Thanks to everyone for coming to the film yesterday despite the late notice. I don't know about you, but there was plenty her to resonate (for me) with what we have been talking and reading about in class. There is much more information, and a look at the whole network culture in which this film was born, at the film/network
website.
I'd like to see what everyone else thought about the film and how we can connect it (or not) to our readings, writing, and discussion. I've posted some comments on
Tumbler. We'll have a look at what everyone has written next Tuesday, and have a talk about it. You may just comment here, or you can post on your own blog and leave us a link.
Contrary to the plan I announced last week, we will return to Havel on Tuesday, and start with Kundera on Thursday. SO: for Tuesday, you should be through section XII in Power of the Powerless. Havel begins this last section with the question, "What is an opposition in the post-totalitarian system?" For Thursday, please have finished Part 3. Thanks!
The documentary "Cultures of Resistance" has strongly reminded me of the recently published essay "Indignez-vous!" by a 93-year-old French philosopher Stéphane Hessel. In his essay, Hessel - very much like Havel - stresses the importance of a civic society and its role in correcting the ills of the 21st century. Recounting his engagement with the French resistance movement during WWII, Hessel calls upon young people to shed the veil of apathy and widespread indifference (the worst attitude on can possibly have) and actively engage with the world they (we) live in. According to Hessel, the primary reason for resistance is one of the essential human components - outrage - and its consequence - commitment. As I was watching the documentary, I was reminded of Hessel's (and Havel's) message and his call to an individual as well as universal responsibility for the world (to quote some Havel: "[Man] must rebel against his role as a helpless cog in the gigantic and enormous machinery...He must discover again, within himself, a deeper sense of responsibility toward something higher than himself." Disturbing the Peace).
ReplyDelete"Resistance is not a politics but a culture. Resistance shouldn't be against something, but it should create something on its own." Cultures of Resistance
Hessel's acclaimed essay ends with the words "Créer, c'est résister. Résister, c'est créer." ("To create is to resist. To resist is to create."). The enormous and incredible power (and importance) that art carries with it is worth noticing. The movie showed multiple examples of how art of any form (poetry, dance, music, photography, graffiti,...) can instigate change, promote peace, justice and equality. It is no coincidence that Václav Havel's background is that of a playwright and that the dissent he describes in "The Power of the Powerless" consisted of many artists. "Charter 77" would not for sure see the light of the world, weren't it for the music of The Plastic People of The Universe...
I hope, however, that after seeing the movie it was more than clear that, as Stéphane Hessel points out, "violence [is] a regrettable conclusion to an unacceptable situation for those affected" and that we, each and every one of us, "must learn to follow the hope of non-violence."
The film "Cultures of Resistance" was quite interesting. I liked how we got different point of view of similar or if not the same problem. I saw this documentary to be very powerful in context and be aware of the "truth" that is happening all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI also want to say that I agree with what Hana said. I think that there is always going to be a conflict when someone (normally in higher power) tries to use his/her power to make others conform. I don't only relate this to what we have talk about in class but I connect it with what is happening in the U.S. Even thought it was not put on the film a lot of the problems are cause by the U.S. and the U.S. itself has problems.
From my point of view the film is great and is something that can reach a large audience. Hopefully it reaches people in power in time to make a change and stop all the killing and violence going on all over the world.
I thought "Cultures of Resistance" was really great. It was definitely engaging and made you think. My favorite part about the film was that it didn't just show people protesting by marching with signs. It showed a lot of different types, including poetry and music. I think this shows how creativity can help raise awareness about problems in the world, and thus help solve the problems as best they can be solved. It reminded me of how Facebook raised awareness of the problems in Libya last year. I thought the film was really powerful and informative.
ReplyDeleteThe film really shed light on what the rest of the world is like. I was never aware of how prominent women were in parliaments in other nations. Also seeing the way people around the world use rap music to communicate and speak out was pretty powerful, being that some of the things earlier rap artist such as N.W.A also used the same music to express their-selves. The idea that music can someone change the way people think or act through lyrics was fascinating.
ReplyDeleteThe film "Cultures of Resistance" was a wake up call personally for me. Last week I submitted a paper expressing my beliefs of the capitalistic system we live in and how it enables us (Americans)to live in the truth rather than living in a lie. But after watching the film I got a good sense of how much of a lie we really live in. I got to see how our top companies take advantage of poorer countries and abuse resources to make the products we all enjoy. With that said, are we innocent to the damage we saw being done in other countries? Why is it right that we basically enslave other countries to make our lives that much better. If we are innocent then who is really guilty?
