Nationhood, indigenous peoples, immigrant cultures

OH MAN! I just remembered this terrible, terrible portrayal of indigenous people in Walt Disney's animated movie Peter Pan! This song is called "What Makes The Red Man Red?" Watch this and be privy to the kind of racist portrayal of indigenous people that for so long had been the dominant discourse regarding American Indians. Remember that Smoke Signals was the first movie of its kind: written, produced, directed, and acted entirely by Native Americans.

As I mentioned in class, recently the Canadian Prime Minister issued an official apology for Canada's historical treatment of indigenous people, specifically for the practice of placing indigenous children in boarding schools where they lost contact with their families and their traditions. (Some of you are reading about a similar practice that took place in Australia). A similar official apology has yet to be made by the US government, although currently a bill for it is in the US Senate... check it out here.

IMMIGRATION

As promised in class, here is a link to Fievel's American Tail (I loved this movie when I was little) and Fievel Goes West. Imagine, little Fievel Mousekowitz as a gun-slinging cowboy! Very interesting given our discussion about indigenous peoples, immigrant cultures, and the concept of nationhood.

And here's that iconic photo I told you about:



In 1869, work crews consisting mainly of Irish immigrants coming from the east and Chinese immigrants coming from the west meet at Promontory Point, Utah to complete the Transcontinental Railroad. At center, they drive a golden spike into the ground to commemorate the event.


For more perspectives, from real live people from the USA, check out our Facebook group where we ask them questions, entitled 'Tell Your Story'. Just click on this link... No wait, this one... No, wait, that's another song about Facebook.


No, THIS ONE! That's it! (See also: 'Comments' on this blog.)


There are no cats in America,

Charly

A few notes

As we finish our discussion of the film Smoke Signals, be ready to draw comparisons between US history (as seen in our readings: Zinn, Takaki, Wikipedia - get them if you haven't already!) of treatment of their first peoples, and the history of Argentina's pueblos originarios. Thanks again to Natalia for showing us the following links, which can be a good punto de partida for some more discussions:

http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/articulos/republica_liberal/conquista_del_desierto.php
http://www.elhistoriador.com.ar/articulos/republica_liberal/sometimiento_indigena_conquista_al_desierto.php
http://www.mapuche.info/indgen/indymedia040825.html

Regarding MOVIE NIGHT:
Unfortunately, as we're still making arrangements to have the technology available for Movie Night, our next Movie Night will be Wednesday, June 25. By then, for sure, I'll have it together. There will be lots of food to celebrate our re-inauguration of Movie Night, too!

4th of July Party to End All Parties...

Hello!

We're planning a party to celebrate the ultimate Yankee holiday: the 4th of July! Ok, maybe it's just an excuse to have a big party and share our frat-party culture with you...

Imagine: your favorite hip-hop songs, beer pong, and dancing like whoa!

We're looking into places, "salones de fiestas", where this night of fun and magic can take place.  We figured that you, dear students, of all people would know best about how to get a party started in La Plata, so if anyone has any information about a good venue, please let us know. Also, if anyone would like to help us organize you will be compensated for your time... with free beverages of a refreshing nature at the party.  

Thanks guys, and remember, like Charly's grandpa always said: 

liquor before beer, have no fear... 

beer before liquor, never been sicker!

Best,

Charly and Kristal

She Hate Me part 2

Hi all,

I wanted to give you some historical background information about the Watergate Scandal that is mentioned in She Hate Me.  The security guard, Frank Wills, who finds the duct tape missing from the door is a real person, and those men who surround him with cars are also real people.  The mask is of the former U.S. president Richard Nixon.   That first scene is, of course, not how things really happened.  There was no stand-off in the parking lot, and Richard Nixon wasn't even there at the time.  The second scene is more like what really happened.  There was a break-in at the offices of the Democratic Party's National Committee, which was located at the Watergate complex.  The men who broke in were discovered (because of Wills) and after further investigation it was discovered that this was merely one part of a huge corruption scandal that led to the impeachment and eventual resignation of Nixon.  It was a huge shock the the U.S. because this was the first time that the president was discovered to be part of a corruption scandal.  

Speaking of corruption, what happens to the big company in the film, Progeia, parallels what happened to a real corporation in the U.S., the energy company Enron.  Enron seemed to be one of the most innovative companies in the U.S. (according to Fortune magazine), but had been committing accounting fraud since the 1990's.  In 2001, Enron filed for bankruptcy, and its 22.000 employees lost everything they had invested in the company.  This was one of the biggest scandals in the business world and opened the eyes of the U.S. to the unethical business practices of some of the most trusted companies in the country.

Hope this helps sort out the historical context of She Hate Me!

Thanks, Kristal

Smoke Signals

I (Charly) just put up the readings by Takaki and Zinn in the fotocopiadora across the street. For our discussion sections this week, please read one or more of the following:

1. The chapter from Howard Zinn's People's History of the United States
2. The chapter from Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror
3. Wikipedia reading on the following terms (print out the pages if possible): melting pot, Trail of Tears, Manifest Destiny, smoke signals, Battle of Little Big Horn, Sitting Bull, Andrew Jackson, John Wayne. Feel free to explore others as well, such as this definition of the so-nicknamed "spaghetti Western" genre.

Please come ready to talk about the reading you choose. Think about Argentine history, too, and find information about the history of Argentina's indigenous peoples as well.

Smoke Signals, an independent film which won critical acclaim at Sundance and other film festivals and was later redistributed by Miramax, was the first feature film written, directed, produced and acted by Native Americans. As we watch the film together, think about the ways in which the movie Smoke Signals presents an alternative vision to previous films made about Native Americans. What issues are explored in the film?

Exquisite Corpse

Hi everyone! I want to congratulate you all on some great group storytelling! I am putting the Thursday and Friday classes' stories under the Comments section for this post.

I want to thank Natalia for the following links, which talk about the "exquisite corpse" writing style, characterized by surrealist storylines and collaboration between different authors:

http://www.exquisitecorpse.com/
http://www.lmstudio.com/corpse_history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse

She Hate Me

Hello,

This is for the Monday class, the Tuesday class, and the Friday 12-2 class.

Tuesday, 03/06: We'll have class in room 108!

Monday, 09/06: We'll have class in the language lab, 208

Friday: We're still working on that one... 

This week we'll be watching She Hate Me (2004; Directed by Spike Lee).  This ambitious movie deals with everything from corruption in corporate America, whistle-blowing,the history of corruption in Washington, same-sex couples starting families, affirmative action, the "stud" stereotype of the African-American male... the list goes on.  

Here are the optional assignments to accompany She Hate Me:

After watching the film (we'll watch the second half next week), read this review by Roger Ebert (click here to get read the article).  Then, choose an assignment-

1.) Write a review of Ebert's review.  Do you agree with him?  What makes this movie good/bad?  What is the main idea?  Is there a moral?  You should quote the article in your paper, and address the specifics of Ebert's review.  No more than 500 words! Due before winter break via email.

2.) Write a critical essay about the film focusing whatever themes, ideas, images, characters, etc. that you feel are worth writing about.  You can write about anything having to do with the movie.  You can even write about why you hate it. No more than 500 words!  Due before winter break via email.

This is your opportunity to practice academic writing, prepare for your exams, and get commentary on your work.  If you don't like either assignment and would rather do something else to help yourself, let's discuss alternatives.  

Thanks guys,

Kristal