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Hey everyone, this week I am focusing on a piece of work that focuses greatly on the topics of racial injustice, power, and identity. The book (which was later got a film adaptation) I will be discussing today is “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas, and this fictional story of a biracial girl torn between her different identities is engaging and really opens the door for racial identity and how much it affects our lives. A brief synopsis (that does not spoil the book!) is that we are following the life of 16-year-old Starr Carter, who had witnessed the shooting of her childhood friend by a white police officer. Starr is swept up in national attention due to the racial aspects of the murder, and we get to see how Starr sees herself and gain insight in how the world sees people like her. Starr is a Black girl from a poor neighborhood that attends a predominantly white private school, and this instance of murder of yet another Black person at the hands of a white cop sparks tension with both aspects of her life, as those from both sides of her identity have strong feelings on how Starr should proceed. We also see the injustice that we see in everyday life, with the trial of the cop being publicized and a focus put on the backgrounds of the cop and the boy he murdered. The cop was portrayed in a much better light, which is unsurprising due to the power that a white cop holds in society compared to a young Black man. The power that this cop holds is further shown in the trial decision. One idea that the author wants the readers to take away from this novel are that identities play an enormous role in how we see ourselves and how we are treated by society, and it is important to question why that is. Why do we base power on things like socioeconomic status, and why do we continue to give in to the structural injustice that Black people face in America? Although this is a fictional story, it is crucial to acknowledge that is not fiction for many, and Black people in America face constant scrutiny and have had a lack of power since the founding of this country. Books like this, that are well-written while also bringing light to an important issue, are significant in the push for change.

Naruto Shippuden is a continuation of the story of Naruto. The main character, Naruto Uzumaki, experiences great discrimination and “Othering”. He goes through this because he has a monster that is sealed within him that almost destroyed the village that is from. For this reason alone, he is constantly berated and treated as lower than everyone even though it was not his choice to have this beast sealed inside of him. His story relates to many of the themes that we have been introduced to this semester such as prejudice and injustice.

Although in Naruto Shippuden, Naruto does not deal with as much hate and outcasting because he gains more respect of the people as this story takes place a few years later when Naruto is a young adult and has accomplished some notable things. His closest friend, Sasuke, is someone who deals more with “Othering” and outcasting. Sasuke’s clan/family that he is from has been completely wiped out by his older brother and he is the last one left from his entire bloodline. This causes him to be on a quest to avenge his clan and try to become as strong as he can to defeat his older brother. This causes him to become a reject and an “Other” because he decides to leave with one of the main antagonists of the show to train with him. This is ironic because Sasuke was always the one everyone liked growing up because of his great intelligence and power from his bloodline and Naruto was the outcast/”Other” because of the beast that was sealed inside of him but as time goes in the roles become reversed. Naruto gets more and more loved by the village because of his growth and for him accomplishing some great feats while Sasuke decides to join the side of evil to become as strong as possible which causes him to now become the “Other”.

The text that I chose to review for this assignment is Green Book by Peter Farrelly. In 1962, Tony “Tony Lip” Vallelonga, a tough bouncer, is looking for work when his nightclub is closed for renovations. The most promising offer turns out to be the driver for the African American classical pianist Don Shirley for a concert tour to the deep south states. Tony accepts the job and they begin their tour with the Green Book, a travel guide for safe travel through America’s racial segregation. As they witness and endure America’s injustices on the road, they find a respect for each other’s talent and finally become good friends.

Throughout the film, it’s not hard to find that Don is always treated as Other by different groups of people because of his different types of identities.Just like Marji in Persepolis, who feels this kind of ” Other-ness” due to her identities as both a foreigner to the Austrians and a woman, Don is also confused by his multiple identities and couldn’t find a sense of belonging to both sides-the White and the Black.  Even though he is a talented, elegant and gentlemanly pianist whose music is praised by every audience, he still face racisms and discriminations due to his skin color. He is an outsider out of the stage, for example, he is not allowed to use the same bathroom as those white audiences and is not able to have dinner with white people in a restaurant. Meanwhile, due to his highly economic status and educated background, he is not accepted by his Black community as well. This way, he becomes someone in the middle, as he is not completely white or black.

