Film Review- Gender Bias Lens

The Mako Mori test is a test that analyzes films based off of gender-bias. It was created to show that movies can sometimes have the same archetype and   In order for a film to pass the Mako Mori test, there needs to be at least one female character, who has her own narrative arc that doesn’t support a male’s story. The Mako Mori test is quite important because sometimes the Bechdel Test can be an insufficient way to measure female representation in films. We need the Mako Mori test to add a twist to films, because in most popular films, if there even is a woman in it, have the woman’s backstory dependent to the male. It’s also important to have tests like these so that movies aren’t repetitive. Many directors use these tests because they want their movies to actually be more representative to women.

Things begin to shake up in the quaint little town of Woodsborough as a killer is on the loose. But this killer is quite different than your ordinary horror movie slasher, because this killer knows his scary movies and is set out on stalking and taunting his victims with trivia questions.  In the horror-suspense film “Scream” (1996), you’ll begin to find out that no one is safe. In the beginning of the film, we meet Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore), a girl who receives a somewhat flirtatious phone call from someone unknown. At first, everything seems perfectly normal as the caller and Casey are talking about films. The situation soon turns gory as the caller grows more sadistic and begins to threaten Casey, and her boyfriend Steve.

After news arises of what happened to Casey, the town grows on edge and the police start an investigation. Here is when we meet the main protagonist, Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell), a reserved highschool girl who is still coping with the recent loss of her mother. It is then revealed that the killer has a personal vendetta against Sidney when she receives a phone call at home while waiting for a friend. Sidney is then attacked within her own house. This is when she realizes that the killer has been trying to torment her by attempting to kill the people that she cares for.  

As the police investigation goes on, people begin to suspect that it’s Neil Prescott (Sidney’s Father) doing all the killings,since he hasn’t been seen since, and all recent calls have been tracked to his phone. But Sidney defends her father, and says that he’s gone away on a business trip, even though the police still don’t think that that is the case.

As more murders occur, school gets suspended. Stu, a fun loving party animal, throws a get together and invites most of the students from school. Sidney, fearing that the killer might strike again, and at the party specifically, shows up to put a stop to it, but to no avail. The killer ends up attacking a lot of people, inevitably leaving Sidney alone in the house to fend for herself. Can our tragic heroine survive? But the main question to this mind-bending mystery is, who is the killer?

Although the movie can have it’s funny moments, it’s quite intellectual nonetheless. If you've ever watched a horror movie and grew frustrated with the main protagonist’s antics, then this film is for you. “Scream” delivers a clever horror film by ripping on/critiquing past horror cliches. The characters themselves even have a conversation about movie cliches and address slasher movie stereotypes. “Horror movies are always about some big-breasted blond who runs upstairs so the slasher can corner her…” says one character in the film. “Scream” gives a unique twist to the horror genre, as it is almost as if this movie is self-aware that it’s a horror movie. The film also coves aspect of trust. As you go on watching the film, you begin to learn that those who may seem honest, might not have the purest intentions. With a killer on the loose only targeting those who are close to you, can you really believe your family and so-called friends?

“Scream” meets the criteria for the Mako Mori test because the protagonist is a girl named Sidney Prescott and she has her own backstory. Although there are many males throughout the film, Sidney’s backstory doesn’t draw any correlation to theirs. Towards the end of the film, it is proven that Sidney is quite strong and independent as she dukes it out with the killer all on her own, thus saving the lives of her remaining family and friends.

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An anti-gender bias film test that I came up with was the Pregnant Betty Test. Within the Emmy Award winning show “Mad Men”, the main protagonist’s wife Betty, gets pregnant, but in my opinion, it wasn’t a fair portrayal of women during pregnancy. She seemed very calm and reserved in her pregnancy, and she had no significant changes to her body, besides the fact that she had a larger belly, I feel like a lot of times, Hollywood doesn’t really have accurate portrayals of pregnant woman, and it’s just overly glamorized actresses wearing pregnancy suits. This test is called The Pregnant Betty test to give film/television directors a more accurate way to portray expecting mothers, and not just make her out to be a pregnant Betty Draper. The criteria for this test is 1) have the mother to be show weight gain or any bodily change 2) show the mother having morning sickness 3) have the mother to be show mood swings (besides crying) and an optional one is 4) have a scene where the mother to be isn’t wearing makeup or dressed up extravagantly or 5) the woman having an form of difficulty in her pregnancy or miscarriage.

A movie that depicts this "What to Expect When You Are Expecting", as the movie portrays 5 couples as they experience what it is like having a baby. Within the film, they go through all accurate and different representations of pregnancy through each month.
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Ashley De La Cruz-Film Review: Alice In Wonderland

The Bechdel Test is a test used to indicate the presence of women in films and to point out gender-inequality. The Bechdel Test consists of three important rules:

  1. There needs to be at least 2 women in it

  2. The women have to be talking to each other

  3. The topic being talked about can’t be about a man.

I think that the Bechdel Test is put in place because it’s trying to bring attention to the fact that many women aren’t given the bigger part, and when they are featured, it’s mainly them talking about their feelings towards a man. As a female, I think it’s unfair to be watching a movie and the only woman is talking about a guy she likes, because this makes me think of the gender-stereotypes that women only gossip, and women are always falling in love. What’s so wrong with a woman playing the hero and the man being the one to fall in love with her?

