to analyze and admire are ones pertaining to curing the illness, eradicating the evil and delivering justice. The feeling of hopelessness, devastation and misery are all too common. These movies, on the other hand, provide a way to find a better, more uplifting mentality.
Sabrina Bode
Hobo with a Shotgun: The Resurrection of the People
Throughout the world of cinema, there is a profusion of movies that go unnoticed. Within the range of unpopular films, there are plenty of rotten tomatoes, but some jewels can certainly be discovered. One jewel, in particular, I have come across is Jason Eisener’s film, Hobo with a Shotgun. The movie is a 2011 Canadian exploitation action film, written by John Davies. Exploitation action films entail a multitude of themes. The action part is one we are all quite used to, the blood, the gore, the violence, and the adrenaline are rampantly present within the film. Along with this comes the presence of exploitation, a genre we are not commonly exposed to. Due to low budgets and low merit, films take the route of exploiting a popular genre through irony, over dramatization, and offense. They make use of controversial issues in very clever, subtle ways. Hobo with a Shotgun incorporates a number of larger, contemporary topics through the characters and their interactions with one another. The hobo, played by Rutger Hauer, hops off the last stop of a freight train in Scum Town, USA. As he begins to wander the dingy, dark streets, he realizes he’s ended up in a hell hole, where justice, peace and freedom are nowhere to be found, a story which relates to the misconception of our “Land of the Free.”
The hobo’s main objective is to finally find a quiet town, in which he can relax and start a new life in. He has become fed up with his dangerous life, living on the streets, and seeks a way to find comfort and security. As he dreads past the “Welcome to Scum Town” sign, he begins to take notice of the town’s brutality. Drake, the head criminal who works with the corrupted police force, is about to kill his brother on public display. Murder, drugs, rape, violence, robbery were all part of everyday life in Scum Town. This soon became apparent to the hobo. Corruption was the name of the game and it spread throughout Scum Town like a forest fire. Drake, along with his two ruthless sons, Slick and Ivan, rules the streets of the city by means of threatening, brutalizing and drugging the people. Their family of three represents the corruption present in our leading forces. Taking advantage of people’s vulnerability is a subtle, institutionalized reality in America. Although it is nowhere near as blatantly obvious as Drake’s power, it is still evident that those with money and social status have the ability to manipulate and control. Like most citizens of Scum Town, the American people see such exploitation and fraudulence to be inevitable, something we have no control over. But, when good, honest people like the hobo and Abby, a prostitute in Scum Town, work side by side, the realization that change is possible arises.
The people who receive the shortest end of the stick in our nation are those who live in poverty. Classism continues to exist and it segregates various groups of people in multiple ways. Living under the poverty line entails a number of treacherous, undeserved hardships. In most cases, children raised in poverty are only able to see one way of life, because it is all they have ever known and been able to be exposed to. The hobo’s monologue speaks exactly to the detrimental mentality so many have come to maintain. He whispers gently to a nursery full of newborns, “A long time ago I…was one of you. All brand-new and perfect. No mistakes, no regrets. People look at you and think of how wonderful your future will be. They want you to be something special…like a doctor or a lawyer. I hate to tell you this, but if you grow up here, you’re more likely to wind up selling your bodies on the streets, or shooting dope from dirty needles in a bus stop. And if you’re successful, you’ll make money selling junk to crack heads. And you won’t think twice about killing someone’s wife, because you won’t even know it was wrong in the first place. Maybe…you’ll end up like me: a hobo with a shotgun. I hope you can do better.” The question is now thrown out there, how will they be able to do better?
