Anna's Online Journal

Write a brief plot overview :
At the beginning of the novel, it shows us a scene of a murder or accident investigation. after this is going back to a few days beforehand where it shows us the racist environment that all these characters lived in. A racist white cop pulls over a car in which belongs to two black people, a man and his wife, and then the cop takes advantage of the black woman right in front of her husband in which a director for a film. this woman then believes that her husband does not support their black background enough to defend her in which leads her to be angry. After this racist white cop harasses this woman, the cop’s partner disagrees with what the racist cop did and refuses to work with him. Racist views occur throughout the whole film as Farhad’s shop was robbed straight after a black man in which had a beautiful family to go home to fix his locks but lets him know that he needs a new door. this lead Farhad to think this man robbed his shop so goes to this black man, daniel, a house with his gun. Luckily dorri had bought blank bullets by mistake in which saved lara as she jumped onto daniel.

Discuss a character that was of interest to you and explain why:
Daniel took my interest as he was a polite black man that just wanted to take care of his family at home but was interrupted by a white man accusing him of something he didn’t do. daniel fixes Farhard’s lock even though Farhad continues to make racist comments about him, but he continues to do his job so he can provide for his family at home. you can tell that Daniel wants to keep his kid safe as he gives his daughter, Lara, a magical cloak which is impenetrable. Lara takes this quite literally as when Farhad comes to shoot Daniel she jumps on her father to protect him. it is obvious that Daniel is one of the good characters in the novel as he continues to put up with racist comments just so he can provide and protect his family.

What do you believe the director’s intention was to explore this and the moments that allowed you to experience this.
I believe that the director’s intention of this film was to show the audience the stereotypes that were obvious at the time but also that looks are deceiving as a lot of characters look bad but weren’t as they seemed. This was shown in many scenes one being Daniel fixing Farhads locks as Farhad made many racist comments and said that black men were not to be trusted but really Daniel just wanted to help all along and provide for his family at home. Another character that took a turn in the film was Officer John Ryan as at the start of the film he harassed a black woman, Christine, right in front of her husband in which made him look like a racist prick. As the film went on Christine got into a bad car crash in which the same officer helped save her and put his own life at danger.

How did haggis use stereotypes to manipulate viewers?
Throughout the film, Haggis manipulates us with many stereotypes the main one being the colour of their skin. If they were black the white characters in the novel immediately thought that they couldn’t be trusted and were bad. This is shown at the very beginning of the film when Jean and her husband are walking back to their car and she sees two black men, which in the end carjacked them. Jean states ” I just had a gun pointed in my face! And it was my fault because I knew it was going to happen. But if a white person sees two black men walking g towards her and she turns and walks in the other direction, she is racist, right?”. As Jean expresses her frustration to her husband she explains that even if black men are criminals it’s racist to try to avoid them but she knew that they were bad news based on the way they looked. Shaved head, pants around his ass, and prison tattoos gave her the instinct that they were bad. Jean, a wealthy white woman expressed both racial and class stereotypes. This is because it’s hard to tell who is good and bad in black people, but isn’t it the same with white people? How do we know if they are going to be good or bad?

Research the setting of LA, why do you think it was set here? How did it influence plot/interactions?
As paul haggis had his own experiences while he lived in LA for over 25 years when thinking about his film. He has carjacked himself as one night he was coming out of a video store in his own neighbourhood and was carjacked at gunpoint. that even, which he explained as a collision of two worlds that normally don’t intersect, forced him out of his complacency. Haggis started considering the lives of his attackers and became acutely aware of his own urban isolation. Pua Haggis mentioned, ” After 9/11, the subject seemed, to me, to become even more urgent, and I felt compelled to start writing what would eventually become Crash”. The carjacking in the film was an influence of his own experienced of being carjacked and was relevant to LA society and the intersection of the two races.
LA facts: 3.99 million population

Cinematography techniques, how did it drive haggis intentions and viewers realisation
In the important scene of Officer John Ryan saving Christine from the significant car crash, it shows a shot framed by the broken car window. The audience is drawn into the drama inside the car, cutting to close up shots of Officer John Ryan trying to help Christine who is stuck inside the car. It also shows shots of the action going on outside of the car through the broken glass of the rear window. These camera shots showed the audience the severity of the car crash and the struggle and danger that the officer put himself in to save the woman that he had recently molested the night before.

