Cinema Paradiso (1988)

We only live once. Do you want love or career? Most of us would definitely choose both. However, this is a forced-choice question for some people at times. Cinema Paradiso (1988) is an Italian film that tells a story about a successful film director (Salvatore/ Toto), who never really finds true love throughout the many decades of his life since the separation from his first love.

"When I call you, a different woman always answers. But I never hear love in their voices. I would have liked to have seen you settled, loving someone." These sentences from Salvatore's mother reveal that he has not found true love for 30 years since his separation from Elena, his first love. He is so in love with Elena that he never really ventures into an authentic relationship with others. Instead, he has lived the 30 years of his life like what Alfredo said:

"I don't want to hear you talk anymore. I want to hear others talking about you. Don't come back. Don't think about us. Don't look back. Don't write. Don't give in to nostalgia. Forget us all. If you do and you come back, don't come see me. I won't let you in my house... Whatever you end up doing, love it. The way you loved the projection booth when you were a little squirt." 

He directs all his love, energy and passion into his career and ignores his need for relationship. He does not visit his mother, family and friends in Sicily for 30 years even though Rome is only an hour distance by plane from Sicily. Perhaps, he is so afraid to know the possibility that Elena has forgotten him and has already had a family on her own if he goes back to Sicily, like his interpretation on the story of the soldier who has waited 99 days for a princess: "In one more night, the princess would have been his. But she also could not possibly have kept her promise. And it would have been terrible. He would have died. This way, however, at least for 99 days, he was living under the illusion that she was there, waiting for him." Salvatore has opted for avoidance and displacement to reduce the feeling of discomfort. He avoids the possible dissonant information that Elena might have forgotten him by displacing all his energy into his career and not going back to Sicily.

In another light, his passion towards filming is developed since he was young in Sicily. Cinema is one of the very few sources of entertainment in Sicily. Even the priest, who should place God before other things mourns that "what do we do now? We have no more entertainment" when the cinema is burnt down. Community of Sicily "lives" in the cinema, sharing many emotions and experiences together. They cheer and cry together, as well as celebrate one's fortune in the cinema. Some of them even find their true love, breast feed baby or even sleep in the cinema. The cinema can be described as the place that people satisfy their needs for fun and entertainment, liken to the concept of id.

On the other hand, the church in the community is similar to the concept of superego. The censorship of the movies by the priest is like the superego trying to control the id in reaching a balance. When the movies are no longer censored, the id has overpowered the superego. Virgin Mary statue in the previous cinema is replaced by prostitute. People have sex and children masturbate in the cinema. The power of cinema is seen from this slight change in the movie censorship as it has made vast changes on the dynamics of the community of Sicily.

Salvatore shares the same communal experiences with the citizens of Sicily. He develops his interest in movies and filming through his great exposure to cinema when he was young. As he grows older, he finds his first love. However, Salvatore directs and fixates his passion and energy in his work when his first love takes an abrupt end. Only at the end of the movie, Salvatore is reminded of his longing for true love. And there comes "Fine" on the screen in the last scene, which signifies the beginning of another movie chapter in Salvatore's life, perhaps, his journey in searching for a true love and appreciating relationships. 

Life is Beautiful (1997)

"This is a simple story... but not an easy one to tell."

Life is Beautiful (1997) portrays the Holocaust in a comedy-like way. It is a story told by a son, Joshua about the amazing experience his father, Guido Orefice gave him during the Holocaust.

Guido and Joshua are both caught and sent to the concentration camp. Joshua's mother, although is not a Jew, volunteers to enter the concentration camp. To protect Joshua from the trauma he might have experienced in the camp, Guido makes up a story that they are in a game to win a real tank. Besides, he supports his wife, Dora emotionally by announcing that Joshua was safe from the mass murder in gas chamber. In addition, he sings their old time song to her. 

Guido's lies and his attempts to comfort his wife give a strong emotional supports for both Joshua and Dora. As Viktor Frankl suggests, he has given meaning to their sufferings. Joshua sees the captivity, deprivation of food as well as other sufferings and fears as the barriers to overcome in winning a real tank. To win the game gives meaning to Joshua's suffering. At the same time, Dora is given emotional supports from her husband, which gives her meaning and hope for her suffering. Similar to Viktor Frankl's desire to see his wife, giving meaning and supporting his wife as well as the hope to survive together with family from the concentration camp have given meaning to Guido's own suffering. These meanings they found serve as the meaning-making coping, which has helped them to deal with adversity.

"The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance." ~ Viktor Frankl

Although Nazi army has deprived Guido and family from the physical freedom they should have, they still have their freedom to choose their attitude towards the concentration camp. Guido, with his humorous and optimistic personality, has chosen to help Joshua face the suffering as a challenging yet rewarding game. His emotion-coping focused way to deal with adversity has provided the resilience for his family and himself to cope with the stress.