The storyline of Hobo with a Shotgun reflects the storyline of the real world. From violence and poverty to crooks and vigilantes, the movie encompasses many major themes which pertain to larger topics. America has become a country with a culture obsessed with violence, sex and drugs. We see the thrill in the “fast lifestyle” and I believe with reasonable cause. We have progressively estranged ourselves from the government, no longer is it a government by and for the people. The general public and the government have become two separate entities. Therefore, to envision and take part in risky behavior, the lifestyle society frowns upon, has become somewhat of an adrenaline rush. To defy the government which has left you in the gutter, living in filth and poverty, has become a way to rebel. It is quite a sad paradox because I believe it is just what the crooks and corrupted officials want. Drake is pleased to see his people in despair and violence. Abby, a main character, lives her life as an abused prostitute who truly wants to become a schoolteacher. Seeing this motive in one of the main characters points out the fact that the criminal lifestyle is not a desirable one, but rather one that has been so deeply engrained into people’s heads, almost so much to the point of no return.
The underlying segregation between power and the people has left us feeling weak, insignificant and enslaved. Drake and the police force in Scum Town reflect the way we view the plethora of corruption within our “higher-ups.” The demonization of those with power portrays the conception we have of those who are essentially in control of our lives. The effects this has on society can turn ugly very quickly. Sex and drugs is where the money’s at, so people like Abby must do what they can to survive. The hobo finally comes in as the unexpected hero. He exercises the role that is so unfortunately rare to the everyday citizen, the vigilante. A vigilante, by definition, is a person who is not a police officer but who tries to catch and punish criminals. Vigilantes make it possible for us to take back the power, and truly turn society into something run by the people, who obviously know what is best for it. When situations become so dire and chaotic, the hobo’s role as a vigilante makes an important point about how justice actually plays out in the real world. It is a difficult ideal to find, but when you are able to point out every injustice, you can go about establishing justice, itself.
After analyzing the crime and corruption, the lack of justice and kinship, it is necessary to provide a way to deal with such immense problems. After winning over the people’s hearts and minds, making them realize how they had become submissive to tyrannical rule, Abby speaks to the people in order to get them motivated to clean the streets of its crime and filth, and to be attentive to those living on them. She exclaims, “Sometimes on the streets, a broom just ain’t gonna fucking cut it. That’s when you gotta get a shotgun!” Her love for the hobo and his desire to make Scum Town a better, happier place is the main drive behind her impactful speech to the people. Seeing that someone actually cares about the town and has the ability to find some sort of goodness within it totally alters Abby’s mentality. She comes to realize that the power can be in her hands, she just needs a little fight. The hobo uses his shotgun in a way the citizens had never witnessed before. He uses violence to combat evil, in order to make violence and evil a thing of the past. As the credits role, the viewer feels that justice has finally been served, and now the hobo can find his peace of mind, once and for all.
Onika Bradley
Coach Carter: Coaching the Youth Outside the Court
Without the guidance and mentorship, our underprivileged and underrepresented youth’s potential can easily and quickly fall by the waste side. Young men especially those of color are almost brainwashed into thinking that the only thing that can make them a success in life is if they can rap or do something amazing with a ball. This may not be the case but this is what are young men are indoctrinated to believe as their only hope in life because they are neglected. Yes, some may point out the fact that this may be a problem that stems from the lack of discipline and motivation in their household, but a great deal of this neglect stems from our countries’ apathetic public education system. In school, a child is not only suppose to receive an education, but motivation from teachers. Students can live up to their full potential if they as well as educators make an effort. An effort to learn and do better in life can’t be made if teachers can’t make an effort to help the youth of certain communities see that they don’t have to become another statistic about young men dying or going to jail. Our youth fail to see the relationship between education, poverty, and lack of guidance. A positive advocate within school can be the key to young men discovering their potential in and outside the classroom. The 2005 movie, Coach Carter starring Samuel L. Jackson as real life coach, Ken Carter, shows how our society’s youth is either mislead or not given any positive direction because due to the lack of support and attention from adult figures within our public eduction system.
