Lessons in Cinema part 4

After the Oscars, I realized there were a few movies I wanted to see. Mostly, I haven't been able to afford seeing many movies, but there is also a desire to not want to be sucked in too much by this sort of entertainment. This year however, seems different. If I were to make a very basic correlation between historical events and Oscar-contending films, I would say that having an African American President directly relates to how much our nominated films cover the race issue:

The Blind Side

Avatar

Invictus

Precious

Inglourious Basterds (you're allowed to laugh, but I'm at least a little serious about this one)

and well..

District 9. I will not neglect the fact that Crash won a few years ago, nor can I neglect how there have been plenty of films in the past that have addressed racism. I am just surprised at the plethora of films grabbing the Academy's attention this first full year in Obama's term.

Any way..

I thoroughly enjoyed D9's half-documentary, half-cinematic presentation, as it flows well with the theme of conversion as a human (spoiler alert!) is turned into an alien by an unfortunate accident. The style flows with the transformation taking place in Wikus' life, as shots become more raw and story driven rather than documentary driven--a style associated with truth.

What a movie to reveal in us our own presuppositions about those we don't understand, even if we are put in their shoes. This is also realized in the second film of the day (which actually came first chronologically):

If you know me, then you know the initial reason for watching this movie :) I will say even for Matt alone, this movie is worth it. Funny enough though, there is a time or two when I thought to myself, 'You know, Jason Bourne would have handled that better.' It must be hard for him to separate that character from the rest of his roles at times.

But onto more important matters. As I'm learning a little more about Middle Eastern culture, I've become a bit more aware of what they view as important. Honor is what makes a person, and shame can bring disgrace to the whole family, not just you. America, on the other hand, is much more of a guilt and innocence culture. We're more concerned with being treated fairly than for caring about what is expected of us. And if one of the family sins, the person is often shoved in the corner (say, sent to rehab?) and forgotten as opposed to the whole family dealing with the repercussions. The Iraqi character Freddy in particular seems to hold true to the mindset that I'm understanding for his culture. I was impressed at how well it was conveyed.

Maybe it's not so much of a surprise to find that Green Zone was more of a political film than I knew it would be, sometimes even feeling a little over the top. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the message to get me thinking again about the war. To think about why we're fighting, who we're dealing with, and the number of human beings involved in it all.