Blog #5 Save The Last Dance

Save the Last Dance is a film that was produced in 2001. Starring Julia Stiles, Sara Johnson is an aspiring ballerina who is auditioning with hope to get into Juilliard but when her mother is killed in a car crash on the way to the audition, Sara gives up on ballet for good. She then moves in with her father in a predominately black neighborhood and she must figure out how to fit in. Sara befriends a girl at her new school show is a teen mother and is introduced to the girl's brother Derek. Sara and Derek begin dancing together, and he is trying to help her remember her dreams about Juilliard. They have a fight when Derek's ex girlfriend accuses Sara of taking one of the only descent black men in the school and eventually break up. Still wanting to audition, Sara goes to her try out where Derek surprises her and she preforms at her best.

If I were to rewrite this film with a nonwhite role, I would probably cast someone that is Hispanic for the role of Sara because I don't think that I have ever seen a Latina ballerina. I would create interest by changing the black school to a white school and have almost a reverse racism effect. Having a white dominating male lead with a Hispanic female lead would create something different than the original.

I talked about my changes with a white and a non white friend and while the non white friend liked the changes, my white friend was almost offended that I would even dare to change the film. She thought that creating a white student against the Hispanic dancer would be negative.

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.

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.

CES 204 Post #1

The film 9066 to 9/11: America’s Concentration Camps, Then...and Now? was an interesting film to watch. The similarities between the Japanese concentration camps of 1942 and the treatment of those of Arab descent during 9/11 are a surprisingly large number. The movie has a strong stance against racial profiling of any sort. Also, the details of both situations are portrayed with pictures and written word rather than with spoken word, so the visual images paint a strong picture in the mind of the viewer. To appeal to the less visual mind, the use of spoken word as well as the other aspects would be a better format. Spoken word, especially in a way that makes the horror more real would entice the auditory listeners to find an interest in the film.