Review #5- Kicking It

Kicking It is a powerful and moving documentary that follows the Homeless World Cup, which took place in South. The main purpose of this event is to bring motivated homeless men and women together for a common sport, and to celebrate their hard work. The documentary exposes the lives of several men from different countries, including Ireland, Russia, Kenya, US, Spain, and Afghanistan. This was something I thought made the documentary even stronger; the fact that the experiences shown were from men from different backgrounds. The fact that the stories behind each men were shown, created a stronger connection with the audience, providing a deeper understanding to their lives.

Sign Painters (Spring Break hw)

Sign Painters is a documentary that follows the lives of many sign painters throughout the country. Some are young, others more experienced, but they all share the passion for painting signs. The main goal of the documentary is to erase the misconceptions about sign painting, and present as more of a passion for many people. It defends the art concept delivered by these painters, while exposing the dangers it faces with technology constantly improving. Through the many experiences that all of these artists provide the audience with, one can understand the struggle that many painters go through, as they try to earn their living. Many people overlook this profession, but it is more valuable than people give it credit for.

Me @ the Zoo (Spring Break Assignment) #4

‘Me @ the Zoo’ was about an Internet celebrity named Chris Crocker who is openly gay and lives in Tennessee with his grandparents. In 2006 he decided to upload videos on MySpace in which he discussed topics, such as, sexual orientation, identify, artists, and personal struggles. He one day got really popular with one video called “this and that” in which he acted in an abnormal manner. Many people found him entertaining and comedic which then made them want to follow him online and send him feedback on his videos. The media then portrayed Chris as an attention seeking person who just wanted to be famous. He was then labeled an “overnight sensation” because people didn’t know who he was until that one video. One of the most watched videos he made was the “leave Britney alone” video, in which Chris Crocker cried over his idol Britney Spears. Numerous people found him hilarious, while others just hated him and decided to cyber bully him through their ignorant messages. The documentary shows all of Chris Crocker’s struggles while being famous, to him getting bullied, to downfalls, and to relationships with his family. It is a wonderful, beautiful, and entertaining film.

There was a bias in the film because it mostly talked about him, but there were also videos on how people hated him. In one scene, you see all of Chris’s fans uploading videos supporting him and loving him for who he is, but there are also people saying foul words and threatening to kill him. I think overall the directors and editors balanced out the bias in the documentary. But it is also important to concentrate on him because it is a documentary about him, so it’s well deserved.

Benji (Spring break hw #4)

         Benjamin Wilson aka Benji grew up in the tough and mean streets of Chicago. He grew up in the 80's when Chicago was taken over by gang violence and drugs, and it was very easy for a young man as himself to follow along with the negativity that was going on in his neighborhood. Benji was able to overcome adversity by playing the game of basketball, a sport that was well known in Chicago because of NBA superstar Michael Jordan. Benji attended Simeon high school where he won two state championships and was the number one player in the country going into his senior year of high school. Before the start of his senior season Benji was killed, NBA players and coaches both say if not for this tragedy Benji Wilson would have been one of the greatest players in the NBA to ever play the game of basketball.

             The only Bias thing that I could think of was, after Benji Wilson was killed some very ignorant people believed that it wasnt the killers fault that he killed Benji. Benji Wilson was 6'7 and the person that killed him was 5'8. And the killer made a statement that Benji was very tall and that intimidated him and essentually that is why he did what he did because he was not big enough to fight Benji. 

Spring Break Assignment - Writing Task #4: Deliver Us From Evil

The central idea of this film was to notify people of the clergy child abuse that has been going on for years and the little that is happening to terminate it. Deliver Us From Evil focuses on Father Oliver O'Grady, a "notorious pedophile" priest who molested and raped boys and girls of a young age in different California parishes. In the film he openly admits his actions toward his victims, specifically the ones who charged against him. A few of his victims are shown in the documentary including their family and they talk about their experiences with Father O'Grady. But two deeply affected victims look to put an end to the clergy abuse and they do it by writing a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, telling him about the issue. Unfortunately they were not let into the vatican because of the guards and their letter was left unanswered. Father O'Grady now resides in Ireland roaming free and wasn't properly punished for his hundreds of victims. This is occurring with many clergy members, some are still in their parish continuing to abuse children, who are keeping quiet about it that's why this film was made to raise public awareness.

Spring Break Assignment: Writing Task #4: The Last Days of Left Eye

            The central idea of this documentary was Left Eye’s cleansing and her trip to Honduras to “distance herself from her problems and make a film about her life” as said in the film. She had gone through a series of problems that caused her to need a break from everything around her. She wanted her friends and family to embark on this 30 day journey with her and cleanse themselves along with her in more ways than one. She had them on a cleansing diet, they would do yoga every morning and they would talk to each other frequently because they had no distractions around them. Left Eye had hoped that this journey would be the thing to cleanse her of all her problems. But unfortunately was the place where she would lose her life.