Gratitude today for:
1). Movies I've never heard of but that are streaming instantly on Netflix. Like this one. With the apartment to myself, I can watch whatever movies I like, regardless of whether they are cheesy romcoms or dance the line between progressive/Orientalist and would make my graduate advisor from NYU purse her lips, smooth her hair, and say, "I think that is a very normalizing/homogenizing statement..." (And she'd be right. Guessous is always right.)
And 2) hearing Syrian Arabic spoken, in said film, for the first time since being in Sham. Qalbi ma3'k ya Sham.
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
On Samson & Delilah: Indigeneity, Strength, and Community
This month, BAM screened an Australian film called "Samson & Delilah." Because E has automatic radar for anything Australian that comes through NYC, he knew about it, and we went to see this incredible film. It is spellbinding, difficult, and worth the struggle.
Samson & Delilah are two Aboriginal teenagers in a devastated indigenous community outside Alice Springs, Australia. Struggling with family, being a teenager, and negotiating their identities, events transpire that lead them to leave their community and go to the city, Alice Springs. Once there, they are homeless, and unable to understand or negotiate the ways of Australian city life. Delilah undergoes horrifying treatment, and in the end, they leave Alice Springs and go to her family's land, "her country." The tale is heartbreaking, especially because - as we learn only halfway through the film - Samson has a speech deficiency and much of the communication between the two teens is nonverbal. The filmmakers deftly highlight the nuances of nonverbal communication, whether it is Delilah's grandmother's hysterical responses to Samson, or Delilah's own physical reactions to the events that happen to her.
Warwick Thornton, the director, is from Alice Springs and shared in a Q & A after the movie that he felt an obligation to share the struggles of his local community, not to publicize them and cause shame, but just to be able to discuss them openly. For Thornton, film is a way to create community. The filmmakers had a premiere on a football field and bussed in people living in communities outside Alice Springs, feeding them and encouraging them to comment on the film afterwards. Thus, film becomes a way of enacting and living social responsibility, connecting communities, and opening dialogue about the ways that communities can effectively reach out to those struggling within them. Thornton commented that these teens' situation was local, but also global: "There are Samsons and Delilahs on the corners of Brooklyn. Do we notice?" He emphasized the importance of showing kindness and being open, as a community, to the struggles of people that are often marginalized because of how "we" (and here, yes, I am normalizing) perceive them. We see poverty, dirt, prostitution, homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse - not people, like us, in trouble.
Thornton also commented on the title of his film, saying that he had long ascribed the name "Samson" to the male protagonist but had not named the girl. He chose Delilah (or, rather, his wife did...) because of its irony - in this film, Delilah makes Samson stronger, rather than the Biblical story wherein Delilah weakens Samson, stealing his strength. Thornton said that he did this purposefully, to showcase the strength of native women - how they often carry their communities on their backs, building them - and rarely get the credit.
As we walked out, E and my amazing friend Norah were silent. I wanted to be able to have words, but I didn't. The film had stunned us. E commented later that the movie made him want to get more involved in our community (later events in the Southwest further reinforced this desire). Norah noted to me recently, three weeks after the screening, that the movie was still with her.
I am reminded of a story in Paul Rogat Loeb's amazing book "The Impossible Will Take a Little While." In it, Danusha Veronica Goska writes in her essay, "Political Paralysis," about the importance of using the power we have. She writes that we may never know how the small powers we have may change the lives of those around us, if we but exercise them. This movie has inspired me - and I daresay most who see it - to examine their social responsibility - to use the powers we have, whether it is voting, recycling, riding a bike or taking public transportation to reduce the carbon footprint, to feeding the hungry...there are so many ways to make a difference in the world. We cannot expect to change the world through inaction - we must start, even if it feels small, to make some contribution to our communities. We never know where the ripple will end up...and that is the beauty of the thing, that change is electrifying, like a current, like a ripple. Every day is a choice.
To find out when and where the movie is screening near you, check out the film's website here.
Samson and Delilah movie trailer HD from Trinity Films on Vimeo.
Samson & Delilah are two Aboriginal teenagers in a devastated indigenous community outside Alice Springs, Australia. Struggling with family, being a teenager, and negotiating their identities, events transpire that lead them to leave their community and go to the city, Alice Springs. Once there, they are homeless, and unable to understand or negotiate the ways of Australian city life. Delilah undergoes horrifying treatment, and in the end, they leave Alice Springs and go to her family's land, "her country." The tale is heartbreaking, especially because - as we learn only halfway through the film - Samson has a speech deficiency and much of the communication between the two teens is nonverbal. The filmmakers deftly highlight the nuances of nonverbal communication, whether it is Delilah's grandmother's hysterical responses to Samson, or Delilah's own physical reactions to the events that happen to her.
Warwick Thornton, the director, is from Alice Springs and shared in a Q & A after the movie that he felt an obligation to share the struggles of his local community, not to publicize them and cause shame, but just to be able to discuss them openly. For Thornton, film is a way to create community. The filmmakers had a premiere on a football field and bussed in people living in communities outside Alice Springs, feeding them and encouraging them to comment on the film afterwards. Thus, film becomes a way of enacting and living social responsibility, connecting communities, and opening dialogue about the ways that communities can effectively reach out to those struggling within them. Thornton commented that these teens' situation was local, but also global: "There are Samsons and Delilahs on the corners of Brooklyn. Do we notice?" He emphasized the importance of showing kindness and being open, as a community, to the struggles of people that are often marginalized because of how "we" (and here, yes, I am normalizing) perceive them. We see poverty, dirt, prostitution, homelessness, alcohol and drug abuse - not people, like us, in trouble.
