Y Tu Mama Tambien

 I feel the movie was wrongly titled. A possible more befitting name would have been Sexo y Mas Sexo. The movie was an hour and forty five minutes long and I feel like and fifteen minute interval someone was having sex. I surprised that something do with sex wasn’t the closing scene. 

For the two main male characters, Julio and Tenoch, it seemed as all of what was taking place was a coming of age experience for them. When they started on the make shift journey all they were concerned with was getting high, beer, girls and masturbation. In their minds they were mature and all the man that they needed to be at that time. I noticed that clearly the age limitations that we as americans have were different in Mexico. This age difference may have been a contribution to the sorted mind set of the young men who hadn’t even really begun to live but were considered men. 

Just as I was ready to label Julio and Tenoch for their twisted mindset they meet up with Tenoch’s cousin’s wife, Luisa, who needed to get away from life. It was clear that when Luisa agreed to go on this road trip she was agreeing with herself to run away and not look back. Her husband was unfaithful and she had just been diagnosed with cancer, overall she was unhappy. 

Wanting to get away was one thing. I could understand that. Sometimes getting away from all the things that are stressing you in life sometimes is a necessity. What I didn’t understand was how the elder in the car was provoking and engaging a conversation about sex and in detail. I guess that was just the warning sign that more sex was on the way. I don’t know if she was in some way trying to get revenge on her husband or was trying to live her final days as a harlot for fun but Luisa definitely took running away from reality too far. 

Sex isn’t exactly to worst thing ever but if one does not carry out the act with caution paying for a lifetime of hurt with moment of pleasure.

On this trip Julio and Tenock learned somethings and experienced some things with each other that sorted their friendship forever.  At the same time it was questionable how much longer they would have been friends anyway seeing as how the basis of their friendship was on sexual immaturity. As people come of age there’s always a possiblity that they grow apart. However, with Julio and Tenock they adapted one of Luisa’s greatest skills; to run. Their growing apart was necessarily them becoming different from one another but them not wanting to remember a shady part of their past. With out eachother as a constant reminder they were more free and able to run free. 

Tsoti

Tsotsi tells the story of a young man who had a rough life and ended up practically raising himself on the streets. While raising himself he was the only person that he saw fit to answer to. With out any guidance or guardianship it was rare if ever that Tsotsi ever had to face or pay the consequences of his actions. 

After Tsotsi’s mother took sick and he fled his father in fear at a young age he built a wall around himself and his past which prevented him from feeling compassion or any other emotion that would cause his heart to be weak. 

It’s crazy how some things can be passed down generation to generation with or with out intent. Tsotsi’s father was a man who had his power in the household with thanks to the fear that his family had of him. That same fear that Tsotsi learned to demand from others acted as his fuel. 

No one knew where Tsotsi came from, who his people were; they didn’t even know what his real name was. Those were all things from his past and that’s where he wanted them to remain. 

After Tsotsi and his gang of friends robbed and killed a man on a train Tsotsi’s decency as a human being is questioned by a drunk friend. In this line of questioning Tsotsi is forced to think back on what he didn’t want to be reminded of; why he is the way he is today. From here he proceeds to beat all kinds of sense out of his “friend”.  At this point I too started to question Tsotsi’s decency. Had he no limit?

It seemed that the whooping he laid out on his friend drained him so he had to go and reboot aka he had to go and wreak havoc in someone else’s life. He harasses and old man at a train station who is clearly crippled and unable to defend himself in any way. Right about now I am with out any doubt that Tsotsi is just an animal with no remorse or concern for his fellow man. He has no decency at all. 

Just when you think he can’t take it any further he car jacks woman right in front of her house at gun point not knowing that her baby is in the back seat. Here’s where the power of innocence that a child possess is shown. The inner bad boy in Tsotsi wanted to leave the crying baby and move on with his life. Here’s where we see that Tsosi actually has an oz of decency left with in him. Because of the impact that that baby had on him we slowly started to see Tsotsi make positive changes in his life. He didn’t want to really do the things that he had been doing before. He didn’t even necessarily deal with those that he was used to dealing with. He actually went around making peace with some of those that he had harmed in the past. 

It’s sad that the woman who was helping with the baby was only a few years older than Tsotsi herself. She was also a widow and a mother of her own baby. The living condions that they lived in demanded neighborly assistance, desired or other wise.This movie demonstrated that it takes a village to raise a child. There is no way that Tsotsi would have been able to take care of that baby for as long as he did with out the help of a woman in his community.

I like to think that even though Tsotsi was forced into his way of thinking as a way of survival, he knew his lifestyle was wrong; it was just the only way that he knew how to survive at this point but he didn’t genuinely want to ruin someone else’s life especially not that of a child. 

Dreams

After watching this film I was a little upset. I think I was expecting something and sadly  never got it. I think I wanted all of the individual mini stories to link together in some way but that never happened. I suppose to each his own because this is definitely not a movie that I would have picked to watch on my own with out requirement. 

