I was very nervous about our discussion of the children’s books. While I knew there were some very powerful meanings behind them I felt as if most of us, being very capable college students, would not take the books seriously. I feared that you would find them childish (mainly because they are children books, go figure) and uninformative. My nervousness and fears were confirmed when I asked everyone what you thought of the books and no one said anything for just enough time for me to feel as if no one liked them. However, just as I was losing faith someone spoke up (although I cannot remember who it was). After that it was like the discussion began to snowball and go in directions I could have never imagined.
After we discussed the content itself we moved onto the pictures. When I copied the books I left/cut the pictures out, mainly to condense them so they were easier to read (sine the pictures were hard to see in black and white). I would like to claim that I left the pictures out on purpose so that you would analyze nothing but the text and form your own images but this is not the case although it worked out for the better in the end. I feel that the discussion really soared and we found many deep and hidden meanings in the text and then the pictures. Each picture tells its own story and has its own meanings, they are almost as if there is a second story in addition to the text.
As I said before, I was nervous about filling time and worried that the discussion would go nowhere but I was pleasantly surprised. I was so happy that almost everyone (if not everyone) participated or had something to say. You guys really did a great job in looking at the books as so much more than just children’s stories because they really are. Their meanings our powerful no matter what age group is reading the book and I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for participating.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The Day of Ahmed's Secret
As a future teacher, this book was particularly upsetting to me. Ahmed should just be your average little boy but unfortunately his family as needs. He works tirelessly from sun rise to sun set delivering hundreds of pounds of fuel oil. His routine is so unchanging that e takes the same route each day, eats the same meals, and sees the same people. He does not have time to play, go to school, make friends his own age, or have any sort of life that a young boy should have. He seems to have matured at a very young age and although he is proud of his job and what he does, there is something that he is more proud of. I was almost in tears the first time I read this book and found out what his secret was. He can write his name. That doesn't seem like much but for a child it is huge, not to mention the fact that he is most likely self taught. He is so proud that he can write that it changes his entire day. He goes through the whole day of work and thinks of nothing but revealing this HUGE secret to his family. As readers we must understand why this is so important. He taught himself to write his name despite having no free time to learn except the occasional short lunch break. To me this is amazing, touching, and upsetting. All children deserve the chance to BE children and to see one struggling just to support his family and not having any fun or any kind of formal education really breaks my heart. I can only hope that situations like this will become a thing of the past in the very near future.
Sami and the Time of Troubles
While many people found this book more upsetting, I find it hard to choose which is more upsetting between the two. These two books are so different that I feel that they cannot be compared. While the other one doesn't seem upsetting, to me it is (see my next blog) and this one is upsetting in a completely different way. Sami is a little boy who essentially lives in the dark. His city/country is ravished by war and fighting. He goes to bed each night in the basement of a house with no front wall due to an explosion from a bomb. The basement is dark and his noise machine does not sound like the ocean or a rain forest; his noise machine is the rat-tat from machine guns, people scream, and loud explosions. He is not rocked to sleep in a chair by his mother or father but rather by the shuttering and shaking from the explosions all around his house. During the day he has nothing better to do than play with his friend, building forts and pretending to kill each other. While most kids play army, this is very different for me. These two boys live in a world of death and violence and seem to be imitating what they are seeing in real life. Children in our country play army and have no idea what the true effects of war are.
In the end, I feel that this book is sad because I have no idea what it feels like to go to sleep each night wondering if I will wake up or if my family will be dead when I do. I don't know what it’s like to not have a childhood that isn’t filled with death and violence. I could not imagine being Sami and only know that I would do everything in my power to get out of a country like that. He seems like a very strong and mature person, almost as if he was forced to grow up because his childhood has been taken away, something that I will never be able to completely relate to.
In the end, I feel that this book is sad because I have no idea what it feels like to go to sleep each night wondering if I will wake up or if my family will be dead when I do. I don't know what it’s like to not have a childhood that isn’t filled with death and violence. I could not imagine being Sami and only know that I would do everything in my power to get out of a country like that. He seems like a very strong and mature person, almost as if he was forced to grow up because his childhood has been taken away, something that I will never be able to completely relate to.
The Mosque
When we first arrive at the mosque I had no idea what to expect. I had never been inside one and was kind of excited to see one. I was pleasantly surprised by both our tour guide and the information he had for us. I learned more in that 2 hours or so than I would have ever dreamed of. I was half expecting him to be the stereotypical Muslim and knock other religions or seem above everyone else (yes everyone has their stereotypes whether we like it or not). The other part of me knew I was being stupid and judging people before I had a chance to talk to them so I tried to put those thoughts out of my head knowing they were most likely incorrect, as are more stereotypes.
