Moving Movies

First of all, 300...what crap!!!! That movie was the most racist thing I have seen ever! The movie paints this picture...Greeks = Good...Persions = Evil...I was waiting for the Spartan commander to slowly evolve a Bush look and make a blatant plea...give me more troops so I can go attack Iran in the name of freedom. It's not like the Greeks never tried to infringe on other people's freedoms...Can we say Alexander the "Great"?

Before I talk about how much I loved Freedom Writers I need to tell you about me and the movies. Those of you who actually know me and know my taste in movies know that I like happy movies. I grew up on Bollywood films and those tend to have everything packed into one film...comedy, action, drama, romance, music and dance...they are just plain entertaining. So when I sit down to watch a movie, I expect to be entertained. I expect to laugh. And I often cry. My friend once pointed out to me that my desire to laugh is so strong that I'll find something to laugh about in even the most depressing films like Requiem for a Dream. But you know what? I don't really cry unless I think something undeserved is happening to a totally innocent character and melodrama moves me much more than realism haha. Mostly, I like the crying to be kept to a minimum and I need happy endings. I understand that the world is not all wonderful and cheery and I appreciate when a movie points that out but I don't understand why anyone will make a movie with a sad ending and turn the world into an even worse place chipping away at the audience's optimism. This was one of my problems with Rang De Basanti. I prefer something like Freedom Writers.

Freedom Writers is based on a true story. Erin Gruwell is truly my hero. Here's a woman who actually changed lives and made a positive social impact. That's what I dream of doing! And the movie was just wonderful. It deals with serious issues and tells it like it is. But it chooses to focus on the hope that things can and do change for the better. See that's what I would like to say to all those smug pessimists who say...I like reality...and in reality things aren't all rosy...well I know! But in reality somewhere down the line things do get better! Why not focus on that? You are telling a story and the story can eventually get to a point where there is a solution! And it's very real! And it can give people hope..so why wouldn't you want to, movie maker? Why don't you tell us what we can do to make things better? Why don't you show us how others have made things better? Ok I'll stop ranting about that now...

Here's another film that attempted to show how things can be made better...An Inconvieniant Truth. I thought it was well done. I mean I have been an environmentalist since age 8 and I have known about global climate change for a long time now. I do what I think is right. I choose not to have a car (since I don't need it) and I use public transportation. I turn off lights that aren't being used. I bring my own bag to the grocery store and recycle paper, plastic, whatever I can. But this film did inspire me to do more. First of all, I need to support clean energy. When I do buy a place of my own, I know I'll put solar panels on it and sell energy back into the grid. Right now, it seems the best I can do is buy Energy Offset Credits. This is a circuitious way of doing things but I think it's worth it. I'm going to look more into it and it'll have to get it's own post.