However, I will say that for what the movie was the individual stories were creative. Each dream had a different way of attempting to evoke your mind and your senses by the imagery alone. The colors that were used to bring life to the surrounding environments, the locations, the times of day and even the people were  dazzling. In “The Crows”, for example, the traveler imagined himself in a Van Gogh painting. By the end of that story the director and actors made you believe and feel as if you were in the painting with their use of color and texture on film. 

Each dream depicted the traveling man in a  different age or just simply at overall different life phases that the man came in to encounter with. Sunshine Through The Rain; The Peach Orchard; The Blizzard; The Tunnel; Crows; Mount Fuji in Red; The Weeping Demon; and Village of Watermills were either pleasant  dreams or nightmares that our traveler encountered. 

The role of nature played a heavy part in each one of the stories/dreams. There were battles of with the natural elements such as snow storms, mankind connecting with all growing and living things as if all were one and the same, and then there were the elements of nature that were detrimental to the heath of the world’s future but fault of man itself. 

Though the whole movie did not link together  I was given an oz of satisfaction when “The Weeping Demon” immediately followed “Mount Fuji in Red”.  There was not a whole lot of back story given as to why the chaos that was taking place in “Mount Fuji in Red” but it was evident that it was the fault of man. The earth and all of its’ nature gave and gives what is needed for survival. We as mankind often do things to satisfy the here and now and fail to think of the long term consequences. Even if we do think of the long term factors, the negative possibilities are easily pushed aside seeing as how they won’t effect us directly. “The Weeping Demon” showed that there is indeed a collation between the here and now and the there and then. What we do today definitely affects the future whether it’s the immediate future or centuries from now. 

All in all, I feel that if I had started watching the movie with a prepared mindset for the separate stories and themes I would have been able to appreciate it a little more. 

The Unknown Woman

This movie had one depressing tug on the heart after another. You never knew what was going to happen to the Irena, the female lead, next. 

The movie starts with Irena as a Ukrainian prostitute. When I think of a prostitute I more so think of a woman who for whatever reason is willingly selling their body as opposed to Irena who was more of a sex slave. I never really understood how Irena ended up in the middle of the prostitution world but while continuing to watch the movie and learn of her plights that became that particular how became irrelevant.

It’s hard to love when every second of your everyday is governed by some sort of hate or blatant negativity. Some how, in the midst of dust and clouds Irena found a ray of hope in someone that loved her in spite of herself. The great master plan in head was that she was going to escape her world and live happily ever after with her love. Her “keeper”, who had a found eye for her, found out about her love affair and put a disgraceful jealous end to her romance and her lover’s life. He seemed to operate with the idea that “if I can’t have you, no one can”.

What’s a girl to do? There’s no where to hide and no one to run to for help. The movie took a classic lifetime movie turn when Irena set out to reclaim her life and kill her “keeper”. If watching life time movies teaches you anything it is to always make sure your prey is really dead before you part ways. This is a lesson that Irena came across after the fact after she skipped off thinking the darkest of her days were over and her “keeper’s” money.

Because of Irena’s past she had a hard time trusting people and found confidence within a mere few. Those few had a hard time trusting her seeing as how they knew her past and felt that she was now putting there safety in jeopardy. Low and behold Irena’s keeper was not dead and came back to claim what was his; his money and her body. 

The movie, which was told with the assistance of flashbacks, informed the audience Irena believed that she knew where at least on of the many children that she gave birth to was indeed the little girl that she hired to take of. Despite the striking resemblance the girl and Irena had to one another, Irena’s world was once again shattered upon the discovery that her assumption was 100% wrong.

Fortunately Irena and I have no actual connection to each other but as a woman I couldn’t help but feel her highs and her lows. No one wants to have a love stripped from them. A love that a sane mother has for her children is uncompromiseable  no matter how near or far. To be refused that privilege of untainted love is devastatingly hear wrenching.  Though Irena had one rock bottom level after another she still found the strength to triumph daily.

Not One Less

Not One Less reminded me of America and its No Child Left Behind Act. The only difference is the idea of not one less actually showed a sense of caring for the child as opposed to only caring about passing standardized test. There’s a big difference in a child’s progression when a/the teacher is involved in a matter that shows they truly care as opposed to them only being there for a paycheck or merely only responsible for a set amount of hours. 

Wei Minzhi, a thirteen year old girl who clearly had a lot in general to learn hers, was brought in my the mayor of poor mountain village to substitute for the town’s school teacher who had to take a month long leave of absence. For some un-given reason before Wei Minzhi’s arrival several of the students had stopped attending school. The teacher who was leaving promised Teacher Wei, as she was respectfully called, an extra 10 yuan on top of the 50 yuan that was promised by the mayor if not one less child was missing upon his return. It only took a matter of days for one of the students attendance to cease due to the poverty that they abided in.