The Mako Mori test is a test used to depict when women play the leading role, or at least have a very important role, with their own backstory. The Mako Mori consists of three rules:

  1. There needs to be at least 1 female character

  2. The female character needs to get their own narrative arc/backstory

  3. The backstory can’t be about a man’s story

I think that the Mako Mori test is similar to the Bechdel Test because it’s trying to show that women need equality as well as men, they need to be seen just as much as men do. I think that the test exists because someone had realized that women weren’t the main characters often, or that women were just there as the sidekick, without actually getting to know them as well as the man’s story is told.

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The movie that I think meets the Bechdel test and the Mako Mori test is the movie, Alice in Wonderland (2010.) In this movie, there’s a girl named Alice, in the beginning, she’s attending an estate party, when suddenly a man she doesn’t like proposes to her. However, Alice doesn’t know what to do, when suddenly she sees a rabbit run through, so she decides to follow it, eventually leading up to a hole in which she falls through. When she lands, she realizes that now she is in a different world, Wonderland. There is wonderland she meets many new characters like, Cheshire Cat, the White Rabbit, the Mad Hatter, the White Queen, and the Queen of Hearts, to name a few. Once there, she’s informed by the White Queen that she’s been selected to slay the Queen of Heart’s jabberwocky in order to give the White Queen her power back, in order to restore peace. However, the Queen of Hearts wants Alice to leave because she presents a threat to her and her kingdom, so she orders people to find Alice and gives the order, “off with her head!” The reason Alice in Wonderland meets the criteria for the Bechdel Test is because there’s the scene where the White Queen is talking to Alice, telling her that it was destiny that her to their world. The women are talking to each other, about killing the jabberwocky, and not talking about a man. Another time when 2 women are talking, is when the Queen of Hearts and Alice encounter each other, because they speak briefly about what would happen if one of them won. This movie also passes the Mako Mori Test because the one main important female is Alice, and she has own backstory about how she ended up in Wonderland and about how it’s all up to her in order to save Wonderland from the evil Queen, which has nothing to do with supporting a man’s story. That being said, I think that Alice in Wonderland is a great movie because it features enough female characters, and about 1 or 2 male characters which is surprising because I think that that is rare.

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My anti-gender bias film test would have 4 rules in order for it to be a “good” movie:

  1. No gender-stereotypes would be present

  2. Has to have at least 1 main female character

  3. The main character can’t be white

  4. White people can’t play a role of another race other than white

I believe that it’s important for a film to not have gender-stereotypes present because there are some people out there who, while watching the film, will take offense from how they’re being portrayed because not all genders act the same way, or in the “stereotypical” way that people think of them. If they see a film where they’re been portrayed by someone that is like them, someone that they can relate to, they’ll most likely recommend the film to others. I also think that a film needs to have at least 1 main character that is a female because I feel that women don’t get as much credit for their roles, I feel like all of the attention goes towards the men in the films. Women aren’t treated as equally as men are, for example, for each dollar that a man gets, a woman gets 80 cents, which is unfair. Another important criteria would be that the main character can’t be white because other races, “minorities”, don’t get enough credit, most of the time, you’ll only see a few other races. I think that it isn’t fair for white people to take all of the spotlight and rarely give any to other races. Going along with this, another one of my criteria is that white people can’t play a role of another race other than white. Why hire a white person to play the role of a Hispanic, when you could get an actual Hispanic to play that part? This isn’t just for real-life actors, I think that it should also go for animated movies. I think that Alice in Wonderland somewhat passes this test because Alice, a female, doesn’t enforce her gender-stereotype, she is the fighter against the jabberwocky, which is surprising because normally it’d be a male in this scene. It also passes this test because the main character is female, and there are other females that are seen throughout the whole movie. However, it goes against my 3rd rule because Alice is white, so that part fails. In Alice in Wonderland, the majority of the characters are fantasy land creatures/made-up, so in reality, they’re not playing another role of another race other than theirs. The movie, West Side Story meets 2 out of 4 of the criteria because 1 of the main characters is a female, and she’s not white, she’s Latina. However, it doesn’t meet the 1st rule because gender-stereotypes are present, because the whole play is basically like “Romeo & Juliet,” and it doesn’t meet the 4th rule because the person that played the role of Maria, was actually of Russian descent. Other than that, a lot of movies do the same, they only meet certain criterias, this is sad because all of these rules are what I would enjoy seeing in a movie.

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¡El Coma! -Sam, Rasa, Grahm

Meet Antonio! Antonio is an average guy living a happy life. The only problem is he has an arch nemesis (Máximo) who will stop at nothing to steal his life! 
Watch what happens when Antonio slips down the stairs only to wake up two years later from a coma! What happened during those 2 years of his life? What has his nemesis, Máximo, done? Find out in the gripping, edge of your seat, sweat inducing, incredibly enticing, poorly written telenovela: ¡EL COMA!

PERSONAJES:  
Sam como Antonio  
Grahm como Máximo  
Rasa como Maria

Naima DeBrest Gender Bias Movie Review: Catch Me If You Can

Catch Me If You Can is an American biographical drama with some elements of comedy about the life of infamous con artist Frank William Abagnale Jr’s life, who was employed as a co - pilot, a pediatrician, and a lawyer all before his 21st birthday. Frank was able to master the art of forging checks at such a high degree that between the ages of 17 and 20 managed to forge over 1 million dollars in checks and consistently escape the grasp of the Detective Carl Hanratty who was pursuing him.

The movie was released on December 25, 2002, and was directed by Steven Spielberg. The star-studded cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role and Tom Hanks in the supporting role as Detective Carl Hanratty. The cast also includes Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams, Jennifer Garner, and Ellen Pompeo.

