Movie Review Essay Example for Free

Movie Review Essay The famous, well known writer and director Meera Syal has written a breathtaking movie Anita and Me. Meera Syal is a best selling novelist and has sold thousands of her fantastic stories one of which is called, Anita and Me all over the country. Syal puts a lot of herself in her work and also she is a British born woman; however she still has her Indian origin which revolves in her storys and movies. Her movies have been compared to the following Bend it Like Beckham and East is East. These movies all have an Indian culture behind them as well as a fun and laughter side. Its also has its own culture in the movie while being surrounded by the British society, and also one which a young girl wants very much to be a part of, although the dominant culture doesnt mean it is going to be all peachy, if that is what you are thinking, that is what made it the most amusing and most incredible movie of the year. The story of Anita and Me basically revolves round Meena when she was living in a little village called Tollington. Meena is a young Indian girl who was born in Britain. She wants to be like all the other British people in her neighbourhood, eating fish finger instead of chapattis, having colourful flowers in her garden instead of crop and also have a normal life were you could go out whenever you wanted to with your mates, but instead Meena has to spend more time with her family. To be honest Meena wants to be English! See Meena is Punjabi and she cannot speak a word of Punjabi, however her midlands ascent is stronger than most of the families which have been living there for generations. Her parents brought Meena to England to have a better quality of life for their daughter, but Meena is having a difficult time adjusting to her surroundings. However trouble rides up in town when a girl gang known as the wenches, who very much enjoy teasing young boys and thieve from their local sweets shop, unfortunately for Meena, the gang leader was her next door neighbour and soon became her future best friend. Meena and Anita eventually formed an unlikely bond, and become like blood sisters, vowing to be there for each other through thick and thin. However, Meena was facing her secondary school entrance exam and during that time she had suffered domestic abuse by Anitas mother and toured the two girls apart. Meena wants to be like Anita, a blond, light-headed British girl who is 14 years old. Meena admires Anita for her charm, good looks and her independence, and in so many different ways Meena wants to be like her. The story took place in year 1972. Political correctness has not yet been invented. The called dark skins in English villages are as rare as black footballers in the First Division. Life me be quite old fashioned, but its also racist. For example:  Meenas friend Anitas mum comes home one day with a cuddly black poodle pup.  Whats it called? Anitas little sister asks. Nigger, she is told. And no-one blinks an eye. In the movie some of the British characters refer to Meena and her family as wogs and darkies. A member of Meenas family was beaten up and was killed for being Indian. Meena then finds out that Anita and her boyfriend Sam went Paki bashing (go of to kill the Indians). This starts to ring a bells and Meena then realize that it was Sam who killed her uncle. The film finally ends with English music being played in the background. The whole family starts to dance to the music and then Meenas Dad begins to sing in Punjabi along with the music. This shows that the two cultures are eventually beginning to mix and become friends. From racism to the repairs to the local church this movie covers most of the areas of life. In the movie Meena becomes more independent and begins to make her own decision towards her life, whereas before her parents used to make them all. There has been some high and low points in Meenas family life and eventually they get what they want in the end and the neighbourhood becomes more peaceful. Meena passed in her entrance exam for the Grammar School and so the family can move to a better neighbourhood. Meena found out that she couldnt please the whole world even if that did mean her racist neighbourhood because she was meant to Indian. When Meena moved away to live closer to her new school, she had left behind a chapter of her life, and had matured enough to have realized that Anita was never a real friend. I personal think that this movie a perfect example of what Indians where put through back in the days in England. The English had discriminated the Indians and the Asians just because of their skin colour, however this doesnt only happen in England, it happens all over the world. This movie is also show a culture side of the story and a bit of history about Indian, such as the independents when India and Pakistan was split into to different countries. The movie Anita and Me was amusing and enjoyable to watch and was fast moving. Anita and Me is a unique vision of the British childhood in the early seventies, a childhood caught between two cultures, each on the edge of enormous change. For these points I would rate this movie 4 star.

Pagan Elements in Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf Essay -- Whos Afraid

Pagan Elements in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf    "I am preoccupied with history" George observes in Act I (p. 50) of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. But his relationship with his wife, Martha, seems to lean almost towards anthropology. Pagan social and religious elements in Albee's work seem to clarify and enhance the basic themes of the play.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pagan trappings adorn the whole structure of the play: the prevalence of alcohol, the "goddamn Saturday night orgies" (p. 7) Martha's father throws, Martha's identification as "the only true pagan on the eastern seaboard... [who] paints blue circles [of woad?] around her things" (p. 73) or "the Earth Mother" (p. 189), or George's injunction, in Old Testament language, to "just gird your blue-veined loins, girl" (p. 205). The stage seems set for religious ritual. Even the act titles have pagan religious significance. "Fun and Games" are of course the prelude to many a religious event, even in the Christian Easter and Christmas. "Walpurgisnacht" or "St. Walburga's Night" is the evening before May Day, when Christians claim witches and nightmares are on the roam. But May Day and the evening before is also the pagan Beltaine, a day of fertility rituals as the God and Goddess bring vitality and passion to Nature -- a maypole signifies masculine fertility; the flowers about it show feminine vitality ("flores para los muertos"? (p. 195)). And "The Exorcism" is a banishment of the spirit of evil, in the sacrifice of the imaginary child who has become a scapegoat bearing all George and Martha's sins. Martha tries to wield her power like an old-style matriarch, saying "I wear the pants in this house" (p. 157) and controlling Nick as a "houseboy" (p. 1... ...avior by sweeping away its very foundation, by changing her beloved son into the pagan scapegoat who bears away all the twisted, hateful history they have both constructed around him. The pagan elements in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? strengthen the main themes and plot of Albee's play. Martha's boisterousness and sexuality make her a sort of pagan priestess, but one trapped by the myths and illusions she has constructed in her worship. But George's Latin burial service at last banishes the restless spirit who had so haunted his relationship with Martha, and it bears away much of their tortured past, making a fresh slate. Samhain has been fulfilled: the God and Goddess begin again, to build a new, more fertile relationship between themselves for the new year. Page numbers for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? are taken from the 1984 Atheneum edition.