In our society, being a young black or Latino male from an improvised neighborhood such as Richmond, California, means that you are instilled with a massage that college is far from being an option. When Coach Carter first took the job at the high school, he told the boys the ugly truth that they have been giving no other chioce to believe. Coach Cater told them, “In this state you are 80% more likely to go to prison than college.” Young males are instilled with the idea that they can’t be anything more than athletes specifically in this case basketball players. If they cant do that than they are sent to the streets to die or think that they are above the law and can break them when they feel. Because many students feel that they can do what they want since no one would tell them other wise or simply just dont care, Coach Carter stepped up and started making changes. To be a student athlete in most public schools like Richmond High, that student would have to maintain a 2.0 GPA, which isn’t very decent in comparison to the minimum GPA of a student in a private school. Schools fail to realize that the word student comes before the word athlete. By setting the bar low for these student athletes the school is indirectly telling them that they don’t have to try very hard because they will not amount to anything that excels past the basketball court. Coach Carter had put more emphasis on the word “Student” by presenting the idea of contracts to be signed by the basketball team inorder to play. He simplely wanted the team to: maintain a 2.3 GPA intead of a 2.0, attend all of their classes, sit in the front row of those classes, and wear a shirt and tie to all games. To students who aren’t told to do anything regarding their acedimics, what Coach Carter did sounded foolish and dumb to them when really it showed that he cared enough for them. He told them that with that contract they could be winners not only in the game of basket ball but winners in life.
Carter also wanted to make changes with how the teachers and principle viewed their students’ future. Many tecahers and principles within the public educational system feel that because the students are of a certain race, sex, or come from a certain community, they cannot have a future. When Coach Carter demanded progress reports from the team’s teachers, he received a lot of backlash from the principal who stated, “Richmond graudates firty percent of their students, a higher percentage of girls… if you have fifteen players on your team, you will be lucky to graduate five of them.” This kind of negativity from the administration of schools can be felt by students. Teachers and parents instanly questioned with anger why a basketball coach would want to be so involved in his team’s academics because It was so unheard of. The parents that would have a problem with this idea is those that were rasied in the same kind learning institution and also believe that the hope for thier sons exist if they can bounce a ball. When Coach Carter was told by the principal of the school that his job was to stick to winning ball games, he replyed back saying, “Your job is to teach these kids by any means necessary. I suggest you start doing it.” At a meeting to discuss the parents’ disgust with Carter interfering in the boys’ schooling, he told them that they needed to think about this negative cultural message society sends to the youth. He bought up the point that if the team could not respect the rules of his contract then it wont be long until they are disrespecting the law. Carter unlike many teachers in public school was able to grasp the root of the problem that exist within the school and surrounds the plight of being a black or Lation man in poor area. Many would say that the promble lies with the student themselves but Carter was able to clearly show how the problem lies within everyone; the parents, schools, and students are responsible. When students fail, that school has failed.
There are many students throughtout the public education system who thinks just like troubled teen Timo Cruz (Rick Gonzalez) who thought that that the only thing out in the world for him is a life of drugs and gangs on the streets. He came to his realization when he seen his cousin get shoot during a drug deal and ran back wanting help from Carter. Or, students think like Worm (Antwon Tanner) who thought that if he only apply himself in high school basketball, ladies would pay him the only attention he probably would ever get since everyone else chose to ignore him outside the court. There are very few students who are like Kenyon ( Rob Brown) who was told by Carter that he can play ball and still go to college. When coach Carter repeatedly asked his team, “What is your deepest fear?” , he wanted them to realize that despite the negative messages or lack of any guidance they received, they needed to find it within themselves to realize that they had power. Students in public schools need to wake up to the fact that although they may be opressed, discrimented against, or negelcetd, no one can take the power which exists within their mind away except for themselves.
When you have a person such as Ken Carter who steps up and takes on the challenge of helping a trouble varsity basketball team, young trouble boys can turn into accomplished men. When Coach Carter first walked into the gym, he addressed them on a “Yes Sir, No Sir” bases. that showed the players that they were worthy of not only respect by as young men instead of troubled boys. Carter said that he came to coach ball players and boys and in the end, he molded them into students and men who can have a future when they apply themselves. Our public schools need to step up and shape struggling students into seeing college as an option. When they apply themselves outside of the court they can live out the dream on a much bigger one with a much bigger audience. Coach Carter stepped beyond those duties of being a coach which is only to delegate task about that sport and started to actually tackle the real problem that the school wanted to ignore, a students education.
