Category: Blog 6

Meek Mill is the musician I’ve chosen to examine, especially his song “Trauma,” which I believe is also the right topic for my dissertation. This song, in my opinion, is quite strong in terms of addressing against police brutality, racism, and the prison system in general. Every day, people of color are falsely charged and imprisoned just because they are black. I believe this song is attempting to raise significant awareness about the need to examine our legal system as a whole. Furthermore, we should all take a stand against systematic racism since black people continue to suffer and nothing is being done about it.

I selected this song because I’ve listened to it several times and it makes me feel all of the hatred and inequity that Meek Mill discusses in the song. I wanted to dissect what he was saying while also bringing greater attention to the issue through my article. I believe that people frequently listen to music only for the purpose of listening to music, but this song included a message that I wanted to share.

STREAM / DOWNLOAD CHAMPIONSHIPS https://MeekMill.lnk.to/CHAMPIONSHIPSID

For my art piece, I chose to write and talk about the recent Bronx apartment Fire that happened in 2022. I wanted to talk about it and go in depth explaining what happened and how this event shows racial disparity. Real going into context and giving a definition or meaning of racial disparity. How it is defined and seen in todays society. The article or artwork of my choice highlighting these problems. Neglect, discrimination, and inequality. Government neglect and being oppressed. Harsh living conditions seen as a result of environmental racism and the atmosphere these people live in. Especially in the Bronx where government aid housing and projects are right next to chemical plants and power plants releasing harmful toxins into the air.

Link: https://time.com/6138342/bronx-fire-racial-disparities-accident-deaths/

 

The piece of artwork I chose to use is a Netflix drama series called “Cable Girls”. It was made by Ramon Campos and was released on April 28,2017. This show takes place in the 1920’s in Madrid. As Spain has created its first national telephone company four women who work in the company show their progress during the times when women attempt to create equal rights compared to those of men. To me the general message of the show is “Can women have it all?”. The show represents all the struggles that women face  while simply trying to make a living.

I chose this piece of art because as a female, I have always viewed the issue of feminism and sexism as something that is very important. The show perfectly represents women being unequal to men and their journey into becoming more than just women who work under the control of men.  Even though this issue is not as bad as it was before there are still a few places where sexism still occurs. Ramon Campos attempts to expose the truth about feminism that took place in Spain during the 1920’s.

For my artwork, I decided to choose a South Korean show called “Sky Castle”. It was made in 2018 written by Yoo Hyun-Mi and directed by Jo Hyun-Tak. This show discusses the issues of Korean education and society, and how strict it can be. It also focuses on social class, and how poor people are looked down upon. It’s something like “If you don’t have the money, you can’t do it.” But the poor people prove them wrong.  Additionally, it shows the negative impacts it leaves on families and the pressure that students go through. Also to show how far some parents will go to get their children into the best schools possible through corruption.

The reason I chose this artwork is that it really interests me how different the education system is here in America compared to in Korea. When I say different, I mean by how strict it is and the pressure to do well. This pressure can lead to students committing self-harm, and ultimately ending their lives. It shows how far people are willing to go to be better than others just because they have money. I wanted to talk about this show in my essay and compare it to American education and society. This artist’s work attempts to expose the truth about how cruel the education system is and the corruption that goes on within the higher class. It shines a light on this issue that people don’t/can’t really speak out about.

The piece of artwork that I chose is a movie that was released in 2008, called “Under the Same Moon”. It was written by Ligiah Villalobos and directed by Patricia Riggen. The movie depicts the pain of a Mexican mother who makes the tough decision of leaving behind her child and family in order to seek a better life for her child as well as herself. It specifically focuses on the relationship between a mother and her child who have to go through hardships in order to reunite again in the U.S. I believe this movie wants to share with us the broader image of illegal immigrants who cross the border in order to seek a better life in the U.S. This movie shows the desperation of a child who wants to reunite with his mother but has to overcome heavy obstacles: first he must find a way of crossing over the border, 2nd he must find a way to locate his mother without knowing any English.

I chose this piece of artwork because I really enjoyed this movie when I first watched it a long time ago. Since then it has been one of my favorite movies and I think it shares a beautiful yet eye-opening story of what undocumented immigrants have to go through just to seek a better life in a country they have never been to and don’t know the language of.

The piece of art I chose is the 1925 novel “The Great Gatsby,” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald for the research paper. This is a middle-length novel set in 1920s New York City and Long Island. It focuses on depravity, idealism, obstacles to change, and dramatic social change, and depicts the lives of people in the 1920s. This novel mainly describes Gatsby’s pursuit of love and the heroine Daisy’s entanglement, but ultimately ends in tragedy.

