#SIMPLU THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY

[girlishwhimsies]

yall know that one video of that one guy rapping then his random black friend coming in to drop the n word for a half second (pls tell me this isn’t a just me experience) that’s soda with steve and ace

[sandratabra-blog]

Zilele trecute am primit o lectie de viata. Mai precis, mi-a fost reamintita o zicala inteleapta: “nu judeca o carte dupa coperti”.

Asa cum am mai spus intr-un articol anterior, nu sunt un mare fan al filmelor SF, care trateaza subiecte galactice. Rareori ma uit la un film de acest gen, iar cand ma uit, de cele mai multe ori nu sunt prea impresionata. Din aceasta cauza, cand am auzit de “Passengers”, observand ca actiunea implica o calatorie spatiala, nu am mai cautat detalii si am trecut mai departe, crezand ca nu m-ar putea interesa. Acum cateva zile l-am gasit din nou. Nu stiu ce anume m-a facut sa nu schimb canalul, desi ma gandeam sa o fac. Am stat pana la final si pot spune ca ma bucur ca am facut-o si ca mi-a placut.

Subiectul este unul cumva simplu si intr-o oarecare masura clasic pentru filmele de gen. Insa, spre deosebire de multe filme in care “omul calatoreste in spatiu”, povestea din “Passengers” are un puternic element uman. In acest film, accentul este pus intr-o foarte mare masura pe sentimentele eroilor, pe trairile lor, pe felul in care reusesc sa comunice si sa coopereze, chiar ajungand pana la disponibilitatea de a se sacrifica pentru celalalt.

Pelicula este foarte frumos realizata, cu efecte speciale foarte interesante si un scenariu bun care include si cateva replici amuzante. Singurele lucruri de criticat ar fi, dupa parerea mea, incorectitudinea unor detalii tehnice integrate in poveste, in legatura cu nava. Dar, pentru ca povestea este mai mult axata pe sentimentele dintre cele doua personaje, iar detaliile respective nu sunt de o importanta vitala, nu voi tine la criticarea lor. Un alt lucru care nu mi-a prea placut, dar pe care nu ma avant sa-l critic ar fi finalul. Mi s-a parut o trecere un pic prea rapida de la poveste la scena finala.

Pe scurt, filmul spune povestea a doi oameni care calatoresc cu o nava spatiala spre o destinatie extrem de indepartata, iar in functionarea navei apar defectiuni din ce in ce mai grave. Desi totul in jurul lor este dintr-o alta lume, fara nici o legatura cu lumea naturala de pe Pamant, o lume a viitorului galactic, cu mult plastic si inteligenta artificiala, povestea vietii lor impreuna continua ca a celor ramasi pe Pamant, cu aceleasi trairi, dorinte si nevoi sufletesti, cu aceleasi dificultati de comunicare ca oricare dintre cei ramasi acasa si tocmai asta face ca nava sa devina calda cumva, mai umana si mai suportabila. Totul porneste de la o actiune discutabila din punct de vedere moral a unuia dintre ei si nu te poti opri sa te intrebi tu ce ai fi facut in locul lui.

Actorii au fost foarte buni in rolurile lor, iar tema muzicala, excelenta, este interpretata de trupa mea preferata, trupa americana de rock alternativ Imagine Dragons. Nu numai ca muzica mi se pare splendida, dar cred ca se potriveste foarte bine cu imaginile folosite la prezentarea de final, imagini superbe din spatiul intergalactic uluitor, ucigator si totusi de o stranie frumusete.

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A few days ago I was given a life lesson. To be exact, I was reminded to “never judge a book by its covers”.

As I said in a previous article, I am not a big fan of SF films, movies that talk about space. I rarely watch this films belonging to this genre and when I do, I am not too impressed. That is why when I first heard of “Passengers” and found out that the story takes place in space, I decided that I wouldn’t be interested about it and moved on without reading anything more about it. A few days ago, I found it on TV. I don’t know what made me stay and watch it even though a part of me wanted to change the channel. I watched it until the end and I have to say I am glad I did because I liked it.

The subject is relatively simple and somewhat classical for a movie of this type. But, unlike most films in which “man travels through space”, this movie has a very humane element to its story. Here, the story focuses on the main characters’ feelings, experiences, the way they manage to communicate and cooperate, even getting to the point of being prepared to sacrifice for each other.

The film is very beautiful, with amazing special effects and a good script with a few funny lines. What I would have to say against the film is regarding the tehnical details of the ship. Some of them were incorrect. However, since the film is very much based upon the two main characters and those details are not of a vital importance to the story, I’ll leave them alone. Another thing I didn’t really like, but I won’t rush to criticise, was the ending. I thought it was rather sudden.

In short, the story is about two people that travel in a space ship toward a very far destination and the ship has a few problems and malfunctions. Even though everything around them has nothing to do with the world humans live everyday, the surroudnings belonging to a galactic future, governed by plastic and artificial intelligence, the story of the two people continues in a most human way possible, with the same feelings, needs and desires and same difficulties in communications as the people left behind on Earth, making the ship more human, warmer and more bareable. The plot starts with a decision made by one of them, a decision with an arguable morality, a decision that makes you stop and wonder what would you have done faced with the same situation.

