Do The Right Thing  Spike Lee

The Film Do The Right Thing is a film solely based around race and racism in America. But more specifically in the streets of Brooklyn New York. During the whole film there are conflicts between people of different ethnic groups. There are mostly blacks portrayed throughout the film, but there are also Koreans, Italian, Caucasians. Though the only caucasians in this film are the workers of Sal's Pizzeria, besides Mookie. (Spike Lee) And the cops that patrol the area. If you notice the white's are the people of higher power that sort of look down on everyone else. They are also very cruel to the other ethnic groups when they come in counter of one another. Most likely because they think that they are better because of the their higher power. 

I think that all of the racism and different types of people involved in it, is a symbol that shows how everyone is a victim of it no matter how hard they try to stay away. The reason they are depicted like this in the first place is because of society itself and the "higher powers" not knowing exactly how they are and judging them off stereotypes. This shows how these higher powers, (the whites in the film) try to control them and they start treating them unfairly becasue of these stereotypes.

Spike Lee uses the song Fight The Power by Public Enemy immensely through the film. First it is used in the openining scene and he plays the whole song through so that we can hear and listen to the lyrics. The song itself symbolizes how the people being oppressed by these higher powers must fight the power and show that they arent like these stereotypes, and to show that they won't be held down by them. It is also played throughout the film by Radio Raheem with his boombox. Which is a huge symbol since Radio Raheem ends up literally fighting the power, (Sal) in this huge racist confrontation at the end of the movie. And he ends up dead because of it but the Sal does pay by having his beloved shop burnt to the ground by the angry black people of the neighborhood. 

Spike Lee also used his own character, (Mookie) to show some of the racism that the higher powers have and how he himself even tried to make peace with them since he's working in Sals Pizzeria himself. One of the workers, Vito, is one of the most racist characters in the film. He discriminates against Mookie constantly trying to get him fired, and he also discriminates against customers that come into his store. Spike Lee's character at the end of the film sort of fights the power himself by throwing a trash can through the window of Sals Pizzeria. This starts the whole riot which ends in the place itself being burned down. 

In Rogert Eberts Article about the film he says "There are really no heroes or villains in this film" I disagree with this statement because I feel like the cops in the film were villains, ironically, and I also see Sal as a villain. Just because they had that higher power and because of that they thought they were better people. A character in the film named Da Mayor I think would actually be a hero in the film. Only because when the fight broke out betweeen Sal and Radio Raheem he was the only one that actually tried getting in the middle of it not to fight Sal but to actually break it apart. While everyone else was rushing in to help fight. 

Feminist Criticism - Tootsie (1982)

  The film Tootsie is about an actor named Michael who is having a tough time finding work as a male actor. Every audition he goes to they need someone different. Michael gets fed up with not being able to find work as a man, so he gets the idea to cross dress and act like a woman. In doing this he actually does get a job as an actress on a soap opera. His new identity is now Dorothy Michaels. 

  Through out the film I feel like it challenges and messes with gender roles and then finally towards the end puts them back into place. As Michael acts as Dorothy Michaels longer he seems to inherit more feminine traits as well as his personality and way of thinking becomes more feminine. Even though he's just doing it for the money. He pays ten times more attention to his appearance than  he did before by wearing make up and doing his nails and even shaving his legs. Michael also becomes much more sensitive and seems to be more independent as a women than as a man.

   When Michael is cross dressed as Dorothy Michaels it comes along with some complications with his sexual life. Since he is dressed as a woman he cannot show his feelings for a certain woman the he is very fond of. Also other men are attracted to him which im sure he's not very happy about but he can't do anything about it since he has to stay in his character. One man even try's to propose to him.

To compare this film with Thelma & Lousie, both have the same basic feminist message that women are strong and independent and can overpower or overcome dominant male stereotypes. I feel that Thelma & Louise does a better job at this since both actors are actually women themselves, whereas Michael is not really a women and is just dressing up as one. Even though he does put on a convincing role and still stands up for himself as being independent. But still I feel like Thelma & Louise does a better job, not only because they are actually women but because they overcome greater obstacles than just standing up for oneself against an angry director. 

Bryan Film Studies

         Feminism in Film - Thelma & Louise

The Film Thelma & Louise was an exciting and surprising movie. It does a great job at adding twists to the story when you least expect it. It also makes you care for and even hate certain characters. It shows you how strong women can be as he overcome some crazy obstacles an come across some very perverted and overpowering men that try to take advantage of both Thelma & Louise. 