In another light, one component of prejudice in this movie has struck me. Guido is hoping to receive help from Doctor Lessing to escape from the concentration camp. He feels hopeful when the doctor asks to meet him up for an important matter. However, it turns out that the important matter is a riddle that the doctor is having troubles solving. How ironic it is! For the Jews like Guido, it is a matter of life and death. On the other hand, the naive Germans do not see it as a problem. In fact, a riddle is way more important than a life. The same concepts of just-world phenomenon and the inability to empathize are seen in the capitol citizens in The Hunger Games (2012) as well. For the capitol citizens, the annual Hunger Games is as if an entertainment show and a matter of winning or losing in a game. They are unable to see the larger picture of government's oppression against the districts. Ethnocentrism is so strong in the higher class citizens in these two movies that people are not aware or even ignorance of the preciosity of lives. When people start to see things from only one perspective, they begin to fall into the trap of conformity and eventually a pawn in the prejudicial game.

 "A glass half empty is a glass half full", we have the freedom to lead a meaningful life and live life to its fullest even when we are having difficult times. It all depends on the perspective we take. Life is beautiful, even in times of adversity.

Parenthood (1989)

"... You need a license to buy a dog, or drive a car. Hell, you need a license to catch a fish! But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father."

Parenting is never an easy job. Yet, many believe that parenting is instinctual and people are expected to behave like parents once they become one. Thus, the best a parent can do is to learn from mistakes. Some people might have a smooth parenting experience while some might be having headache to even have their children fed. At the end of the day, the parenting style one adopts plays a vital role in one's parenting experience. Parenthood (1989) is a movie that portrays parents with different parenting styles.

Permissive parenting style is evident in Frank, Gil and Larry's father. Frank left Gil alone in a baseball stadium with an usher to watch over him during Gil's birthday when he was only a child. When Frank thought that Gil had Poliomyelitis, he hated Gil because he did not like the responsibility of a parent to cater for Gil's illness. Frank's permissive neglectful parenting style has left a great impact on Gil and Gil is determined enough to not be like his father. He wished to be a good father with strong, happy, and confident kids.

At the same time, Frank's permissive indulgent parenting is seen in the ways he treats Larry, his youngest son. Frank experiences refilling of the empty nest when Larry moves back to the house with a son named Cool. Although both his wife and he know that there must be a hidden agenda for Larry's return, Frank still welcomes Larry back. When he finds that Larry is on a huge debt, he agrees to pay off Larry's debt with the condition that Larry stays and handles the family business. However, when Larry suggests another plan to go to Chile and leaves Cool with Frank to be taken care of, he is just being permissive and lets Larry leaves although he knows that Larry will never return home until he faces financial problem again. After all, his indulgence towards Larry is his way of loving his son. Moreover, this event reflects Larry's neglectful parenting style as well.

Parenting role in Frank's family seems to be male dominated as Frank's wife is being passive about everything all the time. Besides, Frank does not discuss his dilemma of whether to help out Larry on his debt with his wife. Instead, he turns to his son, Gil. This shows the dominance Frank holds in parenting.

In addition, Helen falls on the continuum between authoritative and permissive indulgent parenting styles. As a single mother, she always tries her best to get in touch and talk to her children. She does not place much control on her children besides wanting Julie, her daughter to score good in college. Although she feels frustrated at Julie's misconduct of having premarital sex, she voices her worries about Julie when she leaves the house. Perhaps, her slight indulgence is due to her fear of losing the children since they are her closest.

Furthermore, authoritarian parenting style is observed from Nathan. Nathan has strict rules and schedule for his daughter, Patty. He never allows her to involve in non-educational activities or self-stimulating behaviors like Justin's (Gil's son) "spinning around" and "knocking things with head". He wants Patty to get the best exposure as a child and this has led to the marital conflict with his wife, who finds his fixation on Patty's cognitive development absurd. 

Lastly, both Gil and Karen show an authoritative parenting style. They are very attentive to their children and are especially concerned when they find that their children might have some developmental issues. Gil dresses in cowboy costume and entertains Kevin and his friends during Kevin's birthday party while Helen calms Kevin down when he is freaking over the loss of his retainer. At the same time, Gil places demand on Kevin to make him play the baseball. They want their children to grow as a competent one and yet allowing them the freedom to enjoy their childhood.

"There is no end... I'm 64 and Larry's 27... and he's still my son."

Parenting will never end. Once you are a parent, you hold the responsibility for a lifetime. Marriage life without children can be easy and less demanding, like a merry-go-round. However, the hardships and the burdens of parenting can be satisfying. After all, parenting is like a roller coaster ride, which is exhausted but excited at the same time.