Character 1 AND 2
– They look as if they do some professional job in either business or law as they are both dressed up in professional outfits such as the suit for the man and business wear for the woman. They are also in the middle of the city surrounded by fancy buildings.
– They look as if they are trustworthy but you can’t tell if anyone is trustworthy these days or not based on a photo.
– Dressed up which gives me the impression they have to look put together for their jobs.
– I believe that their personality traits would be that they are smart.

Character 3 and 4
– these to characters look as if they drug deal as they are out on the streets.
– they don’t appear to be trustworthy to be as their body posture gives me weird vibes and also their facial expressions.
– looks as if they are wearing thrift, swag kinda clothes and one of the dude’s hair is plated and are wearing big jackets which could mean they spend a lot of time outside.
– they look like hard cases with a big personality and maybe not the best upbringing, they look as if they think they are cool.

Character 5
– she looks as if she is a mum that works from home as she is in a house with makeup and hair done.
– she looks trustworthy
–

Character 6

Character 7

“Maycomb was an old town, but it was a tired old town when i first knew it… There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy, and no money to buy it with.”, not only the setting of Maycomb itself portrays great significance in the novel of To Kill A Mocking bird but also the locations within the setting such as the Finches house and of course, the courthouse. These three settings, Finches house, Maycomb and the courthouse reinforce the idea of prejudice such as sexism, class prejudice and racism. The author, Harper Lee, displays these elements of prejudice through settings which enables the author to portray to the readers that not everything is perfect. Harper Lee, the author, drives these ideas off the real lives that they lived in the 1930s.

Scout grew up in an environment with male influences and a father who encouraged her to be herself. It was fair to say that she had grown up with “unladylike” manners and tomboy personality traits in which her Aunt Alexander, a feminist, believes is a portrayal of womankind In the 1930s. ” Aunt Alexander was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants”, Scout states this in the novel when her Aunty is being critical about the way she acts. Aunt Alexander believed that woman should not partake in any activities that require pants and that girls should behave like girls. The Finches house reinforces this idea of sexism as when Aunt Alexander becomes aware of Scouts tomboyish behaviours she decides to temporarily move into the household. She feels it is important to teach Scout how to be a lady and have a feminine influence in her house. Alexander has the intention of staying in the Finch’s household until Scout abandons her tomboyish ways in favour of more femininity. Harper Lee portrays this idea of sexism through the setting of the Finch’s house as its the environment that Scout grew to be a tomboy and is where Aunt Alexander hopes to change Scout into more of a lady of society. The society of the 1930s may have influenced Harper Lee to develop this idea of prejudice in her novel, as woman were perceived to be less than men and were in low paid “women’s jobs” such as cooking and caring. The time of the great depression did not do woman any favours, as it reinforced that men should primarily have the well-paid jobs and that the proper place for a woman was at home in unpaid work such as looking after the children. The author is attempting to show us that people should not be judged for the way they behave or what sex they are but should be accepted for who they are as a person. Over the last 50 years, sexism has moved towards greater equality between the two sexes. Today woman have greater rights with respect to how much they get paid and have greater job opportunities compared to the 1930’s. In today’s world woman have the right to vote, we are governed by a female prime minister and we are encouraged to be individuals more so than the early part of last century. However, I think the world is not completely free of sexism as there are still stereotypes for both sexes and gender inequality is still evident with respect to pay parity. There also continues to be large differences in how male and female athletes are treated in professional and amateur sport. I do think the gap is closing though.

