Party at the Wex

Social Event 

September 28, 2019 at the Wexner Center 

A few Saturdays ago, I attended the Party at the Wex event with a group of IA students. That evening at the Wexner Center they had pizza and Jenni’s ice cream, which I was unfortunately unable to get my hands on. We walked around the exhibits currently there, and they were fantastic. The exhibits included art from Ann Hamilton, Jenny Holzer and Maya Lin. My favorite artwork on display were the provocative essays of Jenny Holzer that were displayed and repeated across one of the walls. They were really interesting to read and made you think considerably. Although seeing the wonderful art on display was a great part of the night, the main event was the showing of the 1991 movie Thelma and Louise. I had never seen the movie, but I had always heard about the significance of the movie as a powerful, feminist film. As a proud supporter of feminism, I was very excited to finally see this movie. 

While it’s been hard for me to figure out the connections between international affairs and this film, I ultimately think the message of this film, one of female strength and empowerment, is something that is an issue around the world. Promoting women’s rights and empowering women is an important issue in international affairs. Also, the coming together of people to watch this movie and see this message reminds me of the importance of spreading messages by bringing others together, so that they can really connect. It’s not only important to spread a message, it’s important to bring people together and share perspectives. This helps build an understanding between people, and attending events, like this one, where people are coming together reminds me of that. I might’ve of struggled to relate this to IA, but it was certainly easy to relate it to my cinema class. We haven’t made it that far in cinema’s history yet we have seen just how much cinema has transformed and evolved. And it wasn’t just the technology that evolved, it was also the messages and themes. So, I expect that this film was one that helped further evolve the themes expressed in cinema. 

After seeing the movie, I left the Wexner Center feeling empowered, strong, and proud to be a woman. We’re so used to seeing men in films like this one where there’s moments of action and violence. I think we have improved and we are seeing more women in action films, and sometimes at the helm of them. Maybe it was because I knew it was one of the first of its kind that this film just felt different. Yet, the film wasn’t just about action and violence obviously, it had its heartfelt and dramatic moments. As someone who loves films that balances everything out for example with moments of sadness but also ones of happiness, I loved this film for that very reason. 

Like I said, I love film and I have always been interested in how they are made. I don’t necessarily intend to pursue a career in film, but I would love to work on spreading positive messages through mediums, such as film. Ultimately, seeing this movie not only was a great time, but it made me more sure that I want to do work where important messages, like female empowerment, are spread. I also not just want to spread messages, but I want to bring people together to connect and relate to them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *