Presentations

I thought Alexis's and my presentation went really well. I though we had great ideas. Our movie was really a great film, so it was easy to talk about. I think the class thought it was interesting too. It was weird how Emily and Erika's movie was similar to Eric's and Alex. I wonder why that is? I am interested to see the presentations today. I hope we get through all of them.

Essay 4 Paper Topic

I am not really sure about what I'm going to write about for this paper. I have been thinking about it, but nothing really has "spoken" to me. Maybe I could write about how this movie is a modern day western? I have supports for it too, but I just don't know if the topic is a good idea. I'm not sure if it's arguable. I'll ask Dr. Griffiths what she thinks tomorrow in class.

Movie Project

Today Alexis and I started and finished our presentation. We have a pretty good presentation, and we relate it to other western films we have watched. This week we are just going to add the finishing touches. If we think of any other ideas we'll add those too. All in all we are ready to present on Friday! I really liked our movie we watched too. Since it was a western and a thriller, the film gave me a different outlook on how I view western films. I also think it helped me understand what classifies as a western as well.

Group Project Monday & Wednesday

MONDAY:

Alexis and I were going to watch our movie Tuesday afternoon, but surprisingly we had a hard time finding the movie. By the time we did get ahold of the movie, it was too late to watch it. I was a little bummed about not getting to watch the movie. I had heard from many people that it is an excellent movie. We decided to watch it Wednesday morning before English class and then finish it after class.

WEDNESDAY:

We watched the movie today, and I really enjoyed it. However, I think I might need to watch it one more time to make sure I got all the details. It was actually a suspenseful movie. I am glad we watched it in a library during the day rather than at home at night. It was scary. Alexis and I noticed how this movie has A LOT of similarities to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. This is great because we can use these similarities in our presentation. I did not like the ending of the movie mainly because I did not understand it. That's why I might watch it again. It did not give me any closure. Maybe that is where the movie failed? Also, throughout the whole entire movie there is no music. At first I did not even notice that there was no background music until Alexis mentioned it. I think there are plenty ideas to talk about in our presentation for this film.

Essay 3 Topic

I have a few ideas about my topic for Essay 3. Here are my options:

1. In the article "Crimes against Humanity", I would argue that the Indian mascots are honoring Native American Indians rather than being discriminatory.

2. What gives one the right to write about something or someone when they themselves are not part of that culture. I would mention how Sherman Alexie writes about his culture and how Wendy Rose wrote "Truganinny", which was about a culture she was not apart of.

3. The stereotypes of Indians. Everyone thinks they are warriors, environmentalists, and like the famous character Tonto in "The Loan Ranger". However, Sherman Alexie mentions these ideas are false in his interview in the "Iowa Review" and in his movie "Smoke Signals". (I don't know if this idea has anything to argue about though. Plus, I feel like stereotypes have been already done too many times)

I'll pick which one I want to write about soon! These works and ideas that I mentioned are just the ones that have interested me in class. That's why I would want to write about it. I'm thinking I might lean more towards topic number 1.

Alexie Interview in Iowa Review

What struck me about this interview was how Alexie mentioned how Indians are not environmentalist. They are just as wasteful as any other American. Being an environmentalist is a luxury. I guess associating nature with Indians is a myth. I had this stereotype in my head, until I read this interview. Something else that caught my attention was when Alexie mentioned he would rather write about people than a tree. It was funny when he mentioned how poems about trees have been done a thousand times. When I thought of Indian writers, I imagined that they would write about trees and nature, so it was refreshing when Alexie said it does not interest him. Alexie also brought up the point that although there are many praised Indian writers, Indians still do not have their own Hemmingway, Dickens, or Shakespeare writers like white people do. Even though I am not familiar with Indian writers, I have not heard of any Indian writer famous enough to be compared to these great writers, thus I believe this to be true. Alexie hopes this will change, and I think in time it will too.

Ward Churchill of Native American Film

This was an interesting article. When I started reading about the different Indian films and the film industry, and when it mentioned how Indians always portray the same character in each film, I started to realize how I'm actually tired of watching western films, etc. It mentioned how the Indian always gives the white man something to shoot at, and I agree. I feel like it's the same in every piece we've read/watched. Since the film Smoke Signals was directed and written by an Indian (Sherman Alexie), it must be a better film. I know the article mentioned how critics did not like the film, but because it was written by an Indian it better in the sense that it from the viewpoint of an Indian rather than a white man. After all, most of these stories involve Indians, so wouldn't it make sense for an Indian to write it?