Global Youth Culture Essay

Culture obviously varies all around the world from country to country, but the basics are always the same. What makes up culture? Does culture change based on the age of the people or the different generations? Culture consists of language, entertainment through mediums such as music, movies, literature, etc. , fashion, art, food, and more. Culture most definitely changes depending on where you are in the world. For example, it can be as simple as spoken word. The language we speak here in American is vastly different then language spoken over in China or France, and that is one of the fundamental building blocks of culture differences. One thing that is really great and unique about the United States of America is that we have such a diverse mix of people and cultures. America has often been referred to as the â€Å"melting pot† because of the variety of people we have living here. Our culture as a nation has been shaped and molded from all of the people from other places in the world. As a young adult in America, I pay a lot of attention to many parts of our culture such as music, movies, books, and fashion. After exploring the web for blogs from different countries, I found that that doesn’t change throughout the globe. A twenty-year-old student that lives over in London, England is a lot more like me than you might guess. This one blog called â€Å"London Culture Blog† especially caught my attention. I stopped on this blog and started scrolling through some of the posts and realized that a lot of what they are talking about are things that my friends and I talk about too. This was pleasant surprise because ever since I was little, I’ve always wanted to go to England and be just like the British. I thought it was so cool having an accent, wearing cute uniforms to school and having a leading royalty. Although that is still a dream I’ve yet to live out, it was really interesting looking at this blog and seeing that I’m not that far off. Some of the posts on the blog were about things that we talk about in America too, for instance, the movie/ musical Les Miserables as well as International superstar, Justin Bieber. It is very cool to me that there are those parts of our culture that is shared by people all over the world. I find it very comforting and interesting that I could be listening to a Bieber song at the same time as someone across the world. However, as to be expected, parts of the blogs were about artists I have never heard of, and those posts were just as fascinating. I found myself reading about a certain British musician and getting so intrigued that I had to go look up their music. I read a post about a young male musician named Jake Bugg. He was born and raised in England and his music often reflects that. The blogger said, â€Å"His influences stretch back 40 years – he’s got some of the basic song structures of early Beatles’ tracks and there’s more than a hint of the Bob Dylan troubadour style too. He also takes inspiration from the more recent generation of Britpop; at times, he sounds like an early, acoustic version of Oasis. † When I listened to some of his songs, they sound completely different than songs you would hear on everyday radio in America and that’s just because the difference of culture. In my opinion, British music is a lot more meaningful and deep and actually causes you to think and relate to the lyrics unlike some American music. Global youth culture around the world is a lot more similar than I thought I would find. I expected it to be a lot different but the fact is that we feed off each other. We use other cultures to constantly shape and change our own and vice versa. Whether it’s fashion, music, cuisine, or dance, we take ideas and use them to create a new addition to our culture. That’s what ties this whole world together and keeps us so connected.

Mental Health Is It More Or Less Important Than Stigma

Mental Health: Is it More or Less Important Than Stigma Surrounding it? According to save.org, 30,000 Americans commit suicide a year. In the United States, an average of 5,240 children in grades 7-12 attempt suicide every day (Jasonfoundation.com). Most of these kids exhibited clear signs of struggle and depression before their deaths/attempts. Implementing a psychology course in schools centered around dialectical behavioral therapy will lead to a decrease in adolescent suicide, and an increase in understanding the mind and its components. In recent years, the amount of obtainable information for the general public has increased dramatically, meaning there is a larger chance to learn about the world, but also, a larger chance to come†¦show more content†¦This in addition to the fact that behaviors indicating struggle often go unnoticed in school settings leads to unanswered questions for the children dealing with these problems. Often times when a child is depressed and has no one to turn to so they can talk about it, be it a professional therapist, a parent, or a teacher, they will try to fix the problem themselves, which can result in maladaptive coping mechanisms. Maladaptive coping mechanisms are behaviors, actions, and or thoughts that serve a purpose to help an immediate problem, like sadness, anxiety, or suicidality, but are not a helpful adaptation in the long run. Examples of this are cutting, over eating, undereating, avoidance, dissociation, over sleeping, not sleeping, isolation, and in extreme cases, attempted suicide. If a child is not introduced to balanced and healthy coping mechanisms, they will seek their own, and often the ones they find will not be healthy or safe. It would be impossible for every parent to know everything about psychological processes, so it stands to reason that a psychological course implemented in schools would be beneficial to any student attending, and would result in lower suicide rates amongst not only adolescents, but also the adults of future generations. A widespread knowledge of the general workings of the brain, and more specifically, the best ways to stay grounded and safe, will be vital for the development ofShow MoreRelatedThe Stigma Of Children With Mental Illness1608 Words   |  7 Pagesassociation with mental illness. This stigma creates a negative feedback loop in how society views people with psychiatric disabilities. Media portrays people with mental illness as scary, bad, dangerous, unpredictable, and un-educated. These views cause people to shy away and fear the mentally ill. This stigma also affects a person’s willingness to seek help when they are experiencing a mental illness. 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