In my opinion, I personally hated Thelma throughout most of the movie. It was basically her fault that they had to go on his huge run away from the Police, even though I guess that's the whole point of the movie. From the beginning Thelma wanted to have fun and "let her hair down" but by wanting this, it lead to her getting drunk and flirting with some guy that appears to be nice, but then in the end, the guy ends up almost raping her. Which then led to him getting shot, which was the start of them running for the law. If she was drunk and the guy was obviously flirting with her, what did she expect was going to happen? 

Throughout the film Thelma messes up a lot of things. She puts too much trust in guys that she has never met in her life, and is too open about her personal life to strangers. She also doesn't have a lot of common sense. Thelma again lets some guy that she doesn't even know into her hotel room and then he takes advantage of her and also even steals the money that they desperately needed. He even told her that she was a robber. Again, what did she expect to happen?

Bryan Hynes

                             Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Mistake

     Once upon a time there was a girl named Little Red Riding Hood. Her Mother gave her a job to go to her grandmother's house to take care of her while she was ill. She had a disease that gave her a high fever and that made her grow extreme amounts of hair all over her body. But Red’s mother never mentioned the part about the extreme amounts of hair. While they were talking there was a wolf, however, listening in on the conversation. He devised a plan to eat the grandmother then eat Red afterwards when she arrived at the house. So the wolf made his way to Little Reds grandma's house as fast as he could. While Little Red on the other hand, was making her way very slowly walking along the path observing everything in sight. When the wolf finally got to grandma's he bursted through the door trying to startle her. But it didn't work, Reds grandma was a hardened war veteran, nothing could startle her. She jumped up and sprung towards the wolf tackling him to the ground. After she had him pinned she ate him up in one big bite. The wolf never saw it coming. Reds grandma rolled back into her nice warm bed and waited for her granddaughter to arrive. Finally, after watching the singing birds and bright blue sky, Red showed up at her Grandmas inviting door. She walked in without knocking because she was sure that her grandma was expecting her. The fresh smell of warm cookies and that very distinctive old person smell hit Red in the face when she stepped inside. She noticed some blood splattered up against a wall, but she didn’t think much of it. When she came to her grandmother's bedroom she couldn’t believe her eyes. She saw a hairy looking animal sleeping in her Grandmother's bed! From the blood splattered on the walls, and her past experiences with wolves, she made the assumption that this wolf ate her Grandmother. Little Red was furious. She’s had too many relatives eaten by wolves, and she wasn’t about to let this beast get away. She pulled out her .44 Magnum that she got from her Grandmother. Her Grandma was a war veteran after all. Red took aim and fired. It hit her right between the eyes. What Red didn’t know was that she just shot her own Grandmother. She took a closer look at what she thought was the wolf, and realized what a big mistake she had made. She ran out the door, crying all the way home.

Bryan Hynes
 Dear Mr Weinstein,
     This is a letter about the movie Hoodwinked Too. You asked me to evaluate the movie and decide whether or not you should spend the money to release this nation wide. In case you don’t remember, this movie mixes traditional fairy tale characters into one in a humorous way. I think you should spend the money on this movie because of its great originality. The movie does a great job at fracturing the traditional fairy tales they mix together. Some of the main characters in the movie are from the story Little Red Riding Hood. Like Red, Her Grandmother, and the Wolf. Except the Wolf isn't actually trying to eat them, he’s helping them stop the evil characters in the movie. Hansel and Gretel are also apart of this, but they aren't just two innocent little children trying to find their way back home. They are actually the evil masterminds in the movie. Hansel and Gretel also get help from The Three Little Pigs who actually work for them. The pigs have high tech guns and gear throughout the movie that they use to fight against Red and her partners. Too bad they didn't have that when the big bad Wolf blew their house down. The movie also uses the traditional fairy tale characteristics and makes fun of it a little. Like when the Wolf starts to tell us where Red is, he continuously says that she is far, far, far away. Making fun of the fact that traditional fairy tales usually say that someone or something is very far away. The movie has a narrator and it even has a magic or enchanted Item that everybody wants too, like most fairy tales. It has a lot of magic in it and forests where people live. But it also has a modern day sort of fracture added into it. There is a big city in the movie, with trains, cars, and helicopters. The fairy tale characters and animals have cell phones and tv’s. Just like normal people in the real world would have.  So in conclusion, I think you should spend the money to have this movie released nation wide. It has a lot of originality and creativity all throughout the movie. And it even has humor mixed in with the traditional fairy tales.
    Sincerely, Bryan Hynes.