Author: hoffman.1236

Text Review Assignment- In the Dark

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       The medium I chose for the text review assignment is the tv series on Netflix called In the Dark. The main character in the tv show is Murphy, who is blind. Murphy copes with her daily struggles through drinking and hookups. Murphy’s life is turned upside down one night when she feels her best friend, Tysons, body dead in an alleyway. She is convinced that this is her best friend Tyson, but when she goes to the cops, the body has been moved, therefore the cops cannot make a case. Friends, family, and cops question what if the body was truly Tysons lifeless body, therefore Murphy tries to solve the question of what happened to Tyson mostly by herself. 

       Because Murphy is blind, she constantly feels “othered” by the people around her. The cops do not believe that it was Tyson’s body because she is blind, so how would she know, but Murphy felt his face, therefore she is confident that it was him. Furthermore, Murphy struggles with her new boyfriend feeling suffocated as he wants to help her with everything, which she quickly and angrily refuses. Also, others around her tend to tell her placements of things as “it is over there,” being blind she does not know where over there is. Murphy struggles to find the balance of asking for help because she is tired of constantly being questioned and “othered” by those around her. 

       In addition, Murphy also struggles with her identity and the identity of others. There is a scene when she is in the high school bathroom with a couple of high school girls and they put her in front of a minor, and describe what she looks like. Murphy quickly because uncomfortable because she struggles with her identity, partly because she is consistently “othered” by people. Also, others around her are constantly criticizing her, so it was hard for her to hear compliments about herself. This tv show creates questions about identity and how our treatment of others can affect those who are not as confident in their identity. Murphy struggles with her identity, but she tries to hide and suppress her feeling through drinking and solving the death of her best friend, Tyson

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Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase: China’s Repression of Uyghurs

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       Globally there are many examples of systemic injustices ingrained into society. In the article “China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang” Lindsay Maizland states the oppression and cultural discrimination Muslims, in particular, Uyghur Muslims face from the Chinese government. The Chinese government sees Uyghurs as potential terrorists, therefore the government makes and enforces laws to put Muslims in detention camps to “educate” them. As of 2018, these detention camps have been named, “Vocational training centers,” and the government claims these centers “have two purposes: to teach Mandarin, Chinese laws, and vocational skills, and to prevent citizens from becoming influenced by extremist ideas.” In reality, the government is using these concentration camps to “monitoring their every move,” “[torture] and [subject] to sleep deprivation during interrogations,” sexually abuse women, and make Muslims “[contemplate] suicide or [witness] others kill themselves.” China is culturally discriminating against Muslims and not allowing them to practice their religion. Muslims, “often, their only crime is being Muslim…adding that many Uyghurs have been labeled as extremists simply for practicing their religion.” The Chinese government rationalizes their discrimination against Uyghurs by stating that since 2016 “Xinjiang has not experienced a terrorist attack” therefore they believe that concentration camps prevent violence. 

       The cultural discrimination the Chinese government has in place against Uyghurs is unjust. Muslims are unable to freely practice their religion because of laws not allowing them to have“long beards and [wear] veils in public.” Furthermore, the government has also destroyed “thousands of mosques, often claiming the buildings were shoddily constructed and unsafe for worshippers.” Uyghurs should be able to practice their religion freely and not have to conform to a religion the Chinese government deems socially acceptable. Some extreme Muslim groups have committed terrorism, therefore the Chinese government uses this rationale to discriminate against Muslims, label them all as terrorists, and a threat to society. This leads to the question: what can other countries do to stop the discrimination against Uyghur Muslims? Through President Trump he “blacklisted more than two dozen Chinese companies and agencies linked to abuses in the region, effectively blocking them from buying U.S. products.” Furthermore, he mandated that “individuals, including Chen, face sanction for oppressing Uyghurs.” The United States government has made sure not to contribute to Uyghurs facing human rights violations.

       The treatment of Uyghur Muslims relates to Simone De Beauvoir’s, From The Second Sex, “introduction” about the relationship between the Self and the Other. The Chinese government is considered “the Self,” while the Uyghur Muslims are considered “the Other.” Through the Chinese government’s viewpoint, it considers their ideas superior to Muslims, therefore, it justifies their horrible treatment towards Uyghur Muslims. Contrary, the Uyghur Muslims should be able to freely practice their religion, and not be discriminated against because of their religious belief. But, the Chinese government sets the Muslim religion up as “inessential,” while opposing it with religions that they deem “essential.” Therefore, the government tries to torture Uyghur Muslims to change their ideas to conform to society. 

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang

Week 9- Persepolis Film vs Persepolis Graphic Novel

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       Marjane Satrapi has written two graphic novels about her life that have since been transformed into a film. Although the film is similar to the graphic novels, it is different as she could not fit as much information into the film as the book. However, both the graphic novels and the film share the common theme of “rejecting conformity” (T.)

       The film “Persepolis” has mostly two-dimensional black and white animation. While black and white scenes are meant to display memories or history, the beginning and end of the film are in color to represent the present time. The color differentiation among scenes relates the message, “when we look back to our past, we may see situations in black and white—without the color of present emotions” (Kennedy). 

       While the film and the graphic novels share most of the same themes, the way the graphic novel was adapted into a film left some key parts from Marjane’s story out or altered. For example, the scene where Marjane’s mother came to visit her, the story about her adopted maid, and some details about certain characters are excluded (T.). To make up for the parts of the graphic novel that are altered or excluded, the film can use sound to express Marjanes’ rejection of society. Through the use of sound and music, the audience empathizes with how she connects and likes punk music and how it contrasts her conservative country (T.). Another difference is the graphic novel focuses more on the events in Iran, and how the difficult times affected others and Marjane. While the graphic novel displays historical images, it does not go into detail about Iran’s history. Contrary, the film, “intends to more directly educate the viewer about Iranian history-leaving out many scenes of Marji in Austria” (Kennedy). The film depicts the historical facts of the revolution that takes place in Iran while giving the reader more graphic imagery; the novel focuses more on Marjane’s emotions and connecting with the reader as she faces different obstacles throughout her life. 

Ebert, Roger. “Persepolis Movie Review & Film Summary (2008): Roger Ebert.” Persepolis Movie Review & Film Summary (2008) | Roger Ebert, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/persepolis-2008.

Kennedy, Brittany. “Differences between the Graphic Novel and Film, ‘Persepolis,” by Satrapi Analysis.” ReelRundown, ReelRundown, 12 Dec. 2011, https://reelrundown.com/animation/An-Analysis-of-the-Graphic-Novel-and-Film-Persepolis-by-Satrapi.

T., / Raymond. “Persepolis Analysis: The Differences of a Comic Book Turned into a Movie.” Classic But New, 9 Nov. 2013, https://classicbutnew.wordpress.com/2013/11/09/persepolis-analysis-the-differences-of-a-comic-book-turned-into-a-movie/.