Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Dances with Wolves is personally a favorite movie of mine. As a child, I watched it with my dad and we quoted Lt. Dunbar and the funnier moments of the film. Throughout this class, however, I have learned to focus on the instructional and the almost "racist" ideas about it. The narrative of this film describes the way that Lt. John J. Dunbar sees the plains and how he comes to view the Indians as a more structured and more benign that those who called them "savage". This is his account of his adoption into the Sioux people and him turning his back on those who wrongfully discriminated against these people.
I think that this film is already challenging and eye opening. This film was a pioneer that made people look at the portrayal of Indians in a whole new way. I know that this assignment was to see what we would change, but I would have created this film the same way that Kevin Costner did. Sure it is highly romanticized in some places, but to make people understand you have to show them the complete opposite of what they are used to.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

This film, Aleut Story, was a very interesting video to see. It presents the history of the people in a documentary style, but with a twist. The stories are presented in a narrative as opposed to a non-personal story. The people who were describing the events actually lived through it and could give a personal insight on what happened rather than a factual synopsis. These people have lived through having to evacuate from their homes and though internment. The style of narration is a good way to present this information in a more personal light, but on the other hand, it also can be seen as very one sided. All we hear about is what that person knows rather than all of the facts that were actually present. While effective on a personal level, empirical facts are often appreciated as well.