I believe we as Americans do not even give films like saving face a chance. Number one there are subtitles, and lets face it we are too lazy to read anyway! We want to see the movies with the most popular actors, the coolest lingo, the funny one liners, the blood and gore, the drug and alcohol use, and the hottest sex scenes. We need to open up our eyes and realize that there are films that we need to see and understand what is going on in the world today!
Monday, September 16, 2013
Saving Face- Billy Grandizio
The first thing that comes to mind when I compare the two films are all the distorted faces. I think we as Americans are so focused on imperfections, and when we see one we can't help but stare. I found myself throughout both films doing that same thing! To me they were both films in which I wanted to look away so bad, but I just could not. My heart overcame my Americanized perfection and in both films I felt a great deal of sadness and I actually felt their pain. What strikes me is that it seems as if we tend to categorize human beings based on certain physical, emotional and mental states. For example in The House is Black the lepers were all colonized into one place. In Saving Face the burn victims all met together in an almost "colony" type meeting. Alcoholics meet with other alcoholics, mental patients are "colonized" into mental hospitals, and discriminators are part of their own "klan".
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Billy,
ReplyDeleteMaybe there's a place for both entertainment and cultural exposure. Most North Americans probably err on the side of wallowing in entertainment, especially when it comes to the cinema. I happen to love learning from film. It's the closest I can come to traveling when I can't afford to travel... I think I read for the same reason: to travel interiorly.
I, too, thought of AA groups when comparing these two films. I guess it's what we have ad infinitum in this country: the disease of alcoholism and other addictions, as well as depression, and random acts of violence?
Do you know of a good film about an alcoholic who goes to AA? It sounds so campy, but it could make for an interesting study.
There's one guy who sits in front of the AA meeting place all the time in the town where I live. He keeps dog bones on the sill above the dog, and my dog is also eager to stop by. I haven't really wondered what this man's story is, but I guess I do now. Maybe one day I'll ask him.
Just some thoughts for you. Thanks for all your enthusiasm.
Spring
This is a good point that I never even really considered. It is obvious that in the United States we would rather see Hollywood films. I do not think that there is anything wrong with that, it just would not hurt us to see movies like have been watching once and a while. They can only do better in terms of our cultural outlook.
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