 

"You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster... Up, down, up, down. Oh, what a ride!... I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it."

Departures (2008) and Grace is Gone (2007)

"Yes, they all (coffins) burn the same way. Same ashes. The last shopping of your life is done by

others." ~ Yuriko [Departures (2008)]

What is the purpose of a funeral? On the surface, the burial of the dead bodies and various rituals seem to do no good since the deceased can no longer feel, think or even respond to the people who do the mourning. However, although the focus of a death ceremony is on the dead one, the purpose of it has always been to help the family members and friends to accept the absence of the dead one, allowing them to find closure and to cope with the death of their beloved. Departures (2008) and Grace is Gone (2007) are two movies that dwell with the topic of death and grieving.

Although both movies revolve around death, the reactions of the people towards death are vastly different. Some of the common responses to death such as despair and sadness, yearning and acceptance as well as separation anxiety are seen in Departures (2008). Emotional numbness appears to be shown in the father of Naomi (dead body) during the ceremony while the daughter is feeling sorrow. Only when the coffin is about to close that Naomi's father break down in tears, accepting her death and thank Sasaki for making up Naomi's beautiful face. On the other hand, Miyuki's death is not well accepted by her family members. Her mother displays separation anxiety as she is preoccupied with the things related to the dead one (color of Miyuki's make up). Additionally, displacement of anger is shown by the mother towards Daigo when she complains about the wrong cosmetics he put on her daughter. The frustration later leads to a chaos of the family members blaming each other for Miyuki's death.

In another ceremony, the death of an old man is celebrated by the people. They leave their lipstick kissing marks on the dead body and laugh. This shows an acceptance of the death. At the same time, Tomeo's death allows his father to finally accept his behaviors of dressing like a girl. Besides, Daigo's acceptance of his beloved's death is shown when Daigo performs the rituals on Tsuyako and his father because doing the last make up and dressing the dead bodies for the last time is not easy, especially it is the last contact with one's beloved, and yet Daigo manages to do it. The funeral and the ceremony allow the people left behind to adapt to the absence of the deceased and to find closure in the relationship.

If dealing with the death of one's beloved is difficult, what about the death of a family member who is already living apart from the family? Grace is Gone (2007) portrays a more complete picture of what happened after the death of one's beloved who stays apart. In contrast with Kübler-Ross five stages of grief, Stanley reacts to his wife's death in a unique way. He first shows emotional numbness and sits on the couch. Eventually, he breaks down and comes up with an unexpected decision to bring the children to Enchanted Garden, a theme park. He does not show denial but only displays his anger towards his brother, John. Moreover, he does not show any bargaining before depression and acceptance. This might have suggested that grieving is a natural response that is difficult to predict and it does not necessarily need to progress in stages.

In Grace is Gone (2007), Stanley does not show difficulty in adapting to the lifestyle after his wife dies because his wife has always been away to serve during wars. Stanley's way of dealing with the death is as if telling the child that life moves on and getting them prepared to accept that they can be happy even in the absence of their mother. In another perspective, I feel intrigued at the reciprocity element of Stanley letting his daughters to do things they would like to do and finally doing things he himself wants to do (tell the news about his wife's death) in the end.

I like the endings of both the movies when memories of the deceased are shared with the living ones. This is seen when Daigo brings the stone letter (a practice between Daigo's father and him) to his baby in Mika's body as well as when Stanley practices Dawn's and Grace's "time of day" with his daughters in memories of his wife. Death is not something bad if we can accept it and adapt to our new lives. Death is just a learning process for the living ones who left behind.

"I promise to keep your memory with us forever." ~ Heidi [Grace is Gone (2007)]

When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)

What does it feel like to be an alcoholic?

"Nothing happened, Michael. Nothing has to happen for me to have a bad day. That's the thrilling part of all this. It just comes and hits and runs me over like a goddamn freight train."

"I'm gonna disappoint him. This is not the person that he married."

Bad moods come without a warning. You know that something in you have changed. You are no longer the person you are before your first drink. You feel scared because you no longer know yourself. You might have left your beloved baby elsewhere and could not remember where you left him or her. You might have slapped your dearest child who was worried about you. You feel that you are worthless. This is what alcohol does to you.

If it feels bad to be an alcoholic, how would one feel like to marry an alcoholic? When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) tells a story about the impacts of alcoholism on a family. 

Alcoholism takes a toll on Alice herself. Cognitive dissonance is one of the contributors to her psychological discomfort. She knows the adverse effects of alcohol on her and she realizes that her alcoholic behaviors are doing damages to her family. Yet, she cannot control her obsession with alcohol. The contradiction between her belief and her behavior creates dissonance, which makes her feel frustrated about herself. This feeling of distress leads to more drinking to alleviate the psychological pain, which perpetuates the vicious cycle of alcohol abuse.

