FREEDOM! Writers...

Alright, so this movie, I have seen it before.  I liked it then, and I like it now.  When I watched it the first time though, it wasn't going to get me any extra credit... so I have to say, this time was much more satisfying.  So there are a lot of things in the movie that can be talked about, and I'm sure that Doug will have to read all kinds of repeat material with this movie, but here it goes.

In this movie, one thing that really stands out to me is the amount the students segregate themselves in the beginning.  This is interesting, just like many of the different races on Hawaii did during the early 20th century, these students split themselves up naturally.  I think that this is just something that would come natural to about 99% of people.  Whether you are part of a gang or not, you have people that you have grown up with, that you know, and that you are used to being around.  You are comfortable.  And naturally, people have a tendency to do things that are comfortable to them.  I know for me personally I have pretty much always had the same group of friends all throughout high school.  So in comparing these students to the Asiatic people who immigrated to Hawaii, I think it is interesting how they show the same patterns.  For example, in the beginning of the movie, the kids are all pretty hateful of one another.  The Latinos hate some people who hate some other people who hate some other people who hate the Latinos.  Now the environment on Hawaii wasn't quite as tense as this class was, but in many situations, the Asiatic people just didn't understand each other, much like these students.  Then, after awhile, when the students and immigrants start to realize how much they actually have in common with one another, they start to intermingle a little bit, get to know each other.  Again, from personal experience I can say that I have experienced this type of change in myself.

This is going to sound really stupid and shallow but I don't care.  So where I went to high school we had our cross-town rivals, and I HATED them.  They were the "bad guys" and I didn't want to associate myself with them.  Then after awhile, I realized that the only reason I didn't like them was because they were a different part of town.  So I opened up a little, talked to a couple guys, and before I knew it, I was friends with much of the football team and almost all of the basketball team.

So yeah! I really liked the movie, and thought that there were many things that could have been discussed and analyzed in comparison to what we have been learning in class, but this was the most interesting one to me, mostly because I could relate it to experiences I've had.  Not to mention it kinda has a little bit to do with human nature and how people interact, which I have always found interesting.