The town of Maycomb reinforces the idea of class prejudice as its clear that there are different classes and each class is treated differently. Part way through the book, Jem assorts certain classes into four groups. “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. The ordinary kind like us and the neighbours… The Cunninghams… The Ewells… and the Negroes”. This gave readers the idea that social classes were obvious as even a young boy like Jem was able to identify them. Class prejudice was also evident through Scouts views of Walter Cunningham. In the chapter where Jem invites Walter over for dinner, Scout expresses that she feels as if he’s poor and is undeserving of their company. She states ” He ain’t company Cal, he’s just a Cunningham”. Cal quickly corrects her and informs Scout that anyone is deserving of company, whether you are rich or poor. Atticus also reminds Scout that she should accept people for the good in their heart and not their social class. Harper Lee expresses this idea to the audience to show the reality of the social classes in the 1930s and how people were treated differently depending on their wealth. Harper Lee also depicted to readers that everyone was so quick to judge people by their class and proved that the world had a lot to work on, in terms of accepting people. The great depression in the 1930s hindered this situation of class prejudice as people did not have copious amounts of money to spend and Scout referred it to being “tired”. “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with”. This quote explains to us that everyone was in the same situation yet they still judged people based on their wealth. In today’s world, we still see a variation in wealth and there is still massive inequality between the rich and poor in many countries. Towns like Wanaka are overall expensive places to live and others from outside the area judge you for living in an affluent area. This may not be the same if we lived in larger cities where there is more poverty. I think people of today should not be so quick to judge people by their wealth and judge people by who they are and the good in their heart. There are many less fortunate people who still contribute a lot to our society by helping those less fortunate. Once again Lee’s message to the reader is relevant to today, in accepting those for who they are, not what they have.

Racism is another prejudice illustrated throughout the novel, not only because it was a massive problem in the 1930s, but to also spread a message to the readers that this problem needs to be solved. The setting that reinforces this idea of racism is the Maycomb County Courthouse. The courthouse is placed right in the middle of Maycomb not far from where the Finches live. The courthouse has two floors and is described to have dark hallways which give us the vibe that it is a dark, moody place. The courthouse is where most came to the realisation that even if a negro man has been proven innocent, he will still be punished because of the colour of his skin. In the novel Atticus believes that there’s something about race that makes people crazy, he mentions to Jem ” there’s something in our world that makes men lose their heads- they couldn’t be fair if they tried. In our courts, when it’s a white man’s word against a black man’s, the white man always wins. They’re ugly, but those are facts of life.” This quote proves that racism has now become a fact of life that at this point in time couldn’t be changed. Atticus mentions this to Jem because of his youth and his expectation that Jems generation will change these racist views of innocent people. He hopes that his children can embrace people for who they are, not the colour of their skin. Harper Lee uses the courthouse to drive home her ideas to the reader that racism was horrific in the 1930s and that something needed to change. The author wants to accentuate to the reader that all people should be treated equally and with dignity, despite their race or colour. Fast-forward to 2020 there are still racist comments made. Many people still can’t accept the fact that despite the different colour of their skin, they are equal to us in every way and should be treated accordingly. I think that racism has come a long way since the 1930s but is still obvious to this day in many countries that share citizens from differing nationalities. The mosque shootings in 2019 in Christchurch are a prime example of individuals still not accepting different race and religions. Lee’s message to the readers to embrace people for who they are is still relevant today.

Harper Lee portrays the ideas of prejudice including sexism, class and racism through the important settings of Finches house, Maycomb and the courthouse. She wants to articulate the message that in the 1930’s it seemed impossible to treat each other as equals and that it was a significant problem in America at that time. Atticus refers to prejudice as “Maycomb’s usual disease” as it’s hard to be cured of prejudice thoughts. This also gives us the message that it spreads just like a disease. Harper Lee portrays prejudice as a disease with no cure, it is work in progress and something we all need to be mindful of. When will we know when the world has finally accepted people for who they truly are? Or is this even possible?