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Screenshot 2017-01-12 at 8.14.36 PM

As this movie did extremely well at the box office raining in 164 million dollars and scoring high on manly audience reviews it does not pass simple gender equality movie standard tests such as the Bechdel test or the Mako Mori test.

The Bechdel test is an analysis to see if movies show the same type of respectful character development to women as they do to men. It was developed in 1985 by a cartoonist Alison Bechdel in a comic strip called “The Rule”. The test can be conducted by seeing is a movie has at least two female characters, who have a conversation with each other, and it can not be pertaining to a man.

It is hard to believe that Catch Me If You Can with such a high female cast does not fit these requirements. All the main characters female never even speak to each other. So they are stopped at the second checkpoint of the Bechdel test.

The second test that analyzes gender equality in the telling of a movie the Mako Mori test. This test was invented after some criticism was made to the Bechdel test. After the movie, Pacific Rim was released with a strong female with her own narrative that wasn’t related to a man.

Sadly the movie Catch Me If You Can also doesn’t fit this test. It doesn’t fit this test because all of the females in the movie are just plot devices to show how many women Frank Abagnale was able to seduce or to show his skills of frauding his way around life.

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Screenshot 2017-01-12 at 8.18.29 PM

I propose that we use a new test to show if movies show women in not just a morally positive light but an educationally positive light. My test would be that a movie must have at least three women, at least two of them have jobs, and at least one of them has a job that requires some form of a college degree.

One movie that fits this criterion is the movie “The Martian” (2015). This movie fits because it contains many female characters who are astronauts and work as a scientist for NASA.

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Screenshot 2017-01-12 at 8.22.26 PM

Me Slide Reflection

Me Google Slide Jade Gilliam
I learned in this project the eye naturally wants the right kind design. I thought my slide originally was really good because I looked at the research but after having it reviewed I saw things I hadn't before like how I didn't have that much about me and that adding a few more pictures won't clutter the slide. I added the guitar so theres balance on both sides of the slide and I put the record to break the page horizontally. 

Hidden Figures

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                   Film Review: Gender Bias Lens
     Sometimes, it is not as easy to find a movie where a female’s role is greatly represented. So to address that disputed point, both the Bechdel test and the Mako Mori test were created to serve as a guide for finding quality female portrayal in films. However, the test are not an indicators of feminist movies but rather the role of the women in the film that you are watching. 
To begin, the Bechdel test is to test for the presence of females in a film. The test is named after Alison Bechdel who created the comic strip, Dykes to Watch Out For. In the comic strip, two women talk about seeing a film and one of the women explains that she would only see a film if it meet the criteria. In order for the women to see a film it must include two women, who have at least one conversation about something other than a man. The two women searched and realized that there was not a film that met this criteria. Alison put her comic and in a feminist newspaper and it has caught millions of people’s attention since then. 
Shortly after the Bechdel test, in 2013, the Mako Mori test was created. The creator of the test, Chaila, believed that in certain scenarios the Bechdel test was inadequate for calculating the representation of women in a film. The test was named after character, Mako Mori, in the film Pacific Rim. Similarly, it is a test to find the existence of female eminence in a film. In contemplation of passing the Mako Mori test, a film must meet the following requirements: The film must have at least one female character who has her own narrative arc, which does not exist to support the narrative arc of a male character. 
An great example of both test is the new film, Hidden Figures. In this film, three intelligent African American woman, Katherine, Dorothy and Mary, work as the brains behind the one of the tremendous operations in NASA history: the launch of John Glen. This operation was a remarkable achievement because it turned around the Space Race, brought back confidence within the nation and startled the world. This film meets the criteria of both tests because the three main characters are women, who discuss many plans and mathematical calculations with one another and their narrative arc does not support John Glen, moreso the other way around. 
If I were to create a test similar to the Bechdel and Mako Mori test, I would want my test to have the criteria of having at least one LGBT+ couple or an interracial couple that have their own narrative arc and serve a positive role in the film. This would be my specific criteria because I believe that although interracial and LGBT+ couples are widely supported by many around the world, the idea has not yet made it to the big screens. Nevertheless, when these couples are found in a film, they usually have a negative role or are portrayed negatively. I believe that this would be a great step in showing the great understanding and support of interracial couples and LGBT+ couples around the world. An example movie that meets the criteria for my test is the film, Loving. In this film, a black woman and a white man are the plantiffs in the Supreme court decision Loving v. Virginia.

Hush Film Review

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hush-behind-you

From the great minds of Mike Flanagan and Kate Siegel, the movie Hush receiving an average rating of 60% creates a new method when it comes to pulling the viewers into the eyes of the victim in thriller/horror. The film was first premiered at the SXSW Film Festival a month before its release on netflix where it grew in popularity by those who wanted a new style in the art of thriller and hopped to receive it through only independent cinema. The 82 minute film felt longer as they successfully kept myself and others to the edge of their seat wanting the movie to never end as we watched this seemingly helpless woman fight for her life. The movie stayed interesting as the use of loud music cues to shock the audiences stayed to a minimum and the use of jump scare tactics seemed nonexist

The movie sticked to an old fashioned feelings with modernizing technology such as iphones and mac pro laptops to bring the playing field to an even level for our victim who was both mute and deaf while our murder stayed true to an old timed weapon, a bow and arrow with a small modernization of it being in the form of a cross bow. I use the word “was” to describe the main character, Maddie played by the co-writer Kate Siegel due to what I believed to be an open ended interpretation of the ending of the movie, where they leave the viewers to decide how exactly the cops arrived to her home when all she had was a cell phone with the telephone feature opened the very last time we see her with the phone in her hand.