The transition of Alice into the rehabilitation center creates changes in the family which affect the family members. Her husband, Michael has to assume his working role as well as both the roles of a mother and a father to take care of the welfare of his two daughters. This results in role overload and stresses him up. Besides, Michael who has been playing the "good-parent" role all these while has to portray the "strict-father image" to discipline the daughters. At the same time, Alice's elder daughter, Jess, who is only 9 years old, assumes the role as a mother, to cook and to dress up the younger sister.

The story seems logic to end when Alice returns from rehabilitation center back to her house. However, it does not. The movie continues to reveal the effect of changes on a relationship. Michael, who thinks that everything can go back to normal when Alice returns, tries to fix the problems that Alice faces. However, his effort actually backfires because this makes Alice feels as if she is the problem in the family that needs to be corrected, which makes her powerless. The dominant position Michael assumes creates a disparity in power in their relationship, which leads to lower relationship satisfaction.

It is only when both Alice and Michael are able talk about their own feelings and to empathize with each other that their marital relationship is strengthened. They realize their love for the others and they kiss passionately again like what they did when they first met.

To love a person is to listen to that person, to accept that person as he or she is and to walk through changes in the relationship with him or her. This is the key to deal with alcoholism and other changes in a relationship.

Chariots of Fire (1981)

"On your marks, get set, go!" Momentum builds up and your legs run. Your heart is pounding fast

and your sweats are dripping. Your sight is focused on the finishing line. You have no idea how close you are to your competitors as you know that it is fundamental in a race to never give your focus to them. You are approaching the finishing line and your body leans forward. Your arms raise and the cheers follow. Racing is a stressful game. The result of runners' great efforts and years of preparation depends on the several minutes or even the few seconds of a race. Thus, no runners can afford any mistake during a race. Chariots of Fire (1981) is a movie about two runners (Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell) who won gold medals during the 1924 Summer Olympics and the motivations that drive them to their championships.

Although both Abrahams and Liddell share the same goal to win the Olympic race, they have different purposes and these personal agendas serve as their extrinsic motivations. As a Jew, Abrahams sees winning the Olympic game as his weapon against antisemitism. This strong drive stems from his feeling of inferiority as a victim of prejudice, which is revealed between his conversations with Aubrey: “It's an ache, a helplessness and an anger. One feels humiliated. Sometimes I say to myself, 'Steady on, you're imagining all this.' Then I catch that look again. Catch it on the edge of a remark. Feel a cold reluctance in a handshake." For Abrahams, winning the race justifies his whole existence. He is very deterministic and is willing to sacrifice anything, including time spent with his girlfriend, to win the respect and recognition from the others.

On the other hand, Liddell races to honor God. "I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast, and when I run, I feel His pleasure." Liddell believes that his ability to run is God's gift to him and he wants to make use of this gifted talent to worship the name of God. As a Christian, sports are not allowed on the Sabbath. When Liddell realizes that the 100 meter race falls on the Sabbath, cognitive dissonance arises because to race on the Sabbath contradicts with his motivation for the race to honor God's name. Therefore, he decides to quit the race to resolve the dissonance and this becomes the testimony of his strong faith in God.

Both Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell have strong extrinsic motivations that push them through the hardships in winning the race. However, their motivations fall on the different levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Liddell finds his meaning of life, which is to praise the God. He realizes that his potential to run is God's gift to him. Self-actualization is seen in him. He puts God before everything. He is willing to sacrifice the fame and even the opportunity to spread the gospel that might have resulted from winning the 100 meter race because his ultimate purpose in life is to honor God and obey Him.

On the other hand, Abrahams' need to be accepted and respected by the others falls at a lower level of belongingness and love needs. He sees winning the race as a chance for him to be accepted as an Englishman. He wants the social approval from the others. This might explain his emotional flatness after he won the race because he has always fixated at his lower needs and unable to realize his higher potential as well as his meaning in life. As he tells: "Contentment. I'm 24 and I've never known it", he lacks the sense of fulfillment and he does not know what else can he achieve after the winning.

 

As Viktor Frankl suggested, we have the freedom to attribute meanings to our lives. Once we have found our meanings of lives, we can easily align our goals and run straight to the finishing line in many races of our lives. At the end of each race in our lives, no matter win or lose, we will always win the lesson that motivates and moves us towards our ultimate goal, which is the meaning of our lives. Run for a purpose!

