I chose my timed writing essay from the movie "Remember the Titans" to show my critical thinking skills. The assignment was to watch a movie of our choice and critically analyze how it confirmed and challenged our perceptions of what it is to be an outcast or outsider in our society or own culture.
Watching and reviewing a movie two or three times within a couple of days, being involved in group discussion boards, and analyzing the way people treat one another was an enlightening experience. I am not oblivious to racism or prejudice because it happens all the time, all around us, but I often forget the degree of it. Since I didn't experience first hand what it was like to have white and black people mix for the first time, movies like this are the closest thing I will have to see what it was like. Learning how my classmates viewed different acts of racism was interesting, because each of us picked up on different things during the movie. One of the scenes was one white kid and four black kids going to a restaurant after a game they had won. The owner wouldn't let them come into the restaurant and eat because he didn't allow any black people to come there. The white kid was sure that they could go and be let in because they were the football players from a team that was doing wonderful this season; the first school to have mixed races on the team and along with it they were succeeding. But, he was wrong. When they were turned away the black kids were let down, even though they knew they weren't going to be able to go in and eat there just because they were winning. While I viewed that the white kid misled his teammates because he was so confident, others in my class felt like he was just didn't realize they wouldn't be allowed in because he was new to town and not used to what the black kids had to deal with on a daily basis.
The movie made me think in depth about what "othering" meant. It is something I learned about in school, but don't think of very often. While I try to treat everyone equal, I don't think of the opposite of that as being "othering". An example of this in the movie is shown when a new head coach is hired for the football team and moves to town; he is black and the past coach is white. The white people in his neighborhood make statements such as, "Are they movers", It only takes one to be overrun by them", and "Here comes more of them". It is clear that the neighbors don't want any black people living on their street, or in their town.
The movie made it clear that the white people thought black people were outcasts. An example I brought up in my essay was Gary's girlfriend, Emma. She met one of the star football players, Julius. When Gary introduced her she refused to shake his hand. Later in the movie she and some friends came to where the bus dropped off the football players and they wanted Gary to go with them to a party. Gary wanted to spend time with Julius and some of the other guys and Emma told him that he had his priorities mixed up. Gary stood true to Julius and they became best friends. It wasn't until the end of the movie, after Gary was paralyzed from a bad car accident, that she began to reflect on her actions and opinions. She made peace with Julius after telling Gary she was the one with her priorities mixed up.
Overall this movie made me happy that I strive to treat everyone with respect. It doesn't matter to me if they are black, white, or Asian; if they are rich or poor; if they are my neighbor or a stranger.
Watching and reviewing a movie two or three times within a couple of days, being involved in group discussion boards, and analyzing the way people treat one another was an enlightening experience. I am not oblivious to racism or prejudice because it happens all the time, all around us, but I often forget the degree of it. Since I didn't experience first hand what it was like to have white and black people mix for the first time, movies like this are the closest thing I will have to see what it was like. Learning how my classmates viewed different acts of racism was interesting, because each of us picked up on different things during the movie. One of the scenes was one white kid and four black kids going to a restaurant after a game they had won. The owner wouldn't let them come into the restaurant and eat because he didn't allow any black people to come there. The white kid was sure that they could go and be let in because they were the football players from a team that was doing wonderful this season; the first school to have mixed races on the team and along with it they were succeeding. But, he was wrong. When they were turned away the black kids were let down, even though they knew they weren't going to be able to go in and eat there just because they were winning. While I viewed that the white kid misled his teammates because he was so confident, others in my class felt like he was just didn't realize they wouldn't be allowed in because he was new to town and not used to what the black kids had to deal with on a daily basis.
The movie made me think in depth about what "othering" meant. It is something I learned about in school, but don't think of very often. While I try to treat everyone equal, I don't think of the opposite of that as being "othering". An example of this in the movie is shown when a new head coach is hired for the football team and moves to town; he is black and the past coach is white. The white people in his neighborhood make statements such as, "Are they movers", It only takes one to be overrun by them", and "Here comes more of them". It is clear that the neighbors don't want any black people living on their street, or in their town.
The movie made it clear that the white people thought black people were outcasts. An example I brought up in my essay was Gary's girlfriend, Emma. She met one of the star football players, Julius. When Gary introduced her she refused to shake his hand. Later in the movie she and some friends came to where the bus dropped off the football players and they wanted Gary to go with them to a party. Gary wanted to spend time with Julius and some of the other guys and Emma told him that he had his priorities mixed up. Gary stood true to Julius and they became best friends. It wasn't until the end of the movie, after Gary was paralyzed from a bad car accident, that she began to reflect on her actions and opinions. She made peace with Julius after telling Gary she was the one with her priorities mixed up.
Overall this movie made me happy that I strive to treat everyone with respect. It doesn't matter to me if they are black, white, or Asian; if they are rich or poor; if they are my neighbor or a stranger.
2 comments:
Kristina, I like your writing. Olga
Thank you!!
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