This movie was about a Cuban writer, Reinaldo Arenas who was also a homosexual, during the time of the revolution. They did not accept anyone different than them or against the “cause”. He had to do his writing in secret and find people to smuggle his work out so that it could be published. This movie was sad to me. He was never able to just be himself. He had to hide everything, from his writing to his sexuality.
Arenas was finally able to get free from his country that would not allow him to write and move to the United States. He was free to write but fell victim to the AIDS virus. Despite all of the odds against him he was still able to write amazing work. It always seems our situations we go through in our life fuel our work. This makes for great writing when passion and belief are behind.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Cultural Opp #2 Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love was a movie I normally would not rent or buy. It is set back in the times of sword fighting and when chivalry of men was present. It started off kind of slow with men arguing about money and a man being tortured, not something normally of my interest. Once Shakespeare is entered into the movie it becomes a little more interesting, only because of the poetic way he speaks. Most women go gaga over romantic men and a love story.
Once the movie went on more it was interesting to see how Shakespeare was portrayed as a man of little power. Today he is a legend and his writings and plays are taught in every English class. He is known by all as an extraordinary play writer and poet. It was also neat to see how while writing Romeo and Juliet he was going through the same thing in his real life with a love. Life experiences are what prompt the poetry, plays or music. I think that’s what makes it so great; the writer’s or musician’s heart is in it which shows through the work.
As mentioned this movie was not something I normally would have rented but I am glad I did. I enjoyed seeing Shakespeare in his era creating one of his most well known pieces, Romeo and Juliet. In the future I will take these types of movies into consideration when wanting to watch something new. Watching the life of a legendary writer brings him to life for me and I am better able to understand him.
Once the movie went on more it was interesting to see how Shakespeare was portrayed as a man of little power. Today he is a legend and his writings and plays are taught in every English class. He is known by all as an extraordinary play writer and poet. It was also neat to see how while writing Romeo and Juliet he was going through the same thing in his real life with a love. Life experiences are what prompt the poetry, plays or music. I think that’s what makes it so great; the writer’s or musician’s heart is in it which shows through the work.
As mentioned this movie was not something I normally would have rented but I am glad I did. I enjoyed seeing Shakespeare in his era creating one of his most well known pieces, Romeo and Juliet. In the future I will take these types of movies into consideration when wanting to watch something new. Watching the life of a legendary writer brings him to life for me and I am better able to understand him.
Cultural Opp #1 Art Exhibit
For my first Cultural opportunity I visited the Art Gallery at ICC. When I walked into the Gallery, I am surrounded by splashes of color with some black on white canvas. There were probably 16 different pieces of artwork throughout. As I looked at each piece it seemed to be abstract type artwork. In majority of the paintings there was a main focus that was in color and then in the background where other images that were in black.
For example there was a painting that was called shoes. In this painting there were a pair of shoes that were painted blue on the bottom of the page. At the top a city is drawn in black ink, other images appeared in the center as if to separate the shoes from the city. On all the paintings the titles were backwards inside blocks, reminded me of the blocks that children play with.
At first I didn’t really get the meaning of the paintings, well at least what the Artist intended. After reading the Artist’s statement it made sense what he was trying to show in his artwork. He had about 20 flash cards of first words that were his sons. It was like he took his sons perception on the words and drew them abstractly. Most young children don’t think clearly and are all over the place so he did an awesome job of bringing to life the “first words” of children.
For example there was a painting that was called shoes. In this painting there were a pair of shoes that were painted blue on the bottom of the page. At the top a city is drawn in black ink, other images appeared in the center as if to separate the shoes from the city. On all the paintings the titles were backwards inside blocks, reminded me of the blocks that children play with.
At first I didn’t really get the meaning of the paintings, well at least what the Artist intended. After reading the Artist’s statement it made sense what he was trying to show in his artwork. He had about 20 flash cards of first words that were his sons. It was like he took his sons perception on the words and drew them abstractly. Most young children don’t think clearly and are all over the place so he did an awesome job of bringing to life the “first words” of children.
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