What’s more, the film also depicts some systemic injustices as well. After a show, Don finds that Tony is gambling with other black drivers, and says ” they didn’t have a choice whether to be inside or out, but you did.” Despite the fact that Don is aiming to let Tony be a man with aspirant, he also points out an injustice in America which is the Black people are not granted the equal rights as white people. At that time in the south states, black people are born to be the slaves and become lower class, they don’t have a chance to get rid of the poverty at the beginning. But Tony, as a white man who is not born in a wealthy family, still has a chance to change his status through hard work. Don himself also suffers from the injustice brings by the power system. He tries his best to get into the upper class but is failed simply because his skin color.

Through this movie, the creator wants to say that people should not be confused with multiple identities, instead, they should mix the part that’s good for them to fit in and also remain the part who they actually are. And people should have the courage like Don to fight against racism and injustice.

The show Naruto is a television series created by Masashi Kishimoto, aired on September 21, 1999 – November 10, 2014, as well as within the English publishment with Madman Entertainment. The show Naruto is about the story of a boy who grows up without the love of a family, struggling in life, and being hated by his own village without a reason of knowing.  I see the deeper perspective within the show because even though he struggles with his own life, he would always give a helping hand to others no matter what. This can be seen within real-life because families and individuals who struggle and have nothing still find a way to give and help those who are in pain and give guidance with everything they have.

The show Naruto brings in a style of discrimination and abuse but I am focusing on the first season because it is presenting mostly there and is bringing in the history of his suffering to the audience before it goes into his life. It connects to what we have been discussing in class because this would fall under injustice behaviour and is it unright to be treating an individual for being compared differently to others. Within the show, it is all about chakra, a form of energy that a person can use to perform inhuman abilities. The boy has a demon with an enormous amount of energy that can defeat anyone so the leader of the village basically uses him as an army resource in case of an invasion. Through that action is would also connect to child labour that would connect with injustice behaviour and can be very dangerous for the child and is an inhuman act for a leader. Overall, the television show Naruto connects to a wide variety of injustice behaviour that does not only connect to the main character but various types of characters that have faced homelessness, abandonment, abuse, etc.

Disney is known for producing inspiring movies for children. Hercules is one of those movies. It follows a boy who is trying to find his place in society. Hercules is the son of the god Zeus. However, as a baby, Hercules was taken from the gods by Hades and turned half mortal. Because of this, he is no longer allowed to live with the gods in Olympus. He is found on Earth by a couple who take him in a raise his as their own. Once Hercules becomes a teenager, it is obvious he is very different from his peers. He is too strong and tends to destroy things on accident. He is seen as an outcast in the human world. Once Hercules finds out that he is a son to a god, he must prove himself to the gods in order to live in Olympus with them. He begins training and learns to control his strength. He fights off many monsters, however it is not enough. Zeus says that Hercules needs to do something heroic and to listen to his heart. In the end, Hercules gives up his own life to save the life of the woman he loves. Because of this selfless act, Hercules becomes a god. However, he chooses to live on Earth to stay with the love of his life.

Throughout the film, we watch Hercules struggle to figure out who he is. He identifies both as a human and as a god. This struggle in identity is what makes him an other in society. He does not fit in either the human world nor the god world. The humans treat Hercules like an outcast and the gods will not allow Hercules to live with his family since he is not a full god. If we look back on The Leavers, we can see how Deming and Hercules are similar. Deming struggles to find his place in society while struggling to understand his identity. Both are viewed as others within their societies. In the movie Hercules, we watch as society shuns Hercules. His own father tells him not to move as he goes into a store in town and leaves Hercules outside so he cannot accidentally wreck anything. By the end of the movie, he is still seen as an other but society now likes him.

In our own world, we see this happening everyday, especially in schools. The kids that are different from everyone else are looked at as the other. They feel like they don’t have a place. The movie is supposed help showcase that even if you are an other, you can standout and embrace your differences.

The movie that I chose to use for this assignment is The Blind Side which is the true narrative of a story from a young man that comes from roots of poverty named Michael Oher. It tells the amazing story from how he comes from absolutely nothing and then turning himself into a successful NFL football player. The reason I chose this movie is because its an example of  identity change and it shows how culture plays a large role in the trajectory of ones life. Michaels childhood was really rough, he comes from an household of pain and poverty and unwelcomeness. This played a large role in his happiness on the everyday level, and some of these events in his early childhood caused him depression, and made him feel left out of goodness. Then he had a woman by the name of Leigh Anne Tuohy come into his life and completely change it for the better, she shows him hope and brings him to a community where he can feel welcome and respected for who he is and his life started to change and never went back. The reason that this is so impactful is because it is showing how important culture plays a role in someones life. When he moved away from his old living arrangements he didn’t change who he was, he was still Michael Oher, the 6’5 315lb African American man in America. What around him changed, his culture, the people in his circle, and this is what matters that controls ones destiny. To compare this issue to people in our current day, people everyday struggle with harsh living arrangements and mistreatment and bad cultures at a young age and this usually puts them on a path to failure. If we can get more people living with a more just lifestyle, and positive culture we will see happiness and motivation more often in people.