Dances with Wolves (1990)

Dance with Wolves (1990) tells a story about a Lieutenant (John J. Dunbar) who assimilates into the culture of Native American. It has a beautiful title. When we see the word "wolves", we usually associate it with predators, carnivores, creatures that howl at the moon or even werewolves. It is unlikely that we will pair up "dancing" with "wolves". The beauty of this association reflects the humanity in the wolves, which serves as a symbolic core message in this movie.

This film has cleverly used the interaction between Dunbar and the wolves to mirror his interaction with the Native Americans. When Dunbar first meets Kicking Bird, both of them are afraid of each other. Ironically, although nudity always reflects vulnerability, Kicking Bird freaks out and runs away when he sees the naked Dunbar. Dunbar, on the other hand, seems strong on the outside but is extremely scared on the inside. Similarly, the wolf (named Two Socks) is afraid to interact with Dunbar at first when they meet.

During the next several interactions, Dunbar and the Native Americans start to learn more about the other cultures. They begin to exchange their languages and norms of their own culture such as drinking coffee and smoking the peace pipe. Eventually, the Native Americans even adopt some of the norms such as waving hands to greet the others. At the same time, Dunbar has the fire dance at Fort Sedgwick, makes friends with the Native Americans and eventually learns their languages, joins their rituals such as buffalo hunts, and becomes one of them, named Dances with Wolves. The rapport built between the two distinct groups with different cultures supports the contact hypothesis, which suggests that non-competitive, friendly contacts between groups breed understanding and build relationship. This is mirrored in Dunbar's interaction with Two Socks as well. Two Socks who is initially reluctant to eat the food in Dunbar's hands begins to eat the food and eventually becomes a companion that guards besides Dunbar. The "dance" between Dunbar and Two Socks show the development of friendship or family which is reflected in Dunbar's joining in the Native American as a family and a friend. 

In addition, Two Socks watches and follows Dunbar when he gets caught and it is eventually killed by the soldiers. This reflects its innocence and the close relationship between them, which mirrors Native American's relationship with Dunbar. Both Native American and the innocent wolf value more on relationship compared to the so-called civilized Caucasian army Dunbar belongs to. Both the animal who is considered a lower being compared to human and the Native Americans who are seen as uncivilized show compassion and provide help to their companions in need while the soldiers who share the same racial and occupational identities with Dunbar beat up Dunbar. This breaks the prejudice about Native Americans and reminds people that cruelty is independent of races.

Although the storyline of this movie is simple, the message to raise awareness of the misconceptions on Native Americans is strongly portrayed as it reflects the innocence and authenticity of the Native Americans in valuing relationship. Authentic contact which comes as natural and innocent as the origin of Dunbar's name (Dances with Wolves) is the best way to foster relationship and to reduce prejudice.

Cry Freedom (1987)

If you have always believed that prejudice only happens against the minority, you are wrong. Cry Freedom (1987) is a historical film which portrays the apartheid system that was enforced through law in South Africa. It supported the idea of racial segregation, in which the Black majority was legally oppressed by the White minority. In this film, Steve Biko, a black activist, disperses the idea of "black consciousness" and successfully influences Donald Woods, who continues Biko's movement against the apartheid system after Biko's death.

Institutional support from the legal system is the major causes of prejudices and racism in this film. Under the system, any people who stand up against the government can be charged or even killed. Biko and Woods are both banned from leaving their defined banning areas as well as disallowed from interacting with more than 1 person at the same time under The Internal Security Act (ISA) because their "Black Consciousness Movement" threatened the power of the White minority. This biased legal system provides much authority to the White minority as the Black activists can simply be murdered with made-up justifications. For example, Biko's real cause of death (beaten up severely by the White authorities) is covered up with the reason of hunger strike. These social inequalities create the prejudice in South Africa. In addition, the twisted beliefs of the Whites promote greater prejudice. This is evident in one of the scenes when one White claims after Biko's death that "I commend the minister for being so democratic that he gives prisoners the democratic right to starve themselves." The just-world phenomenon we have seen in this statement has resulted in prejudice. The strong institutional support has induced the ethnocentrism and conformity among the White community to oppress the Black majority.

This disparity of power induces fear in the Black majority as their underdeveloped residences can be destroyed easily by the Whites using machines. Blacks are underprivileged and are limited with scarce resources, thus threatening their deaths. This is seen in one of the quotes from Biko: "It's a miracle a child survives here at all. People are so desperate for anything they'll beat a kid bloody if they thought he had five Rand ...... a black child, smart or dumb you are born into this. And smart or dumb you die in it." This terror management that makes the Blacks feel vulnerable about their own mortality creates fear and this fear has prevented many voices from the Blacks to be heard. When Biko, with his realization of Black's inferiority that "the only history we read was made by the White man, written by the White man. Television, cars, medicines - all invented by the White man, even football.", he starts the "Black Consciousness Movement" and this makes him the minority influence among the other Blacks who only endure but do nothing to overcome their hardships. His charisma, high self-confidence in his beliefs, and consistency in advocating his idea eventually leads to defection from the majority Black who was initially afraid. Black community becomes more supportive of his idea. They listen to activist speech which is disguised using a football game and some Black students even join protest march to voice against the apartheid system.