The reason I chose this book is that it was written in the Lost Generation, when society was generally materialistic and impatient, and in the background of those articles about crazy parties, extremely luxurious mansions, and lifestyles of fun all day long, everyone was lost in paper and gold, profit first, pleasure first, and humanity was to some extent distorted. This book is called “The Great Gatsby.” I think the greatness of Gatsby is not reflected in his fidelity to love, but in his greatness in such an era. He lived a luxurious life, but not lost in it, and he always did not forget their original intention, adhered to a goal, and remained optimistic, which is his greatness. It has a realistic and cruel ending, where the ideal will be defeated by reality. Therefore, I think it is a reflection of the great abundance of material things while the human spirit is constantly lacking.

For the research paper, I chose the 1992 film adaptation of “Como Agua Para Chocolate” (“Like Water for Chocolate”) as my art piece. The artwork is a Mexican magical realism movie taking place in the early 1900s, directed by Alfonso Arau and written by Laura Esquivel. The protagonist, Tita, is the youngest of three sisters who, by family tradition, is not allowed to marry as she is to take care of her mother until she dies. When Tita falls in love with Pedro, who asks for her hand, her mother rejects the proposal because of the family tradition. Therefore, Pedro marries Tita’s sister in order to be near her. As Tita struggles with her family relationships and romantic relationship with Pedro, her emotions are translated into the food she cooks. Those who eat it feel and act on the intense emotions that Tita feels at the time of making them, such as grief or lust. This aspect of the food is the main example of magical realism within the film. 

The film focuses on many themes and ideas, especially as it leans into the time period. As it is set for the most part during the Mexican Revolution, the film touches on social and political values, such as rebellion against tradition, violence from wartime, and gender roles. 

I chose this film as I wanted to particularly focus on how gender roles, specifically female gender roles, and feminism have evolved in Mexican history, as depicted by the three sisters. Gertrudis would symbolize the independence of women and feminism during the Mexican revolution; Rosaura embodies the dangers of trying to uphold gender roles for the sake of tradition; Tita symbolizes the strength of maternal caretakers. A potential thesis could be that Esquivel and Arau’s “Como Agua Para Chocolate” depicts the various faces of Mexican feminism through the three de la Garza sisters, Gertrudis, Rosaura, and Tita.

Malak Mattar is a 22 year old Palestinian artist who expresses her experiences and emotions as a Palestinian woman through her paintings. Being born in Gaza City, Malak Mattar has lived through four wars, and her paintings are both beautiful and touching. The artwork that I chose for this blog is titled When Family Is The Only Shelter, and it was published on September 23, 2021 (The art was posted on Malak Mattar’s instagram page on this date, although there was no exact date of when it was completed). This piece is an expressionist painting of a woman holding and comforting a girl whose eyes are teary. The two people are pictured in the art over a bright red background, with bright flowers on the lower part of the painting. Although at first glance this painting can be seen as uplifting, looking at the meaning behind is quite heartbreaking. Malak Mattar mentioned in the caption of her post of this painting, that with the conflict going on in Gaza in May 2021, Palestinians living there had no protection, no bomb shelters and no safe space. The only place they could be in was their homes and with family, hoping not to be killed. This painting is trying to communicate the pain of that conflict in May of 2021, but it also holds meaning to the pain from the occupation of Gaza starting in 1967, and even to the establishment of Israel after WWII.

     The reason why I chose this work is because I think the inspiration behind Malak Mattar’s art is worth looking deeper into, and learning more about than I already know now. I also chose this work because of the current war going on in Ukraine, as Russian forces attack and occupy the country. These events also stir up memories of attacks from Russia on Georgia, where I was born, and where 20% of territory is occupied by Russia, causing a lot of conflict as well as displacement of many people. I know a lot about the history of my country and Russian occupation, but I don’t know as much about the occupation of Palestine. Malak Mattar’s art really speaks about these issues to which I, and a lot of my relatives and friends relate to in some way, and it is for this reason I chose to examine her work for the next paper. A potential thesis statement is: Malak Mattar’s work exposes the pain behind war and occupation and its emotional toll on people.

Link to the article picturing the artists work (it’s the first image after the title):  https://www.middleeasteye.net/discover/painting-palestine-artist-world-remember-homeland

 

 

After spending a lot of time considering what piece I should choose to write about (more time than I would like to admit), I think it would be a good idea for me to write about Breaking Bad. It is the show I have watched the most of times after all. It is an AMC crime drama airing from 2008-2013 about a high school chemistry teacher who gets himself into the drug-dealing business after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis. Throughout the 5 seasons of the show, we get to witness Walter White, the protagonist, spiral in on himself and become an egotistical maniac, all while his sidekick (“sidekick” being a very generous term for someone who is being constantly coerced to do horrible deeds throughout the show) Jesse Pinkman becomes increasingly more jaded yet paranoid as the show progresses. Although we can talk about the main characters of the show for ages, something that isn’t dissected as thoroughly as it should be is the conditions that influenced these characters into making the decisions they do throughout the show. For example, why would someone like Walt, a man with a master’s degree in Chemistry, choose to lead a life of crime rather than become a researcher when he was offered the job? Who, or more accurately what is truly to blame for the events of the show transpiring in the first place? Can that even be determined? There is a lot about Breaking Bad that can be analyzed since there is always more than what meets the eye.