Question: Analyse how setting used to reinforce an idea in the written texts.

Introduction:
– introduction to how setting such as Atticus’s house, the courtroom, and the overall town of Maycomb reinforced the idea of prejudice such as racism, sexism, and class.
– the novel was set In the 1930s in the same community called Maycomb county, located in the south.
– Harper lee portrays these ideas through setting and by scouts growth in the novel.

Paragraph 1
– finches house reinforces the idea of sexism
– aunt alexander moves in to teach scout “lady manners”
–  “Aunt Alexandra was fanatical on the subject of my attire. I could not possibly hope to be a lady if I wore breeches; when I said I could do nothing in a dress, she said I wasn’t supposed to be doing things that required pants.”
– in the year of 1930’s it was said to be that girls should act like a lady, they should wear dresses and not take part in activities that you cant do in a dress.
– despite aunt Alexander being critical about scouts ways, Atticus still encourages
– finches house reinforces the idea of sexism as aunt alexander comes to stay at the finches house in chapter 13 to teach scout to be a lady and that scout needed “some feminine influence”.
– aunt alexander has the intention to stay at the finches house until scout abandons her tomboyish ways in favour of more feminine behaviour.
– the finches house reinforces the idea of sexism as aunt alexander was the only feminine influence in the finches household for the children
– in 1930s woman were in low paid “women’s jobs” such as caring and cooking as when the great depression occured it reinforced that men should primarily have all the well-paid jobs and that the proper place for a woman was unpaid jobs at home.
– in today’s day of age, sexism doesn’t come across as strong as a woman have equal right to how much they get paid and have a choice in which what job they want to have. however, I don’t think the world is cured of sexism as there are still stereotypes of what girls should and shouldn’t do and also the same for boys.

Paragraph 2
– Maycomb reinforces the idea of class- “There’s four kinds of folks in the world. The ordinary kind like us and the neighbours… the Cunninghams… the Ewells… and the negroes” in chapter 23 Jem finch assorts certain classes into 4 groups.
– Social classes were obvious and shown through scouts views of Walter Cunningham. “He ain’t company, Cal, he’s just a Cunningham”
– At first scout, views were that if he is poor, or if anyone is poor they do not deserve anyone company but Calpurnia corrects her and says anyone is deserving of company, poor or rich
– Writers intention: to show the division of the social classes and that the poor were the poor and the rich was the rich. Harper lee portrayed to us readers that the poor were treated badly and everyone was so quick to judge in the 1930s and proved that the world had a lot to work on in terms of accepting people.
– Relating to real-world of great depression 1930s: “There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go, nothing to buy and no money to buy it with, nothing to see outside the boundaries of Maycomb County. But it was a time of vague optimism for some of the people: Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself.”
– when the novel took place it was during the great depression and didn’t have much money to spend on things and scout referred to it as being “tired”. in the time of the great depression in the 1930’s the black community were, of course, the first to lose their jobs and suffered from an unemployment rate two to three times that of whites. A lot of the high social class lost their fortune.
-real-world today in terms of Wanaka, there is definitely a variety but is an expensive place to live. as there is a variation of wealth, we do not let that define who we are and we are not so quick to judge.
– In today’s world I think we should continue to not be so quick to judge people by the wealth and judge them by who they are and their good of their heart.

Paragraph 3
-The courtroom reinforces the idea of racism
– Tom Robinson was accused in this courtroom of something he didn’t do due to the colour of his skin.
– Despite the judge knowing his innocence, it caused him this negro man his life.

Conclusion
-throughout the novel, harper lee continues to show how this setting reinforces the ideas of prejudice.
– the way she portrays this is through Atticus or other adults teaching or correcting scout or jem what is right and wrong and this is so its easier for us readers to understand what harper lee is trying to get across to her readers, by using the young protagonist.
– prejudice has not been cured, and there is still a lot of improvement needed until people can feel accepted for who they are whether they dress like a boy, haven’t got as much money as you, or for their colour of the skin.
– we all need to be able to accept one another, understanding is the first step to acceptance, and only with acceptance, there can be recovery.