The 1997 film Selena is a biographical drama about Selena Quintanilla, a famous Mexican-American singer in the 1980’s. Her father, Abraham, was a former vocalist in a band called Los Dinos who faced racism and discrimination due to his Mexican decent. After the decline of the band, he noticed the vocal talent of his youngest daughter, Selena, and started a family band called Selena Y Los Dinos consisting of Selena and her older sister and brother. As Selena grew older and started recording albums, she became very popular and became know as the “Queen of Tejano” which is a style of Mexican music that incorporates different types of music such as western along with it. The films shows how she becomes the first female crossover Latin artist, but the end of the film reveals that she gets murdered at the age of 23 by the founder of her fan club, Yolanda Saldivar. 

The film depicts many injustices that occur during Selena’s life, but I want look at the injustices that her father also had to deal with that gets brought up in the film but can be overlooked. A major point in the film that stuck out to me was about interesting identities when Selena’s father says to her, “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It’s exhausting!” Abraham understood that by being Mexican American he was seen as “Other” by Mexicans and by Americans and always had to prove himself by having to be Mexican enough to the Mexicans and American enough to the Americans. An example of injustice due to intersecting identities of being Mexican American and speaking Spanish and English is of when Abraham and his band were always told by society what they could and couldn’t play. For example, they were performing at a club and were called “queers” for singing English music instead of Spanish language Mexican music because they looked Mexican. Another example in the film is of a club owner refusing to pay the band after finding out they were Mexican American. They were also turned down for motel rooms and venues for being Mexican American in predominately white neighborhoods.

I think a take away by Abraham stating that “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans” is that we set ourselves up as the “One” over others with the same identity as us, such as using systems of power for Americans to marginalize other Americans or Mexicans to marginalize other Mexicans. I think this also shows that there is discrimination and marginalization in all levels of society and challenges us to think about what ways we see this in our own life. What can we do prevent ourselves as setting ourselves up as the “One” over others who do or don’t share intersecting identities as us? 

Invisible Man, a novel written by Ralph Ellison and published in 1952, follows the story of an unnamed Black narrator throughout his early adult life as he faces widespread racism and discrimination found in America during the 1920’s – 1930’s.  The narrator recounts his expansive journey from a college student to his current position living underground, including his struggles moving to a new city, the challenges he faces working at a factory, and finally his complicated involvement in an organization that claims to be fighting for those that are oppressed. Throughout all this, the novel spares no detail and incorporates many symbolic events and meanings that readers are left to consider regarding the relationship of race and power.  

The novel does a fantastic job at illustrating multiple theoretical concepts regarding power dynamics. Concepts such as de Beauvoir’s One and Other theory, subaltern status, and even intersectionality can all be seen at work in the narrator’s story. Even the novel’s title, a reference to the narrator’s claim that he is “an invisible man” that society does not truly see as a complex individual, is an example of Spivak’s subaltern theory. Readers will observe as the narrator’s attempts to establish himself are ignored and undermined throughout the novel as the dominant white culture (the One) defines him as an inferior individual (the Other) that, at times, is simply just an object to the point that he cannot be heard and cannot be seen (hence his self-titled “invisibility”). By the novel’s end, the narrator comes to reflect upon his story and recognizes how his unique experiences and identities influenced his choices and perceptions of the world in a moment that highlights an example of intersectionality. 

It is difficult to review this text and make note of the many theories it contains without revealing too much information about the novel. Invisible Man is best when read in the absence of many plot explanations, as completely understanding the novel before reading it takes away from the reader’s ability to discover its intricate symbols and concepts for the first time. Invisible Man is an incredibly detailed and complex reading that offers remarkable commentary on power dynamics within society based on race while examining how these dynamics impact an individual’s perception of identity and purpose, and I highly recommend it to anyone searching for a unique and meaningful reading experience. 