When you want to help better our youth, you have to sometimes go against all odds and start by making small changes. Coach Carter did what very few public school teachers do, he cared. Sometimes teachers can be very distant from their students because they never actually experienced any of their hardship but sometimes, you don’t have to have a firsthand take to know what it’s like. Sometimes when you get to know people and their struggle, you can help guide them to something better that they once thought was beyond their grasp. Coach Carter did just that. He actually got to know his team by speaking with them an observing them. He was able to focus on the root of the problem that lies with the school and tackled it. When students see teachers taking a personal interest in their lives by trying to make an effort to understand their struggle and help you push past it, students can start to see that maybe there is more to life than a basketball- which would be completely useless if they can’t make it to college and play college ball and then get drafted into the NBA. When students have someone to teach them that they don’t have to be afraid to ask for help if they need it or go to class and prove that you are cable of getting grades good enough to go to college, they are able to live up to their full potential.
Ben Rauch
Comp 1
Professor Hammons
Blinded by Red
In the movie “Requiem for a Dream,” the director Darren Aronofsky uses many key symbols throughout the story that revolve around the main characters and that eventually lead to their demise. At first glance this movie may simply seem like a druggie tale in which the four main characters; Sara, Harry, Marianne, and Tyrone all become a victim of addiction in their attempt at a better life. While this might remain true for the latter three characters, Sara Goldfarb’s journey is a bit more unique and a bit more complex. The young up and coming adults (Harry, Marianne, and Tyrone) fall to their demise when they get dragged into the cold-blooded business of the illegal drug trade in their attempts to make it big in life. Sara is on a much different side of the spectrum, as she endures through the fruitless life of an elderly widow with not much left to live for, she too falls to her demise due to the use of drugs, but for a much different reason. She isn’t trying to find her way into a new bright future, but rather all Sara wants is to rediscover her past, when she was actually happy. Not only is this a flawed ideology, as no one can grow younger, but the method in which she attempts to do it is also flawed from the start. Instead of trying to attain her goal by earning it, she, like the other characters, makes the mistake of resorting to drugs as an alternative, easier route. Throughout the film, Aronofsky use of symbolism not only exposes the corrupted path that Sara Goldfarb chooses to take in the story, but they also expose how these corrupted decisions that she makes leads directly to her tragic ending.
The first symbol that Aronofsky deploys in the movie is Sara’s television, as it represents the creation of her unhealthy desire to become young and beautiful again. Sara spends most of her time watching the same mindless game show which repeatedly stresses the idea of appearance and weight loss. With this message continuing to be drilled into her head, it is no surprise that when she receives a phone call from the show inviting her to appear on it, she immediately becomes obsessed with regaining the beauty she once had in her youth. It is because of these flawed principles that the television show creates that Sara feels as if this is her one last chance to be happy again. With her husband passed away and her son rarely around, Sara has no one left to love or be loved by and now all she has left to do is fantasize about being on this show and having the audience adore her. However, Sara, like countless other women in today’s world, gets sucked into the commercial persuasion that one must look and act a certain way in order to be accepted by society and that the only way the audience was going to like her was if she looked beautiful again. This obsession with beauty that the television show imbeds in Sara is the first step in the wrong direction for her and unfortunately she continues on this fraudulent path for the films entirety. She immediately begins dieting in an attempt to regain her youthful body, which quickly leads to her next major mistake as well as Aronofsky’s next key symbol.
With Sara’s new found desire to become beautiful, her first course of action is to slim down, but rather than putting in the time and effort it realistically takes in order to lose weight, she instead opts to take the easy way out and begins taking weight-loss amphetamine pills, the next major symbol. These drugs not only symbolize Sara’s attempt to shortcut her way to an already corrupted goal, but they also represent the main theme of the film, addiction, which leads to all the main characters downfalls. Throughout the film, Aronofsky exposes the ways in which all of the main characters try to cheat their way into getting what they want rather than earning it and they all meet tragic endings as a result. Sara receives warnings about the dangerous side effects of these drugs, but she is so obsessed with the idea of being beautiful again that she chooses to ignore them. As the film progresses the drugs become more prevalent in all of her scenes and the toll it begins to take on her both physically and mentally becomes more evident. Eventually, Sara becomes completely addicted and begins to double and triple her usage to the point where she loses all self-control. Aronofsky uses these drugs to symbolize the negative connotations that can arise when one’s priorities are all out of whack and they choose to value the exterior more than the interior.
