isaiahs2001-blog - Tumblr blog

[isaiahs2001-blog]

The Emperor’s New Groove

The emperor's new groove

The emperor's new groove is a Disney classic that came out in early 2000 and us the first in a 3 part series. The movie does no have a set time or place but it does take inspiration from the Inca people of ancient mexico. In the film the protagonist Kuzco goes on a journey with Pathca a everyday villager that he trying to evict from his home and learns a lot about himself along the way. The main message the children received from this movie was most likely was that you should treat others with respect the the lesson i got from it was you can't trust just anybody and that hate can come from your own friends.

In the opening scenes of the movie ezma, Kuzco's royal adviser is taking over his royal affairs and abusing power that she doesn't have. When confronted about this she attempts to play innocent and save face but when Kuzco does not buy that she is truly sorry for her actions and fires her she loses all control and tries to attack him. This sets into action her evil plan to kill Kuzco and claim the throne as he does not have any children to take over after him. Sidebar - This plan is actually really dark for a kids movie and Ezma has some serious problems if her response to getting fired is murder. Plus Kronk was a little too eager to just kill a man for the old lady but that's beside the point*

Kuzco is then invited to a make up dinner hosted by ezma to show that she holds no hard feelings against him for firing her all the while she is plotting on poisoning his food. When her plan fails and he is turned into a llama instead of dying she has kronk abandon his body in the woods and leaves him for dead to be attacked by wild animals but he falls onto pathcas cart and is taken back to the village on his wagon.

After a comedy break were Kuzco and patcha have to figure out how they'll work together they undertake their path to return Kuzco to his place and punish ezma for what she has done.

They face a number of challenges along the way as Ezma and Kronk follow after them trying to finish off the job and keep ezma in power. A couple moments in this sequence stand out as patcha has the opportunity to leave Kuzco to die in the mountains and save his family home from being destroyed or to save him and hope he has had a change of heart when they reach their destination. This goes back to my point of being careful of the individuals you put trust into as patcha could have just left Kuzco to die saving his family and his future risk free and a lot easier but he chose not to. This act of humanity showed the pure intentions Patcha ha in helping Kuzco get home and how deeply instilled his values were. The tables also turn with Kuzco having the opportunity to let Patcha fall to his death moments after bargaining with Kuzco's life. Ultimately Kuzco saving pathca illustrates the growth that occurs in Kuzco as the two spend more time together on their adventure.

Kronk and ezma do not have nearly as smooth a journey as ezmas poor attitude closes doors for a lot of opportunities for them.

A prime example of this happening is with squeakers the squirrel; Ezma steps on his tail, kicks him, and speaks down to him because he is a animal, but then when she finds out he has information that could benefit her she changes her entire attitude. He only helps after a lengthy pep talk from Kronk and even then he is reluctant to help them.

In the end with the information obtained from squeakers Kronk and ezma are able to beat Patcha and Kuzco to their lab and steal the antidote before they can take it. After a long battle where ezma is turned into cat and Kuzco becomes every animal imaginable it seems as if ezma has won and their is no hope left when Kronk appears and “accidentally” knocks the potion out of ezmas hand and Kuzco becomes human again.

Kuzco and patcha share a moment that marks the official start of their new found friendship and it seems to be the happy ending expected in disney movies.

But, after the credits rolled there were some unanswered questions

In the end day was saved by the person who had a hand in the whole thing that nobody really addresses. Ezma is left as a cat as punishment for her crimes and Kuzco goes on to live his life as a new ruler with a better outlook on life but one thing always bothered me as a kid. NOTHING happens to Kronk for helping Ezma. Like literally no consequences for conspiracy, attempted murder, kidnapping, and treason fall on Kronk because everyone acts like he's a sweet simple man that was influenced to do bad things but its is shown that Kronk is far from unintelligent. He resumes normal life like nothing ever happens and even cozies up to patchas family. I always saw this as a snake move, like he was trying to hide in plain sight to help ezma in the long run but i dont know it might have just been a change of heart. In the end I still feel my statement stands. Be careful who you trust because in the end “It be ya own n*****s”

[isaiahs2001-blog]

[isaiahs2001-blog]

Black Panther

Rhetoric of Space

Black Panther was a smash hit bringing in over 1.4 billion dollars worldwide at the box office making it the ninth highest grossing film of all time. The movie was such a success not only because of the appeal from being the first movie major Hollywood film by a predominantly black cast but because there was such an interesting story behind the film. On the surface, the film is a spin-off of the main Marvel franchise; an origin story of sorts created to add depth to characters in the bigger picture and expand the Marvel universe. It was well received by the African American community because the underlying message of black excellence and prosperity gave people in America hope. One of the main goals of this movie was to be entertaining and informative all at once making a solid statement about society, culture, and the political climate of current times. This movie although based entirely out of fiction made black men and women all around the country proud as they rolled in theaters in droves to show their support. Around the time of the initial release, a lot of African American people got caught up in the hype of the Wakandan empire and let themselves blur the lines between reality and make belief.