Apartheid system has oppressed the Black community for many years. In this film, even the black-colored dogs in the White's mansion have greater freedom than the Black community in South Africa. The story of Biko and Woods tells us that awareness of injustice is leading people nowhere but the actions to stop accepting the prejudice, which is the core concept of "black consciousness", is what makes a sparkle that ignites changes. Stop accepting and make changes today!

Mississippi Burning (1988)

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." (Obama's Victory Speech, 2008)

If I were to be a Black during the time of "Mississippi Burning" who were not given even the chance to vote during election, this image of Obama giving victory speech is hard to believe. For many hardships that the Black in Mississippi had gone through before 1964, it is difficult to imagine that United States will have a Black president in the future. Mississippi Burning (1988) is a film based on real-life murders that portrays the racial prejudice in Mississippi in 1964.

The film begins with a drinking fountains scene depicting the segregation of Blacks and Whites. The labels used to separate the different facilities used by the Whites and the "Colored" create a "we-they mindset". Additionally, the better drinking fountain that is used by the Whites encourages the belief that Whites are superior. This simple categorization of races instills ethnocentrism in people, which is seen when one of the White people tells during an interview that "They (Blacks)'re not like us. They don't take baths. They stink, they ...... they're nasty ...... they're just not like white folks." These superiority belief and the "we-they mindset" result in racial prejudice in the movie.

Besides, conformity breeds racial inequality in this movie as well. When Agent Ward enters a restaurant and goes to sit in the area where the Blacks sit, it creates a dead silence in the restaurant. Everyone, including the Blacks, feels shock to see a White approaches the Blacks, which disconfirms with their ingrained belief that Whites and Blacks should be separated. To encourage conformity, fear appeal is used by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK members beat up the Black guy whom Agent Ward approached to warn people about the adverse effects of non-conformity. Moreover, the just world phenomenon which is visible in this movie contributes to the cause of racism in Mississippi as well. During the interview, one of the Whites tells the reporter that "They (Blacks)'re treated about fair. About as good as they oughta be." Conformity and the just world phenomenon has elicited the feeling of indifference towards racism in this movie.

In addition, institutional support and religion have further supported the idea of prejudice in the movie. It is revealed by Mrs. Pell that racial segregation was taught in school, by twisting the meaning of the verse in Bible: "May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant" (Genesis 9:27 New King James Version). The curse on Canaan is used as the valid reason to oppress the Blacks although the Bible does not give any indication of race. Besides, racial injustice is evident even in the court where one should have found "liberty and justice for all". The judge suspends the sentences on White people who committed crime against the Blacks for the reason that their misbehavior are due to outside influences. This suspension in sentence further increases the disparity in power between the Whites and Blacks, which has led to greater prejudice. Moreover, the police force which is dominated by the Whites further worsens the racism in Mississippi.

The strong institutional supports for Whites and the ingrained prejudicial beliefs lead to the learned helplessness among the Blacks. When Agent Ward tries to persuade a Black victim's mother to encourage his son to press charges against the deputy sheriff who is involved in violence against his son, the mother replies that "He won't talk to no one -- And it won't do no good anyway." The other Black man even tells that "Leave him alone. Maybe then they'll let us alone." This reveals that the Blacks are overwhelmed by fear and they believed that they cannot do anything to overcome racism.

All these social influences and beliefs that breed prejudices are promoted by the presence of KKK. It is only until the appearances of Agent Ward and Agent Anderson, which lead to the prosecution of KKK's members, that silences the prejudice down and brings people together. The ending which portrays a burial ceremony attended by both the Blacks and the Whites shows a great contrast with the image of racial segregation introduced at the beginning of the film. Separation breeds prejudice while connection breeds understanding. This transformation from the separation of races to the connections between races signals the beginning of racial equality.

"Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught." Just like hatred, love is taught. When we are able to love regardless of colors, this brings the peace and harmony for our next generation.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) tells the stories between an old widowed father (Mr. Chu) and his three daughters of different personalities. The title of this film is borrowed from a quote in the Book of Rites: "饮食男女，人之大欲存焉 Eat, Drink, Man, and Woman are human's greatest needs", which stresses Confucius' idea that food and sex are basic human desires.