The main character/victim Maddie (Kate Siegel) is a deaf-mute writer, living in small home secluded in the words with one couple as neighbors who live right down the road but too far for hear shot. Some may say the setting is too convenient and is a set-up following the arts of Stephen King, I how ever feel the movie’s location makes the most sense due to Maddie’s intentions of finishing her book that she spent a good 20 minutes trying to overcome procrastination to do while the murder who hasn’t been named, sets up and and checks out the area.

The films work of using the senses to immerse us into the story through Maddie's POV surely kept me locked in my seat and amplified my enjoyment of the ride. We mainly focus on touch and hearing as the movie starts with the gained volume sounds of eggs cracking, onions being sliced, asparagus sizzling on the stove as Maddie cooks diner. When the camera draws to her face, the sounds then balance bringing us back to the way we would hear things. The movie continues these acts where the killer stands outside her window in his introduction where he knocks and scratches her glass door with his knife and we don't get to hear anything but a high pitch noises as we release we are back in Maddie’s POV as the killer stands confused trying to get her attention by banging on the glass.

As we learn more about Maddie, we find out that when she writes, she explores multiple endings with her mother’s voice coaching her in her mind as she makes a decision. So as she tries to survive her attacker, by thinking about each action and choice wisely by examining the outcome where almost everything she chooses her mother tells her will lead to death. At some point, I believe she began to make decisions blindly or that from the point in the movie where she she stops examining possible future is where she was living a future at which I mean, the ending wasn't really the ending but just a vision due to one of her decisions which would explain the absurdity I explained in the beginning of this review where she somehow called the police even though she is mute [and must I add, one minute prior to the “call”, she was being dramatically strangled by the murder].

On a standards or morals and political lenses. I can say the movie Hush passes The famous Bechdel test and my own test, The Mayhem Background Check. In the beginning of the movie Maddie has two different conversations. She has one with her neighbor sitting on the step and one with her sister via facetime. The conversation she has with her neighbor consisted of book talk, Maddie’s cat, and sign language. The conversation starts with the neighbor raising Maddie over her book and praising her. She then ask for the location of Maddie’s cat causing Maddie to sign the cat’s name, “Bitch”. The rest of the conversation consist of Maddie teaching her how to say “Bitch” in sign language. This exchange passes the Bechdel Test. As for The Mayhem Background Check I created, the test is to eliminate the constant twist of the male or female victim on stalking/murder to be an ex from the past. The Mayhem Background check ensures that the constant stereotype of a male killer who is unmasked is an ex boyfriend. However if the killer stays masked throughout the whole movie it's an automatic pass. In the movie Hush, the kill does unmask himself. The killer’s name remained a mystery as it is revealed to us that there is no real motive of the killer because there is no present or past relations between the two when these events unfold. So the movie is considered a pass when the test of The Mayhem Background Check is applied.

Clueless


The movie clueless gives you a first hand look into the stereotype of the privileged young woman in the upscale neighborhood of beverly hills. “ You’re probably think is this like a Noxzema commercial or what?” are the opening words of of Clueless, Cher (ALicia silverstone) begins to tell the viewers more about her life. As the movies continues we meet her best friend Dionne(Stacey Dash), “ she’s my

best friend because we both know what it feels like to have people be jealous of us.”

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Continuing on we find out more about Cher and her upscale life as we find out more about her school and her family. Her father is a litigator, which carries with her throughout her school as she argues her from C’s to A’s on her report card. Through the rest of the movie we see many different sides of Cher as she goes through the ups and downs.


This movie meets the criteria Bechdel test however, does not meet the Mako Mori test.  This movie meets the Bechdel test by having more than two women in it who talk to each other about something other than men. Clueless does not unfortunately meet the Mako Mori test because Cher, the main character falls in love with her love interest as she boost’s his character up.


If I were to make my own test it would be about diversity, The test on diversity would have the criteria of; at least 2 women of color, 2 men of color, actors of color must show a sign of education or being educated. I believe this test is needed because in many movies we don't see a lot of actors of color who are educated with lives that do not have some type of struggle story. In conclusion all movie test are  needed in order for producers to brush up on casting etc.  

Moana Review

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download

The movie “Moana” is Disney's newest Princess to grace the silver screen and there has been a lot of excitement drawn to her movie due to it being placed in the islands of Polynesia and having another woman POC. Historically, Disney princesses main goals have gravitated towards having a prince charming and living happily ever after, but Disney has had a good track record as of recent of allowing their princesses to have their own story arc that isn’t solely about having a prince or man to be loved by. Will they continue that trend? The main question here is does the movie pass the two feminist tests? We are here to find that out.

“Moana” is not only the name of our movie but also the name of our character and we find ourselves in the middle of a conflict not too long after the movie has started. Moana loves the ocean but her father wants her to stay focused on taking over the throne once it’s her time to become the first woman chief of her Polynesian tribe. A conflict that fuels the movie all the way to its peak. She finds her island to be slowly dying and has decided to find out why after a touching moment with her grandmother, the main person who has encouraged her love of water and venturing out of the reef. A rule that hasn’t been broken by the tribe up until now.

In her adventure past the reef she meets Maui, a historical demigod to her people who is responsible for her island dying because he stole the heart of a god. Maui has an interesting backstory that is usually more than that meets the eye but it isn’t thrown at you right away. He matches that of a person who is slow to trust and reveal their past, so to stay true to his character it is like he slowly trusts the audience to reveal who he truly is. The two have not quite an instant connection but grow to have chemistry that is hard to match in this movue.