Thornton also commented on the title of his film, saying that he had long ascribed the name "Samson" to the male protagonist but had not named the girl. He chose Delilah (or, rather, his wife did...) because of its irony - in this film, Delilah makes Samson stronger, rather than the Biblical story wherein Delilah weakens Samson, stealing his strength. Thornton said that he did this purposefully, to showcase the strength of native women - how they often carry their communities on their backs, building them - and rarely get the credit.
As we walked out, E and my amazing friend Norah were silent. I wanted to be able to have words, but I didn't. The film had stunned us. E commented later that the movie made him want to get more involved in our community (later events in the Southwest further reinforced this desire). Norah noted to me recently, three weeks after the screening, that the movie was still with her.
I am reminded of a story in Paul Rogat Loeb's amazing book "The Impossible Will Take a Little While." In it, Danusha Veronica Goska writes in her essay, "Political Paralysis," about the importance of using the power we have. She writes that we may never know how the small powers we have may change the lives of those around us, if we but exercise them. This movie has inspired me - and I daresay most who see it - to examine their social responsibility - to use the powers we have, whether it is voting, recycling, riding a bike or taking public transportation to reduce the carbon footprint, to feeding the hungry...there are so many ways to make a difference in the world. We cannot expect to change the world through inaction - we must start, even if it feels small, to make some contribution to our communities. We never know where the ripple will end up...and that is the beauty of the thing, that change is electrifying, like a current, like a ripple. Every day is a choice.
To find out when and where the movie is screening near you, check out the film's website here.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Film Review: Let's Talk about Sex
Well, Sex and the City 2, that is.
There has been much written about this film - denigrating it as yet another blithering Hollywood sequel, a trashy chick flick, and a neoliberal (oh my god, more about neoliberalism? I thought I was done with my thesis) plot to rake in the bucks and exploit women's buying power. At the risk of adding to establishing social commentary and believing I have something unique to say, I'll keep going.
My major qualm with the film is its representation of the Middle East. First, that it was filmed in Morocco but claims to be Abu Dhabi: these are two opposite ends of the Middle East with very little in common other than (different strains) of a religion. Moroccans and Emiratis speak different languages, too - the Emirati Arabic far more mainstream Arabic, and the Moroccan a hybrid of Spanish, French, Arabic, and Berber. Not all Arabs are crazy conservative, as the film would suggest (and I can think of plenty of regular old white-bread Americans who would be horrified at Samantha's public sexual antics, not just the sheikhs in keffiyehs and robes). While Carrie and co stumble onto a group of women who wear very trendy fashion under their hijab and niqab - perhaps a cinemographic attempt to hint at the diversity and forward-thinking of Muslim/Arab women - for me, it fell flat. From my time in Syria, I know that Syrian women are encouraged to be uber-sexy for their husbands and there is a bustling very naughty lingerie trade. Sexuality isn't seen as incongruous or dangerous with womanhood - just that it should be constrained within marriage (much like in the other Big 3 religions). I don't think Muslim women would see being trendy as incongruous or shocking; after all, women do not veil in their homes and socialize with other women uncovered as well. Additionally, the Middle East takes a lot of crap for laws perceived to be heinous. But the truth is that PDA is illegal in the Emirates - so if you go there, you should obey. You can't say anything against the government in many states, including Turkey. Violators pay a $600 fine for throwing bubble gum on the sidewalk in Thailand, and anyone pretending to conduct sorcery goes to jail for a year in Ireland. In Sweden, prostitution is legal but it's illegal to solicit or use a prostitute. Countries the world over, "developed" or not, have rules that don't quite make sense. For some reason, though, Americans and Westerners chafe under the laws of Middle Eastern countries and feign that they are more strict than elsewhere. Truth is, Americans could work on their cultural sensitivity anyway - being respectful and polite in another country is just the same as being respectful and polite to your in-laws. Most of the time you don't quite get it, but you just keep your mouth shut and appreciate it for what it is. So, on the whole, I didn't feel that the movie fairly represented the Middle East, Arabs or Muslims, lumping them all together in a homogenous grouping that would horrify my NYU professors.
(Also Miranda's Arabic was atrocious, but that's beside the point).
On the other hand...
SATC2 validated women's choices, in the larger tradition of the series which blazed a trail in that regard. In particular, the film validates the choice not to have children. Carrie and Mr Big, I mean - the Prestons, choose not to have children and have difficulty conveying their choice to unbelieving acquaintances ("We love kids, but that's just not for us"). American society expects us to grow up and get married, have 2.5 children, a Golden Retriever, and a house in the 'burbs with a white picket fence. There aren't really a lot of women out there, on the big screen or otherwise, who stand up and say it's ok not to have children if you don't want them. If you don't want kids, you really shouldn't have them - it's a recipe for disaster, and I know plenty of unwanted kids who grew up angry and mistreated because their parents didn't have enough discernment or wisdom to understand the burdens and responsibilities (and the honors of) parenthood. I remember telling my therapist during college that I didn't want kids, to which she responded, "Well that's abnormal." (I'm pretty sure her job was to tell me exactly the opposite, and help me deal with why I thought I'd be a poor mother rather than offer judgment.) Statistically, people are happier married than single, but that happiness quotient doesn't increase with having kids. Marrieds without kids are happier than marrieds with kids. So, for those of us waiting for our biological clock to kick in but perfectly happy every year that it doesn't, thank you, Carrie - again you're leading the way to help us express ourselves better, and free up our discussions.
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