Audiences are bombarded with delicious-looking feasts throughout the movies, which show the element of food. The portrayal of this element is magnificent as a large number of dishes are always presented in every meal. 

On the other hand, besides the sex scene that Jia Chien (second daughter) engages in with her ex-boyfriend (Raymond), the element of sex has been subtly portrayed. Repression of sex has been seen in Mr. Chu and Jia Jen (the eldest daughter). Mr. Chu has been repressing his desire for sex since the death of his wife sixteen years ago when he was still in the stage of middle adulthood, which average people would maintain a normal sexual life. Thus, it is not surprising to see Jin Rong being pregnant after her marriage with Mr. Chu as Mr. Chu can finally fulfill his need for sex. 

At the same time, Jia Jen makes up a story about her past failure in a relationship to repress her desire for love and sex.  I believe that she lies because she feels responsible towards taking care of his father during his old age. Thus, she pretends to show disinterest towards sex and love by living in the love of God, shutting herself off from the external world by listening to hymns and dressing up conservatively. Moreover, she feels disturbed to see others' romance (e.g. throw away her student's love letter). If she has no interest towards romantic relationship, she would not have been bothered by others' romantic interactions. In the end, she gets married immediately when she finally cannot repress her strong affection towards Ming Dao. 

Jia Ning (the youngest daughter) at her 20s, although appears to be an obedient child, engages in premarital sex and becomes pregnant. This reflects the strong sexual desire during the young adulthood stage she is in. All these sudden marriages and pregnancy have subtly illustrated human's need for sex.

Besides the two elements on food and sex, a major concept in this film is family relationship. The family structure of a single father and three daughters has already posed some common challenges faced in a single father-daughter relationship (e.g. difficulties to deal with daughter's emotions) to Mr. Chu. To make it worse, as a typical Chinese father, Mr. Chu is not very expressive of his love towards his daughters. He shows his affection towards them only through the preparation of great feast every week when the whole family gathers for a meal and his taking care of their welfare (e.g. when he wakes his daughter up every morning and when he washes their undergarments). However, he feels reluctant to show his love in a more direct manner. When Jia Chien replies "Good Morning!" to him with a smile on one morning, he does not reciprocate the love Jia Chien shows but only turns away and leave. This limits the interaction between father and daughters and eventually leads to the exaggerated "surprised announcements" of pregnancy and marriages during meal time.

Another relationship barrier is seen between Jia Jen and Jia Chien. Jia Jen takes up the role of a mother when their mother dies and this shuts Jia Chien off from her. The turning point of their relationship occurs when they wash the dishes together. When Jia Jen admits in tears that she broke the plate, this signals that she has stepped away from the powerful mother figure she held and takes back her role as a sister.  

The final issue on family relationship I would like to address is the empty nest experienced by Mr. Chu. I like the contradiction between the magnificent feast and the reduction of family members around the dining table throughout the movie, which illustrates the tension of empty nest experience has on the family. Mr. Chu's gradual deterioration of the sense of taste plays a symbolic representation for the empty nest syndrome. To be able to taste, one has to bear the consequences of tasting bitterness, sour and saltiness besides sweetness. The negative feelings ("bitterness") resulted from the empty nest experience may have led to Mr. Chu’s dysfunctional taste buds. Towards the end of the film when "sweetness" finally comes into his life (Jia Chien shows her love towards him and takes up the responsibility to have family gathering), he gains back his sense of taste, which shows that his dysfunction is psychological in nature.

Lastly, the various techniques Ang Lee used in the film interest me. The exaggerated portrayals of the feast and the family interaction around the dining table highlight the importance of these elements in the movie. In addition, the subtleties Ang Lee introduced in the film actually hint audience about the progress of the plot. At the beginning of the film, we see Mr. Chu answers a call and teaches the way to cook a fish. On the same day during Jin Rong's visit to their house, Jin Rong's daughter reveals that her mother messed up a fish dish. This hints the close relationship between Mr. Chu and Jin Rong. Moreover, the facial similarity between Mr. Chu’s wife (which is shown on the dead portrait at the beginning of movie) and Jia Chien shows that they are alike in personalities.

Eat, Drink, Man, and Woman, which represents the basic needs and relationships, are common and normal for people. However, it is the complexities and uniqueness of eat, drink, man and woman to every one of us which make our lives significant.

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Dance is an expression of creativity. This movie with a juxtaposed title "Strictly Ballroom" portrays the idea of artistic repression by showcasing a ballroom dancer (Scott Hastings) who is prohibited from dancing his own steps in a ballroom dancing competition. This movie is filmed using the red curtain cinema technique, which has a recognizable plot. Scott's non-conventional steps against the Australian Dancing Federation depict the Bible's story "David and Goliath" while transformation of Fran throughout the movie showcases the idea of Ugly Duckling.