Both actors were very good in their roles and the soundtrack, performed by my favourite band, the American alternative rock band Imagine Dragons, is very beautiful. Not only I believe the music was very good, I also think it is very well suited to the images used for the final credits, wonderful images from the interesting, deadly and stangely beautiful universe.

Regia / Directed by: Morten Tyldum

Scenariul / Written by: Jon Spaihts

Distributia / Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, Lawrence Fishburne, Andy Garcia

sursa foto / photo source: imdb.com

Passengers / Pasagerii (2016) Zilele trecute am primit o lectie de viata. Mai precis, mi-a fost reamintita o zicala inteleapta: "nu judeca o carte dupa coperti".

[motherhoodcoloredblack-blog]

I Am a Black Mother

What is a mammy? A mammy is a Southern U.S. archetype usually given to a slave woman in charge of caring for their master’s children. Duties of mammies included preparing meals, cleaning homes, nursing and rearing their owners’ children amongst having to nurture and rear their own children. Often times “mammies” children went neglected due to the strenuous role of caring for their master’s children. Since slavery, black women have worked and long after slavery black women have worked. Black women seem to face the most scrutiny when it comes to their personal lives and especially as mothers. In present day, black women are viewed as welfare queens, lazy, and greedy. The picture is painted to believe that black children are birthed to single unwed mothers, who live to draw government assistance, while allowing their children to run free and be delinquents. I find it funny how the paradigm shift occurred from mammy to welfare queen of black women.

I had the pleasure of talking with 3 friends within my social circle who are mothers. Their experiences as a black mother in present day had greatly added to my views of black motherhood. The first friend I had the pleasure of talking with was Lexi, Lexi explained that the biggest obstacle she had to face was the judgement from many people. They viewed her as promiscuous and assumed her child’s father isn’t in her life. Although Lexi is not with her father’s child, they have a great relationship with each other as well as a great co-parenting relationship. When Lexi first discovered she was pregnant, she had many different waves of emotions wash over her at once. One being the scrutiny she would face as a young and unwed mother and how her mother and grandparents would take the news. She explained that after a week of stressing she told her family, to her surprise were excited. The further she got along in her pregnancy, the disrespect and disregard for a pregnant black woman began to show. She ran once ran into an encounter where an elderly white woman purposely allowed a door to close in her face. Lexi later encountered visiting a baby boutique where she had hoped to buy a brand-new crib. Once entering the establishment, no one paid her any attention all while the pregnant white women were being catered to. They were being offered refreshments such as cookies and water while they shopped, after 15 mins Lexi was only approached by an employee in the boutique to simply inform her that the crib she was considering purchasing was probably too expensive. Lexi often catches herself worrying about the lessons society may be teaching her now 1 year old daughter about who she is as a black girl. She tries her best to instill in here how beautiful she is just the way she is and how smart she is. She teaches her that it is ok to have emotions and to embrace her blackness, the opposite of the “strong black woman” trope.

Amber was the second mom within my social circle that I had the pleasure of discussing her life as a black mother with. Amber is a mother of two and finds that the stereotypes of being a black mother are the hardest to cope with. Many associates and colleagues assumed that she isn’t marries, they often go as far as to question her birthing choice as well as if she decided to breastfeed. Amber feels as though she is always fighting to be the mom she wants to be and not who people assume the mother she is. Even women within the black community side eye her because she isn’t harsh to her children nor does she practice commons forms of punishment such as spanking. Advice that Amber would like to give to another black mom would be to be the mom that she wants herself to be and not the mom society places on her or other moms assumie she is. The greatest sense of joy that Amber has when it comes to her children is simplu watching them grow into the divine humans that they are. She feels it is important to teach them to be proud of their blackness and to never feel ashamed.

Kennedy, the third mom I had the pleasure of speaking with, enlightened me that although children are young, black children are taught to hate whom they are at an early age. Kennedy faced with a very difficult topic to discuss with her 5-year-old. Kennedy always thought the hardest topic for her to discuss with her daughter would be about the birds and the bees, she thought she would face things dealing with how to teach her daughter to handle a bully or proper bus etiquette. However, Kennedy learned that although her daughter is growing up within a different era, a different generation, her daughter also would face the same trials she faced growing up. Kennedy enrolled her daughter into home school where they taught Spanish mostly during the day and then English to encourage bilingual speech. Kennedy picked her daughter up from school one afternoon and noticed how quite she was. She proceeded to ask her daughter about her day in which her daughter began to cry. Her daughter exclaimed “I thought you said I was pretty mommy, you lied”. Kennedys daughter had been bullied that day, children were telling her that she was dark and dark girls aren’t on tv so therefore dark skin girls aren’t pretty. Kennedy was shocked and very sad after hearing about the way her daughter had been treated. Kennedy decided the best way to teach her daughter about self-love and embracing her blackness was to give her lots of pep talks. She found books and comics that encouraged self-love and self-growth.

These mothers are just 3 out of many black mothers who have dealt with many of these issues. These issues are constant in the black community and constantly must be addressed. Mothers in my current generation seem to be grasping a better handle of addressing these issues in the black community.