From the stunning visuals that this movie proudly shows to the interesting story it tells, “Moana” is a must see for everyone. Not only does the Mako Mori test not stand a chance towards it with there being a lot more than one female character, this is also a movie that is centered around a woman who never gives up but has a male partner and isn’t just in the movie to support his cause. It is actually her who is determined to get him to support the cause and adventure they both share. One of the historically harder feminist movie tests the “Bechdel test” can barely ride “Moanas” coat tails either because of the many scenes of women empowering Moana to take her adventure, to not be afraid and to never give up. Her conversations with her grandmother were always my favorite part because she always had no hint of negativity for her. She always encouraged her to be great, and do what she was destined to do. When Moana was ready to give up it was her grandmother who was there to turn her around. And with the new feminist test the “Saa test”, Moana smashes that test with the evidence shown above that it is also no match. “Moana” has been a hit in the box office, has smashed even the hardest of feminist movie tests, has an amazing story, and some of the best animation of the year to boot. There is little to no reason to not see this movie and I recommend it to everyone and thing who can either hear, see or both.




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Moana Review: Harrison

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moana

There are not many movies out there that portray women as powerful. It has become such a problem that it has become typical in society today. So much of a problem that there was a test formed that represents women’s roles in movies. The bechdel test is a test for a movie that has two female characters speaking on something besides a man. The mako mori test is a harder test for a movie to past that requires at least one female character who has her own narrative and her narrative is not supported by a man. I found it rather hard to choose a movie that meets all of these requires but finally I settled on the new Disney Princess movie Moana.

Disney has really been trying to mix things up a bit and portray different races and body types of young women. They are starting to show different messages of independence in young women, showing that they no longer need to be rescued. Their newest princess, Moana, is a polynesian teenager on a mission to save her people from the destruction of the world. Moana is less of a princess and more of a chief to her people on her island of Motunui, which is an early settlement in the North island of New Zealand. She is heir to her father who grooms her into becoming a proper leader of their homeland.

The movie starts with showing a story of how the world was formed: in the beginning Earth was just oceans, until the island goddess Te Fiti came about and used her heart (a small green stone) to create life. Without it all life would die. Her heart was stolen by a shape-shifting demigod named Maui who wanted to give it to humans so that they would be able to create life on their own. Maui was then battled by Te Ka, goddess of lava, for the heart. He loses, leaving him and the heart lost in the ocean. The ocean chooses Moana a few years later to sail the oceans, find Maui, and have him return the heart.

The only problem with this quest — and, being a Disney movie, there has to be some kind of challenge — is that Moana doesn’t know how to sail, and her father won’t let her or anyone else leave the reef because of the dangers of the ocean. Moana finally decides to leave after the sudden death of her grandmother who tells her she has to save their island or it will die because the heart of Te Fiti has not been returned. The rest of the movie revolves around Moana setting out on her quest to save the world. With Maui, her pet rooster Hei Hei, and the ocean as her allies she is unstoppable. I believe the movie passes both tests. Moana is the main star of the movie and she has her own story that was not brought in by a man. Men are rarely brought up in the movie because shockingly Moana doesn’t have a prince nor does she need one. I think her not having a prince is what makes this movie so powerful. I believe she is the first Disney Princess to not have a prince of any kind and that’s important. It shows a change in the system and in the cultural norms of today’s society. Finding a man and being rescued is not the main idea of the story and that’s why I believe Moana passes the Mako Mori test and the Bechdel test.

The test that I would like to create is called the She-Stand test. The She-Stand test would require for two female characters to be in a movie together, not be against each other and each have their own story. I believe it is important for a film to meet this criteria because most of the time when two girls are in a movie together they have tension and I never understood why. I feel like it makes females look bad as though we can’t handle being around each other without it being a competition. I would honestly really like to see this stop. Sadly enough it was very difficult for me to find a movie that meets these requirement. Moana does not meet these requirements because she is pretty much the only female character consistently in the movie. Hopefully in the near future there will be more movies that meet the requirements for my test.

Overall I found the movie very enjoyable. I think that Disney did an amazing job portraying the culture and a young woman of color. Unlike earlier princesses of color like Tiana, Moana doesn’t look or act like every other Disney princess and I think that’s what makes her stand out a lot more. She is strong and doesn’t need a man or anyone else to rescue her, she is the rescuer of her own people. The movie completely exceeded all of my expectations and I applaud all those involved. It is a very good movie for children of different cultures, body types, and goals to watch.