The movie begins with the portrayal of Scott's mother (Shirley Hastings)'s disappointment towards his son's performance during a ballroom dancing competition (Pan-Pacific Grand Prix). The competitive ballroom environment and Shirley's exaggerated expression of Scott's loss in the competition have illustrated a high extrinsically-motivated society. Most of the dancers see winning Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship as their only reasons to dance, including Liz Holt (Scott's partner). Liz leaves Scott for Ken (Scott's rival) when she realizes that Scott is going to dance his own way with no intention to win the competition. This extrinsically-motivated society is in great contrast with Fran's family. For them, dancing is an enjoyable self-expression and it is rewarding in itself. Ya Ya (Fran's grandmother) tells Scott to listen to the rhythm, suggesting that dance is to be lived instead of competitive. In addition, Fran believes that dance should be authentic as she says: "dance from the heart".

The extrinsically-motivated society allows fear to be misused as manipulation. From the evolutionary perspective, survival fear should be functional. However, the fear induced in this movie has created obedience. Shirley is afraid of losing the license to teach dances, thus obeying Barry Fife (president of the Australian Dancing Federation) to have Scott paired up with the dancers that Barry wants. At the same time, Barry himself is consumed by his fear of losing his authority. "If you can't dance a step, you can't teach it, and if you can't teach it - we might as well all pack up and go home" shows that his reason of prohibiting new steps is to protect his own power as the Federation president. With the introduction of new steps and no standardization of steps, he cannot make profit out of his business such as selling his dance video "Dance to Win". On the other hand, Fran stands firm with her belief that "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived". She is courageous enough to volunteer as Scott's dancing partner although she comes from a Spanish family who is looked down by the Anglo-Australian society. Furthermore, Scott's awareness of his own fear leads to his determination to dance the non-conventional way, which makes him different from the other dancers who conform to the norm. 

Extrinsic motivation coupled with fear breeds a society that conforms, complies, and obeys, which lacks creativity and remains "strictly ballroom". On the other hand, if we "dance" the non-conventional way, we can live life to its fullest. Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias!

p.s. Here's a video on how fear can shape us and how awareness of fear itself can be an "anti-virus program" against fear. Enjoy!

Awakenings (1990)

What if you fall asleep one night and find yourself in a stupor state the next morning? Awakenings (1990) is a film depicting the true story about a doctor who successfully treated his catatonic patients for a short time, bringing them brief period of "awakening" until they eventually develop tolerance for the drug and return to their stupor state.

This movie does not portray Leonard (the main character) as an adult catatonic patient directly. Instead, it introduces Leonard as a child, revealing his past history of being socially excluded due to his disorder. This portrayal of Leonard's early childhood syndromes allows the audience to empathize with him, eliciting imaginations about the difficulties that Leonard might have faced as a child, as a teenager and as an adult.

Following that, the film highlights that changes in life are not necessarily good, even in the case of the recovery of catatonic patients. Leonard's striving for independence is unacceptable to his mother (Mrs. Lowe) even though it is common for a man at Leonard's age to live independently without parental support. This is because the many years of Leonard's motor dysfunctions have not only made Leonard dependent on his mother but at the same time have made her dependent on him as taking care of him has been an important part of her life. As a result, she attributes the faults to Paula, whom Leonard has a crush on. In the case of Lucy (another patient), denial is shown after recovery. She pretends to be in her 20s because it is unacceptable for her that she has missed many years of her life. This illustrates the power of perception: People can see a situation good (like some healthcare staffs and some other patients who rejoice over the recovery) while others may view the same situation badly. 

Transformation of life is the major concept of this movie. Throughout the movie, we follow Leonard's recovery and the regression of his recovery closely. Although the film does not close with a "happily ever after" ending, Leonard's transformations have in return transformed others. Leonard's realization of people not appreciating their lives has influenced Dr. Sayer (Leonard's doctor) to step out of his comfort zone and ask Eleanor (a nurse) out for a coffee. This transformation of an initially introverted plant-lover who avoids socialization gives an upbeat closure to the film. The transformations do not stop in the movie, as this film continues in inspiring people to live life to its fullest. I am especially struck by a quote from Mrs. Lowe: "When my son was born healthy, I never asked why. Why was I so lucky? What did I do to deserve this perfect child, this perfect life?" This reminds me how unappreciative we are of our lives.  

Awakenings (1990)'s emphasis on the appreciation of life builds its strengths from the empathy induced at the beginning, allowing us to resonate with the character's thoughts. The elements of perception prompt us to further think about our lives. Lastly, the fact that the ending reflects reality adds to the power of the film in "waking up" people, to appreciate every second of our lives, which makes this movie life-affirming.