During the 1920s everyone was chasing the same illusion, the American dream which is an idea held by many united states of America that through hard work, courage and determination can achieve prosperity. Fitzgerald uses this illusion in all four texts, The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button which is a film inspired by Fitzgerald’s text but is directed by David Fincher, The Great Gatsby which is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Winter Dreams and The Jelly Bean which are both short stories from Fitzgerald as well. Throughout these storeys, characters are chasing the unrealistic concept of achieving the American dream. In these novels, short stories and films, Fitzgerald expresses the American dream as an illusion as everyone is chasing this life of being wealthy but really they will never be satisfied with what they have because the American dream entails always striving for something more than what we already have in which is shown in all four texts.

The curious case of benjamin button

The curious case of benjamin button is a film inspired by Fitzgerald’s text, it shows how many people back in the 1920s were chasing this unrealistic lifestyle of completing the American dream. Despite Benjamin being different and living life backwards, this did not stop him from joining the trend of wanting to be a wealthy man with a beautiful woman. Even though benjamin was an old man at a young age he decided to make the most out of his life by working on a tug boat as working hard leads to the completion of the American dream. “I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.” This quote was said at the end of the film and shows how benjamin always strived for the American dream as he did have a disadvantage of living life backwards. The American dream was not just about being a wealthy man but also about having a beautiful woman and family. Benjamin fell in love with Daisy who was the obvious character in this film that thought that the American dream was attainable as she goes to New York (the place to go to make all dreams a reality) to become a professional ballet dancer and eventually performs on stage, achieving her own American dream.

 The Great Gatsby

The novel of the great gatsby is a critique of the American dream, as no character was ever satisfied with what they already had. Gatsby was not always a wealthy man ended up cheating his way to achieving this American dream as he got most of his money from illegal businesses such as bootlegging.

The relationship at the very heart of the great gatsby is, of course, Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby. Gatsby’s tragic love or obsession with daisy is what drives the novel’s plot of this ill-fated love story. As he made an appearance back in the west egg and reunited with daisy again he is more eager to get daisy back to complete his American dream. This started to make Daisy’s true colours shine and helped us as readers understand her as a person as when gatsby came back it’s almost like she completely forgot about her marriage with another man. throughout the whole story fitzgerald tries to make her character worthy of gatsby’s unlimited devotion. Daisy’s character with associations of light, purity, and innocence, when all is said and done, she is the opposite of what she presents herself to be. as the story goes on more of Daisy’s character is revealed and bit by bit she becomes less of an ideal and Gatsby and her relationship unfolds many unknown features of Daisy.

Two techniques: Symbolism and camera shots

In the movie the curious case of Benjamin Button, there is a certain scene where the symbolism of the clock is finally shown. As Benjamin life has gone backwards from being born old to growing young it was said to be that he would have a short life. The symbol of time had been shown throughout the whole story but in this scene of Benjamin losing all he had learnt and becoming as young as a baby, time was symbolised through a certain object, the clock. The clock started to show up as Benjamin was getting younger to symbolise his time in this world is almost up. The symbol of the clock was shown in a scene where Daisy was busy moving in and Benjamin was playing with his clock and the alarm happens to go off, this is to alarm him that his time is running out. The idea of the clock was shown through a series of camera shots especially when they were putting up the new clock around the same time Benjamin lost his life. As the new clock was put up the director used a zoom shot. The director would have done this to force the audience to fixate on an important object, in this case, the clock. this made us as an audience to focus on the clock and the meaning behind it. One of the ideas the director was trying to portray by symbolising the clock was fates dominance over life. Time will continue to move forward even if it was from old to young or young to old, life will still go on and eventually end.