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moanaarticle

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Review

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RogueOne-poster2-thumb

My film review is on the movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story using the Mako Mori test. The Mako Mori test is based on a character from the science-fiction movie, Pacific Rim. This test evaluates three things in a movie. First, the movie must have at least one female character. Second, the character must get her own narrative. And third, that narrative can’t be about supporting a man’s story. There is also the Bechdel test which focuses on needing two women who have at least one conversation that’s not about a man. These test are vital to movie culture for a couple reasons. First, the Bechdel and Mako Mori tests give movie directors a push to have a more diverse plot. This way we aren’t just seeing the same old recycled plot over and over again. Second, it shows that directors actually care about what light movies put women in. A movie being able to pass the Mako Mori test or the Bechdel test shows cultural progressiveness and shows that women can be more than something on earth for the sake of men. And third, the tests give moviegoers a higher standard for female actors, besides just being a wife who comforts her husband or other shallow and stereotypical female roles. The movie is centered on Jyn Erso (played by Felicity Jones), a woman who had her mother and father torn from her as a child. The Imperial forces, led by Director Orson Krennic, kill Jyn’s mother and takes her father with them to become an engineer for the Imperial force. She runs away before they get to her and gets taken in by Rebel extremist, Saw Gerrera (played by Forest Whitaker), who makes her into a great warrior. Fast forward many years later, she is now an adult. She joins the rebel alliance with the hope that she can find her father Galen Erso (played by Mads Mikkelsen). How does Star Wars, a famous $4 billion franchise—one that has spawned a Jedi religion followed by over 390,000 people— have relevance to a test that was inspired by a sub-par science-fiction movie? In this particular movie, Jyn Erso has detailed narrative arc that eventually leads us to the motive of the movie. She is the main character and while her story is about finding her long lost father, her narrative arc doesn’t lean on or support her father’s story. If anything, her father’s story is supporting her story. He makes this key to the destruction of the death star so that he can help defeat the Imperial Empire, but also so that he might one day see his daughter again and make the world a better place for her. To recap, the Mako Mori test needs one female character, which is accommodated to. One female character must get her own narrative arc, which is in a nutshell the plot of the movie. And finally, that narrative arc doesn’t support a man’s story, which is accommodated to. A new test that I would make would need a total of three things. The test is only applicable to superhero movies. First, it must have a female character. Second, that female character must have her own narrative arc. And third, the character can’t be a lover who is only there for the man’s needs or can’t be a sidekick. A movie that would pass this test would be Wonder Woman. She gets her own narrative arc and is there to save the world, instead of being Batman and Superman’s sidekick in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. I believe this is important criteria because women aren’t represented as strong characters in superhero movies. When they are seldom cast a superhero, they are cast as in a small role where they are there to occasionally assist the protagonist.

Storks Movie Review

Storks_(film)_poster_2.jpg

Storks is a disney movie that tackles the topic of babies and answers the question of where they come from. As presumed from the title you can see that the movie is focusing on the idea that storks deliver babies. This movie is very well animated and highly entertaining. Across numerous review sites it has scored very high with a 7/10 on IMBD, a 63% on rotten tomatoes, and a 89% from Google users. These ratings are well deserved by the movies comedy that is able to not attract children but also able to keep the adult audience interested. However it is 2017 and movies cannot be looked at on the surface anymore. We need to analyze them on a deeper more conscious level. This is why there are tests such as the Bechdel and Mako Mori test exist. For those of you that are not aware the Bechdel texts proposes the question if a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man. The Mako Mori test analyzes to see if there is at least one female character, this female character must also get her own narrative, and this narrative is not about supporting a man’s story. For this review of the movie Storks I will be using the Mako Mori test.

In short sense the movie Storks does pass the Mako Mori test. One of the two main characters is a female dubbed Tulip. Tulip is in search of her home as to her being a failed Stork delivery, and she is also on a mission to deliver a newborn baby to a home. This narrative arc given to Tulip allows her to pass the Mako Mori test and in the eyes of the Mako Mori test be considered a non gender social stigma conforming movie. However I feel as though the Mako Mori test is not the best way to test a movie on this level, therefore I have created my own test. The Social Stereotypes test.

The Social Stereotype test analyzes the main female characters in a movie and to pass this test they must be able to go against the stereotypes that have been assigned to females. When Storks is looked at through these eyes the movie fails horribly. Throughout the movie the main female character Tulip is deemed unfit for a real job, that is done by men, and is given the job of managing mail, because it is a simple task which she cannot mess up. This aligns with the stereotype that a woman cannot correctly do the job that a man will do. However this is not the main thing that causes Storks to fail this test. Tulip’s constant emotional instability and breakdowns cause her to conform to the stereotype that females are weak and unstable. However this doesn’t make this movie a bad movie. It must be kept in mind that the target audience is small children that most likely do not even know what sexism is and for that audience the movie does a superb job.

Boys Basketball Beats Bodine!

SLA Boys Basketball continued their winning ways with a 51-38 win over Bodine High School on Tuesday, Jan 10th. The Rockets were paced by their two senior captains, Ben Simon and Lew Ford. Simon led all scorers with 29 points while Ford contributed 18 points and nine assists in the win.

SLA takes their 4-2 record into today’s game against Marianna Bracetti. Go Rockets!

E1 U3: Sangre de la Familia (Janiya, Josiah, William, and Louisa)

A mother and father have a child together. When their son grows ill, they take him to the hospital. The doctor tells the two parents that their child has a rare disease and will need a blood transfusion. Find out what happens next in the many twists and turns of Sangre de la Familia.

Janiya como Estefani, Josiah como Miguel, William como Rafael (hijo), and Louisa como Dr. González

E1 U4 Telenovela: ¿Tres Novios? (Alex, Charles, Michaela, & Sal)

INTRODUCCIÓN

Ellos son tres chicos y una chica. Ella acepta invitaciones from all tres chicos at the same time and same place. Selena needs to figure out who to chose. Who will be successful in getting la chica. Stay tuned for the special premiere episode of ¿Tres Novios?