It is understandable that some people forgot Wakanda does not exist in the real world as the effects and its portrayal in the film are so lifelike. Majority of the cultural aspects of the film had taken inspiration from real-world African tribes and cultures bringing a deeper connection to the audience and the authenticity played a large role in the overall success of the film. The producers did a phenomenal job with the casting and location choices choosing an actor who could really connect with the script and give genuine performance filled with passion and picking filming locations that perfectly captured their vision. Playing with the idea that an African country could harness the abundance of natural resources surrounding it and thrive in secret was an amazing twist on the way Africa is normally portrayed. They took the original idea of Africa being a poor war-torn country and added depth to it by making it a front to hide the greatness of the country from the rest of the world. This was definitely inspired by the real potential that is held in Africa with it being home most of the world’s nonrenewable resources, precious stones, gold, and many more minerals. A smaller detail that plays into this theme is the language that is used towards agent Ross the S.H.I.E.L.D agent that is brought into Wakanda for medical treatment. He is called a colonizer in reference to the British explorers who conquered the continent of Africa and formed colonies early on in the century.

Another theme of the film is that the country of Wakanda has to operate in secret as the outside world is not ready to handle the power that comes along with vibranium.  The tradition of hiding in plain sight is challenged when t'challa is defeated by killmonger and he tries to attack the rest of the world and place Wakanda at the top as the lead country in the world. This ties into the idea that the rest of the world is evil and that the resources of the land need to be protected. Claw is another small detail in the plot as his goal is to steal vibranium from Wakanda and use it for personal gain as Wakanda fears the rest of the world would do.

The final battle in the movie can be used as an example that blind loyalty and sticking by traditions is not always right. Friends are forced to fight as one group fights to restore proper order in their country while the other group blindly upholds tradition by protecting the crowned king no matter how outrageous or damaging his orders may be. In the end, the secret of vibranium is contained within the borders of Wakanda and the opposition is defeated giving the happily ever after ending many fans probably hoped for. I think the resolution of the story and the message that t'challa learned from killmongers rule also added to the feeling of accomplishment some black people felt after watching the movies as wakandan people extended a helping hand to other black people in communities around the world.

Ultimately the message of black power and the potential of black people all around the world combined with the magic of Marvel made a hit movie that touched the world on a much larger scale than could ever have been hoped for. The main goal of the filmmaker is to immerse the audience into the story and have the people make a deeper connection to the film and the producer behind this project most definitely received that. The movie they created blurred the lines between the real world and the land of imagination for many people and gave people something to be proud of.  The blending of real facts and creative filler made the culture of the imaginary land very relatable encouraging people seek out their own cultural roots and help them feel more connected to the rest of the African American community and their own history.  This newfound connection is amazing for the people involved and the people who have always wanted to share their passion for their cultural roots. I  believe the entire team behind  the film of black panther did a brilliant job at conveying every message in an understandable and entertaining way and no matter how I feel about the ideas some people interpreted from the film don't sit right with me i have to respect the hard work that was put into creating the final project. I think the only thing I would change about the movie is the wakandan salute; I feel like it got played out extremely fast and having something with more lasting power would be better.

[isaiahs2001-blog]

Week one blog post

[isaiahs2001-blog]

Week One: Pulp Fiction

For week one I am going to do my blog post over the cult classic Pulp Fiction.When watching the trailer for the movie there was no direct story line to follow to give the audience even the slightest idea about what the movie will be about. I believe the main rhetorical element is pathos or the appeal to emotion because the entire trailer is built around sparking the viewers curiosity and making them want to know how all the broad elements shown can somehow come together and make a cohesive film with an actual story to tell. From the trailer one assumption I made about the film was that the genre would most likely be a gorey action film. I came to this conclusion after seeing the large amount of screen time dedicated to characters that in some way managed to work guns in their scene whether that be Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta pulling pistols out of a trunk or being shot at by a literal hand cannon. The other evidence I gathered to come to this conclusion came from researching the other works of the director and knowing that gore and thrill make his signature style. The final element I noticed in the trailer is that in its final moments it gives an individual close up to every major star in the movie. This results in a total of twelve close ups spanning over the final sixty-three second of the three minute trailer as a final attempt to coax fans into the theater seats. Ultimately from watching the trailer I was able to realize why so many gave the movie a chance and why it was such a big hit.