From the very beginning of Sara’s corrupted fantasy to enter the fountain of youth, she had but not one goal, to fit into the red dress that she used to wear many years ago, the final symbol in her tragic journey. The television sparked the desire to become beautiful again and the drugs represented the way in which she could lose weight in order to fit into the red dress that she wore in the happiest times in her life, when she had a loving husband and little boy to take care of. The true tragedy of Sara’s journey in the film is that by the time she was able to achieve this goal, she wasn’t the real Sara Goldfarb any longer, but rather a ghost of her former self. The dress is the most important symbol in the film not only because it represents what Sara had strived for, but because it also represents her tragic ending. Sara learned the hard way that simply looking like she did in her youth doesn’t mean that she will be happy and that if she actually earned her weight loss rather than taking a shortcut than she would have been able to realize this before it was too late.
Chris Gjuraj
Mr. Hammons
Comp I
21 November 2013
Don’t be Fooled: Different Characteristics, Same Ideology
As critically acclaimed as David Fincher’s Fight Club is, it was not always so. When the film was originally released, the finer points in the film that were hidden from the audience were not appreciated until a while after it’s release. The plot of the film follows a depressed narrator, played by Edward Norton, whose life is as dull as cinematography can possibly depict. He is unable to sleep, unable to feel emotion, and unable to distance himself from being a cog in the corporate workforce. Seeking help, his doctor suggests attending testicular cancer group meetings in order for our Narrator to see what true pain really is. Witnessing the obscure and embarrassing issues allows the Narrator to get himself back on track emotionally with the side effect of being addicted to these sorts of support groups.
He frequents numerous meetings with different topics of discussion in order to get his fix. His schedule is as bland as before but this time he adds these social groups to his day. Being so active in the support group scene, he is able to spot another common-goer. Marla Singer, played by Helena Bonham Carter, attends the same meetings our Narrator does. He becomes fixated on her. This fixation turns into hatred as she begins to tell stories of her false problems to the groups. This angers our Narrator to the point where he reverts back to his old state of emotional distress. He is very hypocritical in being disturbed by her actions. He soothes his mind listening to the terrible tales of others. Marla Singer’s motives are unknown at this point but he is too blinded to compare his perspective to why Marla may be doing what she’s doing.
He confronts her with no basis on being as angry as he is. She turns the tables and calls him out for doing the same thing she is doing. Both agree to a truce so they can continue their odd habits with no future issues. This does not calm the mind of our Narrator. On the way home from a work-related flight, the Narrator meets a man named Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt. Tyler is a charismatic young man with a back story as odd as the plot of the movie so far. He is a soap salesman with not much explanation behind it. Our narrator is absolutely intrigued with the way Tyler carries himself. After the flight, the Narrator finds his condo blown up due to what seems to be an accident. He doesn’t seem upset as he should possibly due to the distractions of new people and situations in his life. He calls Tyler with the number on his business card and asks for a place to stay after explaining his situation. Tyler agrees but only on the condition that the Narrator punches him in the face as hard as he can.
This ends up turning into an all-out fight and becomes a frequent activity. This sort of peculiar stress relief is something our Narrator succumbs to until it becomes the focal point of his life. First it was the group meetings and now it’s the brawling outside of a bar at night. Other bystanders begin to take notice and ask if they could join. It started from a one-on-one between friends to a group thing involving many men possibly seeking the same type of emotional relief. So many people began to take part that an official meeting spot was created with an official club. Tyler establishes a set of rules with the first and second being “you do not talk about Fight Club.” This psychological trick Tyler imposes leads to the group growing as fast as ever. If the audience did not find Tyler’s methods and personality traits interesting before, they definitely did after the prior scenes occurred.