PERSONAJES

Charles como Carlitos

Alex como Juan

Sal como Jesús

Michaela como Selena


From Bad to Good


What I’m really trying to say is  I feel like high school was a big burst of freedom in my life, but I have problems adapting to the amount of freedom. It's like going from prison to a beach in hawaii. I was so amazed at the simple fact that I could have my phone out during lunch, because at my old school, it was run by a bunch of strict catholics and I wasn't even catholic and as soon as something happened, they all tried to blame me for it. We had lunch for 20 minutes then a 20 minute recess, and sometimes recess before lunch. Never could we have our phones out, not even during the after school program where they babysat us. It was so strict, they had this fake holiday every year called mercy day AND IT WAS ON MY BIRTHDAY EVERY YEAR. I swear they made it up just to piss me off. Some kid wrote graffiti on the bathroom walls, and the teachers called every boy in the school up to the office and told them to write who they thought it was and why on a piece of paper. 5 out of 60 kids wrote that it was me, because they wanted to get me in trouble, not because i did it, but because they didn't like me. The teachers called me in the office and said that they knew it was me because 5 FRICKIN KIDS SAID SO. We had strict rules. Detentions were given out for anything.


Here's where the real story starts from my point of view.I'm in Language Arts class, and my teacher is lecturing us on something, but i'm not paying attention. I start zoning out and falling asleep when I hear a loud announcement over the P.A. system. “ Will every boy from 5th to 8th grade please report to the conference room NOW!” “This can't be good”, I say to my friend myles as we all head for the conference room. “No it can’t.”, he says back. We all arrive at the conference room confused and we see out principal and 4 staff members looking very upset as they usher us in. We take up the entire room with no space to spare, most of us are sitting on the floor, and then the principal starts showing us some pictures. They are pictures of the bathroom stalls, but they have graffiti on them. “Good god”, I think to myself someone wrote F*** the principal. We all look around. Me and my friend Vaughn exchange concerned looks. The room starts to hum as we all talk to each other about how dumb we all thought this was. “QUIET!”, Our principal yells. We all snapped back to the quiet and we are all edge. The staff members start handing out index cards to all of us and when everyone had one, the Principal yelled for silence. “Now , I want everybody to write the following on their index card, Dear Principal, I am deeply sorry about what has happened. Then we had to write if we saw anyone do this, or who we thought was the culprit. We all took out our pens and wrote. I thought to myself about how stupid this was.

“People could literally lie and blame the kids they don't like, and sure enough, I was called to the office 20 minutes after we were dismissed. It rang out in L.A. class while I was mid nap. I woke up to the loud words of, “David Williams report to the office NOW”, this made me regret not telling the teachers why this was a bad idea. “Maybe my enemies had all decided to report me like that”, I thought to myself, “maybe they're doing this to every student. “Maybe they're calling me in to tell me who really did it. When I got there, I was about 8 teachers sitting at a round table. “Grab a seat”, one of them said. “This doesn't feel right”, I think to myself. “Why are they all looking at me like this?”. Then the Principal held up a picture of the graffiti and said, “I have 5 papers that put you here”. “You’ve gotta be frickin joking”, I said in my head, careful to keep my cool. I said to the teachers, “how does 5 kids saying that I did this mean I did anything. They probably just want to get me in trouble.” “this is no form of real proof, and I don’t think it’s fair to accuse me like this.”, I said, “and I'm not the type of kid who writes these kinds of things. Now here's the part of the story that hasn't been relevant until now. You see, earlier that day, me and a few kids happened to be in the bathroom and we were all bored, so we started throwing a washable marker at the mirror, making small blue dots on it.  We found it fun compared to class. Now the graffiti was written in red permanent marker, so obviously us and the person who wrote it had very different intentions. But that's now the point.

The point is that the teachers tried to use that against me, just because I was reluctant to tell them about it, and of course my friends ratted me out. So basically my teachers didn't trust me and I didn't trust anyone, except for my only 2 friends. I really hated my middle school for 2 main reasons: I could barely trust anyone, and my teachers never trusted me. It took the help of my parents for me to win what my teachers turned into a whole court case.  

My whole perspective changed on my first day at SLA. My mom drove me and dropped me off at 7:30. That was the earliest I had ever been to any school ever. I got free breakfast! “This school is already great!”, I thought to myself. At SLA during my first lunch, I quickly realized that we were allowed to use technology. It was an amazing change in my life. I want from hating my school to actually somewhat enjoying it. At SLA was able to enjoy myself without getting in trouble. I felt like I belonged , and I found new ways to express myself, like scooting. Overall, SLA was a big jump and took some getting used to, but it was a great decision and I'm happy right where I am.

From Bad to Good


What I’m really trying to say is  I feel like high school was a big burst of freedom in my life, but I have problems adapting to the amount of freedom. It's like going from prison to a beach in hawaii. I was so amazed at the simple fact that I could have my phone out during lunch, because at my old school, it was run by a bunch of strict catholics and I wasn't even catholic and as soon as something happened, they all tried to blame me for it. We had lunch for 20 minutes then a 20 minute recess, and sometimes recess before lunch. Never could we have our phones out, not even during the after school program where they babysat us. It was so strict, they had this fake holiday every year called mercy day AND IT WAS ON MY BIRTHDAY EVERY YEAR. I swear they made it up just to piss me off. Some kid wrote graffiti on the bathroom walls, and the teachers called every boy in the school up to the office and told them to write who they thought it was and why on a piece of paper. 5 out of 60 kids wrote that it was me, because they wanted to get me in trouble, not because i did it, but because they didn't like me. The teachers called me in the office and said that they knew it was me because 5 FRICKIN KIDS SAID SO. We had strict rules. Detentions were given out for anything.