ReplyDelete"Cultures of Resistance" was inspiring, but it also was a vivid reminder of how terrible people's lives are all over the world. With all of the excess money and resources that saturate the certain parts of society, why are so many people still dying, and killing each other? Why can a man calmly say that he's murdered a pregnant woman and ripped open her stomach and walk away? In America, we're raised to (I'm not saying this necessarily happens, but we ARE, for the most part, served this idea) believe that everything in our country is golden, and nothing else really matters, even at America's worst. We're told to eat our vegetables because there are people starving in other countries, but as children no one really pushes the idea on us that we're living in an enclosure of sorts, and outside of it things can be BAD. It's refreshing and gut-wrenching to be reminded that that isn't true at all. Does that mean we're living in a lie? Maybe. I'm not sure. Even if some people and organizations are trying to change the world, that doesn't mean they will. We can only hope, because it's likely that we won't take action, but isn't that our responsibility as human beings?
ReplyDelete"Cultures of Resistance," to say the least, is a powerful film. I was deeply moved by the scenes presented in the film. I can honestly say that some scenes made me wince and tear out of sadness and disbelief at the atrocities we as people do onto each other. However, my hope in the human condition was restored when I saw far more powerful acts of kindness, bravery, and humanity. I was especially moved when I saw the network of women coming together to address the issues facing their nation. I saw these women's work as a direct contradiction of commonly held notions of "feminine fragility." Overall the film was excellently executed, presenting the stark reality of evil but the illuminating hope of bravery. It made me want to go out and make positive changes by raising awareness on critical issues such as the ones presented in the film.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I thought this movie did an amazing job in portraying all the injustices, violence and the misery people around the world are living due to incompetent governmental leaders and poverty. I have to admit, although I liked the movie because it shows those people in developed countries that things that we disregard at times are things that people in third world countries are fighting everyday to acquire, this movie also made me feel incompetent and angry. Incompetent in the sense that I wish there was something that I could do to stop all the pointless wars, mistreatment, violence, abuse and poverty around the world , but I know this is something impossible to do, especially if those who actually have the power to do it are not even trying to stop it.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I mentioned that this movie made me angry was because it just showed me how cynical developed countries are. Yes, they all say they want world peace and what not, but then again when they have the opportunity to gain more power or wealth from another country they don’t think twice before starting a war. In the process of acquiring their wealth countries don’t realize the huge damage they do to innocent people and already “poor” developing countries.
This movie can definitely be related to our class readings because in both, “The Miracle Game” and in “The Power of The Powerless” we see the daily struggle people go through everyday trying to acquire their freedom and basic human rights.
Don’t get me wrong, I thought this Documentary did an amazing job in raising awareness of violence and struggles people go through everyday just trying to survive.
Cultures of Resistance was a real eye opener to me. Seeing the way lives are outside of the United States for kids makes you really appreciate the little things we have in life. I really liked the ways that some people expressed their opinions in other countries such as signs and rapping for example. It was interesting to see the differences in culture in music and how people used it to voice their opinions. I also found it very interesting that many women were so involved in the government and it was interesting to compare and contrast these countries with the United States. In the end, the movie really made me want to create change.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the film "Cultures of Resistance was extremely applicable to what we have been talkking about in class, especially Havel's ideas of ideology and living in the truth or the lie. It seemed that in every example in the film, a group of people were attempting to move from living in the lie to living in the truth and it was during this effort that acts of resistance emerged.
ReplyDeleteI was really shocked by many of the images used in the film which made me wonder if similiar images were available at the time the violent acts were being committed, who they were available to and what their responses were. This made me think about the role of the media in perpetuating the lie or exposing the truth. Here we have lots of sources to get our news from so we can read articles written by people with the same political persuasions as us and not read anything we don't want to. In Rwanda during their genocide, the only news available were racist radio broadcasts put out by the government. The news in Rwanda is definitely an example of the media being used to perpetuate the lie, but if people here in the U.S. are only reading about some of what is going on in the world from biased sources, it seems that our media is also promoting the lie.
I'm posting this for Yuko, who's having some technical difficulties ...
ReplyDeleteCulture of Resistance is very straightforward, powerful documentary film. It makes us aware that what is happening or happened in the world when we are/were having ordinary life. Now, here in Beloit, studying in a small community in countryside, I often feel that I am detached from “real” world. At any time, we can check news through media to know what is happening in the rest of world, but it is still invisible in our daily life. If I do not try to know about the conflicts happening outside the US, I can just ignore because it is not directly related to my present life. However, Culture of Resistance made me feel that I am sad and irresponsible person if I live without knowing the reality illustrated in the film. The documentary not only teaches us what is really happening in the world but also encourages us to take any action to improve our society. Moreover, I realized that how solidarity is crucial to protest against something you do not think right. When individuals get together to fight against the ruling power, first they could find a ray of hope to change the system. Although I cannot know what really happened in Czechoslovakia when people tried to take action to “live in the truth,” I imagine they united and resisted as people in the film do.