Fight Club grows into something much more than an underground fighting ring. As the story progresses, Tyler “adopts” some fighters into henchmen of sorts. They wear uniforms and perform duties as asked. The new hobby of Tyler is turning the basement into a laboratory to create explosives. At this point our Narrator is realizing the oddities of the situation. His attempts to stop the efforts of Tyler are not explicit and are very passive aggressive. This shows the character contrast between Tyler and the Narrator. He was sucked into something as feeble as fighting to relieve stress but it grew into an army of brainwashed young men that reeked havoc upon the snap of Tyler’s fingers. This machine became to big to outwardly stop.
Many new instances of Project Mayhem, the official name of the terror-brigade Tyler created, have sprouted all across the country. Their villainous activities are being plastered all over newspapers and television. The following events disturb the mind of our Narrator as well as confuse our audience to the point where they’re on the edge of their seats. Tracking down a specific bar where a Project Mayhem meets, he sits down to talk to a bartender. The Narrator is addressed as sir and the bartender confesses that the Narrator’s name is Tyler Durden. Shocked, he goes back to the house and talks to Marla Singer, who became Tyler’s girlfriend in the months they lived together. She reveals the same information which sends the Narrator’s head into a spiral of emotions.
Tyler’s plan is to blow up all the main credit industries to clean the slate of all civilians by wiping out all debts. In an attempt to stop this, our Narrator turns himself in on the basis that he is Tyler himself. When the two police officers arrive they reveal themselves as part of Project Mayhem. The two then continue to say Tyler instructed them to quash any efforts going against the goal of Project Mayhem, even if the one committing the acts is Tyler himself (in this case, it’s the Narrator). The story is taking sharp turns left and right at this point. After the police confrontation, the Narrator manages to escape and make his way to a detonation point. There, he encounters Tyler and fights him one last time.
The view the audience sees next is one of a surveillance camera. If the audience was unsure of what was happening with the identity mysteries prior to this, the answers become clear. Tyler was in the mind of the Narrator from the beginning. He never existed. Everything was concocted and acted out upon by the Narrator himself. In an attempt to escape from his monotonous life, he subconsciously created this new person in Tyler Durden to do things he would never think he could do himself. The explosion in the Narrator’s condominium was deemed intentional in a call from the police chief to the Narrator. The audience pieces all of this information together while the fight goes on.
In the fight, the mind of Tyler is victorious. Tyler is holding a gun and the Narrator is sitting defeated in a chair. Just as the audience put together the pieces of the puzzle, so does our Narrator. He realizes Tyler is him and will act exactly how he will. He motions a gun to his chin and Tyler follows. He pulls the trigger and Tyler is left with a gaping wound in the back of his head symbolizing his death. Marla is brought to the top of the building soon after by Project Mayhem goons. She comforts Tyler as dozens of business office buildings fall to the ground due to explosions. The movie ends on this note.
The initial interpretation of this movie was mostly an anti-conformist idea usually held by angsty teenagers. This is probably why the older viewers were quick to brush it off. What was really being conveyed, however, is the opposite. In a seemingly anarchistic approach to society, Tyler brings in an army of people en masse, sculpting them into the same personality, and sending them on dangerous missions as they accept mindlessly. This is the most severe sense of conforming that slipped under the noses of audiences due to them associating conforming with a boring and normal lifestyle, symbolized by the Narrator in the beginning scenes of the movie.
Tyler created a society that emphasized how unimportant the material world is. His plan to wipe the debts of the people away backs up this point. This anti-corporate and anti-consumerist movement employed in the film is an appealing storyline when observing it at a face-value. The implicit meanings of the movie are pointing to how this sub-culture created by Tyler is just as persuasive and powerful as the big companies the people are so against. The primal, archaic secret society created by Tyler is identical to the advertising, consumerist ideology of corporations but only with different outward characteristics. Counter-cultures can be just as foolish as the cultures they are opposing. The real meaning of the movie is much more powerful when this is understood.
Country Livin' City Girl 