When observing Teacher Wei, it took me sometime to decide if I felt as if she was  dedicated to her job because of the money that she was promised or because she actually cared about the students. If the actual teacher came back and there was less children that she started with she would be out of 10 yuan but at the same time she knew that the reason her pupil had left school was to go to the city and find a job, in order to help his family who was in financial debt which was unfortunate seeing as how he was only in the fourth grade. This circumstance that fell upon this one students house most likely was only one out of all of the other villagers who struggled day to day. Before many children in this community had a chance to actually learn about and live life they had to support their families and leave school. For many go to and finishing school was a potential out. 

Now, Teacher Wei made her mind up and refused any answer that worked against her and her mission to find and bring her student home and back to school.  Her determination was most likely what saved her students and their village from financial ruin allowing the villagers to have and accept more options. When communities outside of the mountain village heard of their daily conditions they made a move to donate and make is so that some stress be removed from the village. 

The depth of “It takes a village to raise a child” reaches so much further beyond a child. Not one less demonstrated that it takes a neighbor to hold a community together. 

The Bubble

Wow....I have to say that I'm a little lost for words at the moment as the credits to this movie is rolling. I wasn't prepared for half of the things that took place. It took me a little more than a half hour to get into the flow of where the movie was going. I finally got comfortable and then in the final half hour all that comfort was just thrown out of the window.


I've heard of political issues between Israel and Palestine but I guess you can say that I live in a bubble of my own. I wasn't aware of the severity of the pressing issues.  It still amazes me how people could be content with filling themselves up with the pain they lay upon others and all because of fear; False Evidence Appearing Real. People lack understanding of the oppositions and lack a desire to change any negative around them. Why is that? Why do people treat difference among us like the cooties? If "a" accepts "b"'s difference the "a" will turn into something like "b". The mind set of some people around the world is just as off beat as that last sentence.


Now in all fairness I have to say that FEAR exist in everyone, even in the slightest manner. It's apart of human nature. It's how we react to that FEAR that matters. After all FEAR is only a lack of understanding.


This movie touched on homosexuality and used it as a strong foundation for it's story line. I was raised religiously and socially to believe that homosexuality was, is, and will always be wrong.  It wasn't until maybe sometime in high school when diversity of some and any kind used to be every where I turned, that I came to grips with the fact that how someone else chooses to live was far from up to me. At the end of the day those who were homosexual were still human.


Raw humanity was something that I feel they really  tried to expose in the movie. At one point I actually wondered what the point of the main female character was. I had already had it in my mind that movie was all about the homosexual world. But then it hit me. She wasn't obsolete after all. The main female character was a heterosexual dealing with a relationships up and downs and living her day to day life in the process. What were the two male leads doing? Dealing with  relationships and there ups and downs all while living their day to day life in the process.  The desire to be loved and give love, the necessity to be happy, the right to be free to love and be happy in any regard are just simply a few of the human qualities that are individually deserved and highlighted in a relationship.


I think it's sad that a lot of closed minded people won't get that conviction out watching this movie or even out of observing their own daily lives but that's just that good old FEAR kicking in again. In The Bubble a world was torn apart because of the small minded people that inhabited it.  Despite the efforts of those who attempted to bring harmony to their surroundings, some never heard harmony's melody until their earthly days were done...as the rest of the world continued to turn in FEAR.

Eat Drink Man Woman

Over the summer I watched a movie called Tortilla Soup on Netflix. I loved the story of family and individual growth. When getting ready to watch Eat Drink Man Woman I had no idea that it was an adaptation of Tortilla Soup. Watching EDMW made me love the story that much more.

This film tells a story of a widow who is an amazing chef but as he ages the brilliance of his craft begins to dull. The man has three daughters that he wants to hold onto as only his children as opposed to the young woman that they have become. It’s not until each of the daughters in their own way branches off from the family and comes into rights of their own. New jobs and relationships pose potential damage to the already existing living situation and roles that each plays within the family.

Aside from theme of family relations the theme of romantic relations is also prevalent. In the beginning of the film the three daughters were all unattached to a significant other. As the movie progress the daughters not only learn more about themselves they learn how to love in a new way. The movie almost suggest that though a man and a woman can live apart the they are meant to be together and live and work together in harmony.

Those who find love are of any sort are lucky. Love is one of the many things that drives people in life. In giving part of your self , for example, your love, to another person your able to learn about yourself. Bigger than that, when giving love you end up getting so many more rewards out of love itself and life than you give. That’s a beatutiful cycle that can be shared with significant others. Across the world no matter where your from or what your particular background may be  your family is the one sure constant in your life. That can be both a good and/or bad thing but at the end of the day they are yours. That's a lesson that the daughters in both adaptations had to accept as they tried to find themselves in their own lives and the unconditional love that was had for them by their father remind me of my own family. 

No matter what situations we as individuals find ourselves in we knew that home was always waiting for us. Sadly we don't have a weekly ritual where we break bread together but when the holidays comes around there’s power on that table. Love is found in everything in life around us, including the spread on the table. We all go from hearing everyone catching up and laughing all around the house to sheer silence. The harmony that the individual ingredients find together on the table speak volumes for us.