When we are all sitting in the room behind the prayer chamber there were many things that surprised me. I found myself focusing and hanging on his every word, something I generally have a hard time doing. One of the most surprising things to me was when we discussed the prophets of other religions. According the Imam, Islamic people hold the prophets of other religions in the highest regard. They have just as much respect for Moses, Jesus, Noah, and any other prophet as they have for Mohamed. This is something that really changed my outlook on Islam (and Islamic people). He also cleared up many of the stereotypes that have been floating around. Much of what he said would have seen unbelievable to me except for the fact that he was so passionate about what he was saying. His beliefs are so strong and he seems to care and believe everything that he says, that I felt inspired by his words. He was truly genuine with us and if I had the time to visit again, I would not hesitate to go an observer a prayer session.
When we are all sitting in the room behind the prayer chamber there were many things that surprised me. I found myself focusing and hanging on his every word, something I generally have a hard time doing. One of the most surprising things to me was when we discussed the prophets of other religions. According the Imam, Islamic people hold the prophets of other religions in the highest regard. They have just as much respect for Moses, Jesus, Noah, and any other prophet as they have for Mohamed. This is something that really changed my outlook on Islam (and Islamic people). He also cleared up many of the stereotypes that have been floating around. Much of what he said would have seen unbelievable to me except for the fact that he was so passionate about what he was saying. His beliefs are so strong and he seems to care and believe everything that he says, that I felt inspired by his words. He was truly genuine with us and if I had the time to visit again, I would not hesitate to go an observer a prayer session.
The Road to Love
The road to love was a very interesting movie. I found myself looking at the film as being rather stereotypical. I am not saying that I disagree with or dislike the film, I just feel that it could have been done better. For me there was two key problems that made the film less enjoyable for me. These issues involve the speed that the subtitles moved and the way homosexuals were portrayed.
First of all, since the movie is in a language that I do not understand, the subtitles were sometimes blurry, lagged (hard to follow which character was saying what), and sometimes moved to fast for me to do little more than skim them and try to get the general idea. This may seem like a minor idea but in a film like this, the script is critical. At points I found myself just waiting for the scene to end or making an attempt to piece together what I missed as the text raced from one sentence to the next.
However, the issues with the subtitles are very minor when compared to my problems with how the characters were portrayed. I myself have many gay friends so I feel like most of the characters being interviewed simply “fit the mold” for the stereotypical gay man. For example, when the characters were being interviewed, they almost tried to force themselves on their interviewer. This is typical of many guys worst fears, the fact that “all gay guys will hit on any guy that moves” seems to be a commonly known “fact”. I feel that the opposite is true. The majority of gay and lesbian people that I know are sometimes afraid to hit or even talk to a member of the same sex because of the way the react (since they are obviously trying to turn you gay when they talk to you right?).
As I said before, I am not completely knocking the movie because it did have its good points. All I am saying is that for me, the stereotypes sort of overwhelmed or paved over the message the film makers were trying to get across. The stereotypes combined with the fast paced subtitles made this film just ok for me. If you try to look past its few seemingly minor problems, you can find deeper or hidden (even if they are not meant to be hidden) meanings. However, these two problems are a lot bigger than that seem and sometimes hard to look past.
First of all, since the movie is in a language that I do not understand, the subtitles were sometimes blurry, lagged (hard to follow which character was saying what), and sometimes moved to fast for me to do little more than skim them and try to get the general idea. This may seem like a minor idea but in a film like this, the script is critical. At points I found myself just waiting for the scene to end or making an attempt to piece together what I missed as the text raced from one sentence to the next.
However, the issues with the subtitles are very minor when compared to my problems with how the characters were portrayed. I myself have many gay friends so I feel like most of the characters being interviewed simply “fit the mold” for the stereotypical gay man. For example, when the characters were being interviewed, they almost tried to force themselves on their interviewer. This is typical of many guys worst fears, the fact that “all gay guys will hit on any guy that moves” seems to be a commonly known “fact”. I feel that the opposite is true. The majority of gay and lesbian people that I know are sometimes afraid to hit or even talk to a member of the same sex because of the way the react (since they are obviously trying to turn you gay when they talk to you right?).
As I said before, I am not completely knocking the movie because it did have its good points. All I am saying is that for me, the stereotypes sort of overwhelmed or paved over the message the film makers were trying to get across. The stereotypes combined with the fast paced subtitles made this film just ok for me. If you try to look past its few seemingly minor problems, you can find deeper or hidden (even if they are not meant to be hidden) meanings. However, these two problems are a lot bigger than that seem and sometimes hard to look past.
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