Here's where the real story starts from my point of view.I'm in Language Arts class, and my teacher is lecturing us on something, but i'm not paying attention. I start zoning out and falling asleep when I hear a loud announcement over the P.A. system. “ Will every boy from 5th to 8th grade please report to the conference room NOW!” “This can't be good”, I say to my friend myles as we all head for the conference room. “No it can’t.”, he says back. We all arrive at the conference room confused and we see out principal and 4 staff members looking very upset as they usher us in. We take up the entire room with no space to spare, most of us are sitting on the floor, and then the principal starts showing us some pictures. They are pictures of the bathroom stalls, but they have graffiti on them. “Good god”, I think to myself someone wrote F*** the principal. We all look around. Me and my friend Vaughn exchange concerned looks. The room starts to hum as we all talk to each other about how dumb we all thought this was. “QUIET!”, Our principal yells. We all snapped back to the quiet and we are all edge. The staff members start handing out index cards to all of us and when everyone had one, the Principal yelled for silence. “Now , I want everybody to write the following on their index card, Dear Principal, I am deeply sorry about what has happened. Then we had to write if we saw anyone do this, or who we thought was the culprit. We all took out our pens and wrote. I thought to myself about how stupid this was.

“People could literally lie and blame the kids they don't like, and sure enough, I was called to the office 20 minutes after we were dismissed. It rang out in L.A. class while I was mid nap. I woke up to the loud words of, “David Williams report to the office NOW”, this made me regret not telling the teachers why this was a bad idea. “Maybe my enemies had all decided to report me like that”, I thought to myself, “maybe they're doing this to every student. “Maybe they're calling me in to tell me who really did it. When I got there, I was about 8 teachers sitting at a round table. “Grab a seat”, one of them said. “This doesn't feel right”, I think to myself. “Why are they all looking at me like this?”. Then the Principal held up a picture of the graffiti and said, “I have 5 papers that put you here”. “You’ve gotta be frickin joking”, I said in my head, careful to keep my cool. I said to the teachers, “how does 5 kids saying that I did this mean I did anything. They probably just want to get me in trouble.” “this is no form of real proof, and I don’t think it’s fair to accuse me like this.”, I said, “and I'm not the type of kid who writes these kinds of things. Now here's the part of the story that hasn't been relevant until now. You see, earlier that day, me and a few kids happened to be in the bathroom and we were all bored, so we started throwing a washable marker at the mirror, making small blue dots on it.  We found it fun compared to class. Now the graffiti was written in red permanent marker, so obviously us and the person who wrote it had very different intentions. But that's now the point.

The point is that the teachers tried to use that against me, just because I was reluctant to tell them about it, and of course my friends ratted me out. So basically my teachers didn't trust me and I didn't trust anyone, except for my only 2 friends. I really hated my middle school for 2 main reasons: I could barely trust anyone, and my teachers never trusted me. It took the help of my parents for me to win what my teachers turned into a whole court case.  

My whole perspective changed on my first day at SLA. My mom drove me and dropped me off at 7:30. That was the earliest I had ever been to any school ever. I got free breakfast! “This school is already great!”, I thought to myself. At SLA during my first lunch, I quickly realized that we were allowed to use technology. It was an amazing change in my life. I want from hating my school to actually somewhat enjoying it. At SLA was able to enjoy myself without getting in trouble. I felt like I belonged , and I found new ways to express myself, like scooting. Overall, SLA was a big jump and took some getting used to, but it was a great decision and I'm happy right where I am.

E1 U4 Telenovela: The Girl's Mine

INTRODUCCIÓN: Miguel, Missing, and Josefina have all been secretly in love with María. They each make a move and she says yes-to all of them! But the dates overlap-will they discover each other or will María get away with it? Watch La Chica es Mía to find out!

PERSONAJES: Nhu como Josefina, Lamar como Miguel, Thea como María, Alan como Missing.

Media Fluency - Reflection

My slide has 2 flags which are the American flag and the Khmer flag. Those 2 flags represent what I believe in. I am Khmer and African American. “Beauty isn’t about having a pretty face. It is about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and most importantly, a beautiful soul,” is my favorite quote because it has a meaning to being a good person with beauty in and out of you. I change my slide to simple colors to look ordinary because I didn’t want to have too much going on like my last slide. I fixed my tensions so it would look more proficient. Each picture I put has a meaning which are strong to me. The khmer temple which is in the left corner is the temple on the khmer flag. In the middle of the slide has my name and 2 eyes meaning I have 2 eyes and I look up to believe and hope for the good in everything. Next to that is a symbol which makes me happy because it’s a symbol that draws my attention and makes me think positive. My peers has criticized my slide and I took the feedback improved my slide to a simple black and white.

All about Dasia
All about Dasia

The Monkey Paw by W.W.jacobs

This old short story is about a mummy monkey paw that is given to a family who is poor the basic rules of the paw are that they are 3 wishes with it they wish for a few things but horrible things come with those wishes and their is a quote on the top of the story that says ¨ Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it.¨ and that will possibly be my main topic which is 3 wishes and around that topic.

https://americanliterature.com/author/w-w-jacobs/short-story/the-monkeys-paw

E1 U4 Telenovela: Te Quiero, Papá

INTRODUCCIÓN
Isabel skips home from kindergarten everyday. Her dad always reminds her, “Come home quickly and never talk to strangers!” One afternoon, she encounters some strangers who offer her ice cream. What will she say? What will they do? Find out in this episode of Te Quiero, Papá!

PERSONAJES
Monie como Isabel
Derek como Victor
Justin como Pablo (Papá)
Jade como Javier