What’s Behind Rick and Morty

There’s a famous Netflix TV series called Rick and Morty. Many believe that it is the best sci-fi cartoon for the recent years. The visual effects are astonishing and the story is mind-blowing containing sarcasm on different social phenomenons. I would like to discuss about season one analyzing some interesting perspectives that Rick and Morty take to reflect certain injustices and identity problems.

The background setting of Rick and Morty is also very important. Rick, the smartest man of all universes while Morty is his grandson. They go on different adventures in different world and universe. These stories look crazy and ridiculous but they always give you something to think about.

In Season 1 Episode 5, Rick and Morty go on a relaxing adventure. In the bathroom, Morty meets a molester, forced to beat the molester up. This scene is designed to make the audience feel “frightening, uncomfortable, disgusting”. Later on, Rick and Morty help a poor village solve their problems and the villagers are very thankful. Then, Rick and Morty find out that the molester is actually the king of the village. Both of them are in shock so Rick shoot the molester dead before they leave. After the death of the king, his servant finds the photos of king molesting other children. He asks the minister what he should do with the photos. The minster asks him to burn the photos instead of presenting to the public. The minister believes that it is better for the king to be a symbol, the idea that the king represents, not who he actually is.

This episode gives me a lot of thinking. Justice and injustice seem are two opposite concept. However, one man’s justice can be another man’s injustice. It seems to be unfair for people not knowing the truth. This can be considered as injustice. However, the minister knows that people need faith in their king to carry on. It’s better to leave the glory character of king in people’s heart. When people talk about injustice, it’s a matter of different perspectives. Murder is injustice. However, soldiers fighting for their countries killing enemies is justice. That’s where I start to realize that the determination of justice is not a problem of right or wrong, black or white. Your justice might be someone’s injustice while your injustice might be someone’s justice. There’s a saying in China, “your bottom decides your head”. It means that the your position, your identity, your knowledge decide how you think of a matter. That’s the reason why I like Rick and Morty so much, it provides an alternative perspective that allows me to see things in different ways.

Citation:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2861424/

I’m going to introduce a film that won the 91st Academy Award. It was the most dazzling film in the ceremony. 

The story is that Tony worked as a waiter in a nightclub. The club will be closed for a few months, but Tony had to pay the rent and living expenses, so he must find another job. At this juncture, a black pianist named Don hired Tony. Don was about to embark on an eight-week tour of the South. However, discrimination against blacks in the South was very strong at that time. Tony became Don‘s chauffeur and bodyguard. Along the way, their different personalities caused a lot of conflicts between them, at the same time, Don suffered in the south of a variety of unfair treatment also let Tony feel hatred of racial discrimination. In the process of getting along, they became close friends.

In that period, even though Don was a highly educated pianist, he was disrespected because of the color of his skin. Some people were polite to him just because of his talent. He is also struggling about his multiple identities, as they are released from the police station on a stormy night. He said, “I’m not black enough, I’m not white enough, I’m not even man enough, so who am I?” In the pub where he is beaten just because of his skin color, Dr.Shirley is in the Third Space and it seems that he also becomes the Third Space itself. Those words touched Tony deeply. Tony understood Don‘s loneliness, and why Don always drank alone at night, and what he thought when he looked in the rear view mirror. Tony, poor and happy, can eat 26 hot dogs for $50, while Don sits on a luxurious throne at the top of the castle, with no one to speak of. 

  But Dr.Shirley, who epitomized the black people of his time, was one of the luckier ones. There are so many black people behind him, in the eyes of discrimination and prejudice, quiet live the suffering but ordinary life. So, Don has to step up and change that. Don was willing to give up the security of the North and come to the South to endure hostile eyes. “Being genius is not enough, it takes courage to change people’s hearts,” he said. The year after the Green Book story, 250,000 people gathered in Lincoln Square in Washington, D.C., to speak out against racial discrimination. Not everyone has the ability to summon up courage, but as the film said, courage can change many things. Cultural inequity will cause unequal powers. However, in the process of such cultural hybridity, it can also provide the possibility for the relatively disadvantaged party to hear their voices and appeal for rights.  

  “It is often not the skin that determines who we are, but the world beneath it, made up of everything we have seen and loved.” 

Word Cites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Book_(film) 

https://time.com/5527806/green-book-movie-controversy/ 

https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/green-book-mahershala-ali-top-10-movie-performance-best-of-culture-2018.jpg