During our discussion in class on Tuesday I realized that I had not finished my thoughts, so here is the rest of my brain power hard at work. Valentino confused me with his scattered thoughts during the robbery at his home. He had made referrence to Tonya and Powder [names he gave the intruders] as friends, then later as guests. I was not sure if it was meant sarcastically or Christian like. In class, one of the girls made a comment to the fact that he [Valentino] had hatred for these cowardous individuals. I commend his actions in trying several times to stop the assailants, but it was to no avail. I felt sorry for his plight. He had already endured such travesties of injustice throughout his young life and now has to bear another injustice in the place that he was supposed to feel the safest. There are a few contradictions in his words that I noticed. Most of the time he refers to the robbers as brothers as well as prays for people who bump or push him ill will. So, I was a little confused by his thought process, although in his situation I may have been thinking the exact same things. Always being scrutinized would be enough to reek havoc on anyone.
In the movie, however, I found some similarities to the genre of things, in the book, that young people should never have to see let alone witness as children. Those things were present in both. Visual effects tear a person up alot more than simply reading about such horrors. The experience of the visual lets a person in to the victims realm. The movie tears at one's heart strings and they too feel helpless. At least it was this way for me. Looking at the hopelessness in the faces of the abused and malnutritioned children almost makes you want to turn away, but you watch because you are drawn to a fellow human being and are identifying with the pain and anguish because of what you view. I believe that the movie depicted so much more realism and hardship than the book because the book, no matter how well written or articulated, was more relaxed even when he was beaten. I am not sure that he intended to write in a way that he seems to be defeated, yet in a type of survival mode. Maybe he does this in order to keep the reader content enough to continue reading so that he can continue with his agenda to tell his story and let people know what he has endured.
All in all the movie as well as the book had basically the same affect on me whereas I was humbled and ashamed that things like this have been going on for so many years without relief and I have done nothing to help.
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Extra comment week #4
ReplyDeleteNo matter what goes on how can we, any of us, help these people when their politics keep them prisoners in their own hell?
I agree with you that many of us are moved more by the movie than the book because it's a sense of realism. For me, personally, I'm moved by text as much as film when I read or see things to this effect. I will admit that the movie made me shed some tears in class. You also make a good point about the fact that these children witnessed things no child should see or go through. The realism of their lives was almost unbearable to watch, such as burrying other children at the age of 13. There are non-profit organizations that anyone can volunteer to be a part of. There is one that is comprised of people around our general age and they fly to Uganda to help children. Good post.
ReplyDeleteI agree that so far I’ve been more affected by the movie than the book which is rare. How often do we say that the movie (well, in this case, a documentary) is most thought provoking and articulate of the subject matter? Anyway, the documentary did a few things well: showing the hardships of living in Sudan, the struggles of adjusting to life in the United States, the humor of culture shock, and the sadness of family separation. These themes are present also in the novel, but they’ve seem plotted un-chronologically, which would be very difficult to follow had we not seen the movie first. I’ll agree that because it was a documentary and we understand this as a real event, we will be more emotionally affected because these true issues.
ReplyDeleteWeek #5 Thank you Ryan and Sabrina. It is nice when people agree and see a person's point. It makes you feel as if you are truly understanding the concepts in a classroom setting.
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