Initial thoughts at the end of the film:
I found it weird how he lived life backwards (how does that even happen) but it was an interesting film and at no point was it unbearably boring which is good. It’s cool how it was based around one setting, that old person home, as it kept going back to that house.

Like and dislikes
Don’t like how it ended on a sad note, people dying (kinda sad). but i liked the story line how they crossed over with their age and as he got younger, she got older and was able to look after him as he stopped walking and talking.

Similarities to the Great Gatsby:
Inviability of time, it was based around one setting, the old peoples home so were the great Gatsby was based in a few settings. It had the name daisy in both films. Both films were based off a relationship and at the end, everyone had lost everything.

Stepping outside the fresh air-conditioned hotel, the warm humid sea air awakens me to what feels like a whole new atmosphere. I cross the hectic road to approach the beach that welcomes me with open arms. Inhaling the salty fresh sea air with the odd scent of seaweed, a summer breeze brushes past my sun-kissed skin as my feet sink into the soft sand.  I glance at the beach as it glistens in the mild morning heat, surrounded by white pristine buildings that stand tall watching over the luxurious land below. The sun starts to rise higher into the blue, dreamy sky as the heat gets more severe, sweat seeps out of my skin. Like a magnet, the beachfront cafes attract the morning walkers with their tempting, fruity, cooling smoothies and other breakfast delights. Sitting outside the cafe I feel relaxed and comfortable as if there’s nothing at that moment that matters. As I sip on my cooling berry smoothie, I feel an instant burst of energy, so I bound back to the hotel to go for a swim. Through the automatic doors, transcending up the elevator and into the room, I make a quick change into my togs and retreat back down to the ground floor. Swiping the key to get into the pool I see the reflection of the palm trees on the surface of the water, which sits peacefully trapped in by brick walls separating the pool from the rest of the world. The pool awaits to be disrupted by crazy children who are buzzing with enthusiasm. Eager to cool off, I jump into the refreshing liquid which soothes my slightly burnt skin that has caused me so much grief this morning. The water is clear as crystal and the coolness causes goose bumps to shimmy up my body.  I swim until I start to feel lethargic, it is time to escape the madness. I carefully dry my fragile scorched skin and decide to embrace the piercing sun. Lying in the 30-degree heat, lathered in layers and layers of sunscreen my eyelids start to get heavier and all my thoughts seem to disappear within a second.

Getting ready for the night ahead, I meticulously slip on my flowy evening dress and tie back my thick, irritating hair with a silky scrunchie. Sliding my fake Birkenstocks on, my family and I head out the door and across to the main street into the darkness, intrigued by the mix of people of diverse ethnicities. The street is lit up like a Christmas tree, differing colours of fairy lights adorn the palm trees and catch my eye from a mile away. Below the fairy lights, people scurry like a trail of ants, finding their way from one end of the street to the other.   I feel exhausted trying to keep up with my family but finally, we find a restaurant we all love. As we stroll in and approach the bar, I look around and see holidaymakers sinking back their alcoholic beverages, as the waitress leads us to our outside table. We order from the menu, I can’t go past the barbecue spare ribs.  I wait in anticipation, sipping at my water, looking around at the groups of exuberant diners. The noise of happy conversation echoes through the building and down the street. I look out over the beach, the darkness creates a sense of mystery. The swimmers have deserted, leaving trails of footprints in the sand. Out on the horizon, I see small flickers of light, boats from afar.  Our dinner arrives, so nourishing and fulfilling after a day of activities. Time to walk back, the stars glisten and the moon hovers over the ocean creating a reflection of calmness and tranquillity. Daylight evaporates as night prevails, the beach sleeps, a contrast to the hustle of earlier.

Roots scatter around the dewy ground covered by viridescent moss. Looking up all you can see are branches waving from side to side, with no sight of the sky. The distinctive walking trails swerve around the saturated rocks, respectfully minding nature. The wind swished lightly through the peaceful atmosphere, while the rain softly plunges from the sky. sounds of whistles and chirps echo through the