Crash

I watched the movie Crash and it wasn't nothing I had anticipated. I seen that case to this movie too many times to not want to watch it. I figured that it was a dramatic movie about a car crash and what not. This was a class case of judging a book by its cover but instead it was  movie in this case. When I watched this movie I explored each character in this movie and it was a phenomenal movie and they each portrayed each stereotype that's evident in society. Honestly I've seen each of these events in actual life from racial profiling to corrupt cops. Its sad but its true and I even seen people who attain a level of status or achievement and they are embarrassed of their family so they don't go around them. This movie portrayed each stereotype and did it well, it showed that there are people out there in the world like that but not everyone is like that. Some miraculous things happened in the movie in the ways that these people who felt a certain type of way learned their lessons or had their epiphanies. Like when the shop owner goes to gun down the man who did his job correctly but he was Mexican and he thought he was trying to steal from him. He pulls the gun on him and shoots him but at the same time the mans daughter jumps in front on the line of fire to protect her dad. Or when the black lady who was molested by the cop who was having a hard life and didn't like black people because a black woman was handling his dads medical case. He felt a certain type of way about black people because of this one woman who was doing her job. It happens to be a coincidence that the same lady he harassed he was put in a position to save her life. Once he saved her life she had a new level of respect for him at the same time while being confused. This movie just proves how ignorant we all can be and are at times. It just shows that we don't know everything and that we need to be more understanding individuals. We should work together instead of against each other.

Reflection

I can honestly and truthfully say that I learned something in this class. I do think differently about things. I really feel that I accomplished my goals in this semester of class. My experience in this class was a good one and this was one of my more favorite classes that I have ever taken. The only thing that I wish that I would have done differently would be to be more talkative. I think that some of my experiences could have benefited some of my classmates in learning. Other than that I could have had better attendance to maximize my learning in the class. This class really has changed my point of views on certain subjects namely gender and sex, and indigenous people. Namely on gender and sex most men wouldn't admit this but after that subject I had an encounter with two transgendered individuals on separate occasions. Yes they were trying to "get at me" because I look good who wouldn't but they were open individuals and I took it as an opportunity to learn about their lifestyle knowing I would never speak to them again. One was a man who felt he should be a woman and another was a female who has a penis. Those were some interesting conversations but before this class I may have been real disrespectful to them and handled the situation a lot differently. Furthermore, I did enjoy this class and I would recommend it to anyone especially if they are open to a new way of thinking and want to explore society issues. I did experience some discomfort in the class during the subject of othering just because its a touchy subject. However I did meet all of my goals and I will continue to become a better individual and take classes that are similar.

Freedom Writers

In the movie the Freedom Writers there were many of issues that we face in the world today that cause social problems. These issues are seen in almost in everyday life depending on where you live. In Intercultural Communication we covered many of these same topics. Some topics that stood out in the movie were workplace, language and othering. These stood out to me because they were the most relevant topics in the movie also because this is something that most of us deal with everyday. The workplace was a constant struggle for Erin Gruwell because she lacked the support of her co workers. She really didn't get the support that she felt that she deserved. No one felt that she should've been helping these "criminals" so that's why they didn't. There were constant struggles in the workplace and they really didn't get along that much because of what she was trying to do. I see the struggle with language between the students and Mrs. Gruwell because there was a constant communication barrier. They came from a completely different place than where their teacher came from. There was a constant struggle to understand each others situations. Also I also feel that there was a struggle within their department, even though it was a issue within the workplace it was also a issue with language once Erin took on the role to be the voice of her students. Othering is probably the biggest issue in this entire movie, singling out a group of people because they were different. One occasion that this happened was with the other faculty members when they would refuse to help these troubled kids because they felt they were up to no good. Also the kids did it amongst themselves because you were one race or another. This was a large part of their problems because this is one reason why they were in a war with each other. Lastly, people looked at them differently because they were white, black or Mexican. I can relate to most of this just by being black people do look at me different because I fit the description. Its not right but its the society we live and probably wont change no time soon.