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Cinema in our society
Cinema and society
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Soul Food explore the hardships and trials of black family life, and through the characters, setting, and theme of both the story and the film, the issue of class and the search for community is discussed. Big Mama wanted her family to come closer. The more she tried, the farther apart they became. During her struggle, she encountered many obstacles including her own son 's beliefs, but she did not let them curve her appetite to gain higher status in society. Soul Food tells the story of a big African-American family from Chicago with warm hearted good cheer; in the way it cuts between stories of romance and trouble, how black families stay in constant communication down three or four generations and out to third cousins how when a matriarch like the movie 's Big Mama (Irma P. Hall) hosts a holiday dinner, there are going to be a lot of people in the house, and a lot of stories to catch up with. The story is told through the eyes of Big Mama 's grandson Ahmad (Brandon Hammond), who introduces us to the key players, especially his mother and her two sisters. His mom and dad are Maxine (Vivica A. Fox) and Kenny (Jeffrey D. Sams). The oldest sister is Teri (Vanessa L. Williams), a successful attorney, married to …show more content…
She has an uncanny gift for seeing right to the heart of her family 's strengths and weaknesses, and dishing out firm advice, spiritual sometimes and practical always. That 's until she has a stroke, falls into a coma and is hospitalized. Young Ahmad goes to visit her, and in a low-key, emphasized way, seems to communicate telepathically. (He agrees with her about plans for the garden, even though she of course cannot speak.) Later in the movie, it is Ahmad who understands Big Mama 's desires for the family, and brings them about through some sneaky planning of his
Mama only spent $3,500 out of the $10,000 from the insurance check, she decides to give Walter the leftover money, so he could “be the head of this family from now on” (107). Walter takes this matter upon himself and decides to “make a transaction” (108) that will “change our lives” (108). Walter then, takes all the money he is given by Mama and “never went to the bank at all” (129), he then gives all of the $6,500 to Willy Harris, who was trusted by both men, left with all of Walter and Bobo’s money. Mama, who is very upset by this, hits Walter for giving all the money away. Mama then turns to God for “strength” (130). Mama is a Christian woman and, despite her struggles, remains faithful.
Mama, as a member of an older generation, represents the suffering that has always been a part of this world. She spent her life coexisting with the struggle in some approximation to harmony. Mama knew the futility of trying to escape the pain inherent in living, she knew about "the darkness outside," but she challenged herself to survive proudly despite it all (419). Mama took on the pain in her family in order to strengthen herself as a support for those who could not cope with their own grief. Allowing her husband to cry for his dead brother gave her a strength and purpose that would have been hard to attain outside her family sphere. She was a poor black woman in Harlem, yet she was able to give her husband permission for weakness, a gift that he feared to ask for in others. She gave him the right to a secret, personal bitterness toward the white man that he could not show to anyone else. She allowed him to survive. She marveled at his strength, and acknowledged her part in it, "But if he hadn't had...
“You know, nobody can ever cook as good as your mama.” These words were spoken by one of the most iconic Southern chefs of all time, Paula Deen. Not only has she formed a legacy with her countless cookbooks, magazines, and television programs, Deen also helps out by donating her wealth and continuing to fight poverty with foundations such as The Bag Lady Foundation. With Paula’s doll-blue eyes, down-to-earth cooking styles, strong love for her close-knit family, and recent controversies, Ms. Deen has undoubtedly become one of the best known chefs in this current generation.
The portrayal of African American families has changed drastically since the 1950s. The media’s wide representation of African American families has varied from television and literature. The families differ in economic classes, generational differences and their sense of cultural heritage. Literary works such as Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and Alice Walker’s Everyday Use depiction of families differs from television’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Blackish. Although they are all African American families, they each face different problems with society. They also face different stereotypes and family structures. The period in time that each piece of work was made had a considerable impact on them.
Throughout the story the narrator, Mama, shows us her frame of mind in the course of her detailing the events and interactions with Dee; the derogatory and skewed descriptions, cry out for justice.
...es Mama to be the narrator because telling the story from the view point of the sisters would be more biased. Maggie is more to herself and Dee always think she is correct. Mama gives her honest opinion about both sisters although “she is not a reliable source” (Farrell 181). In the end Maggie shows that knowing your family heritage is far better than trying to live and be something she’s not.
In Wendell Berry’s “The Pleasures of Eating,” this farmer tells eaters how their separation from food production has turned them into “passive consumers” who know nothing about the food they eat, or their part in the agricultural process (3). They are blindsided by a food industry that does not help them understand. Berry argues that the average consumer buys available food without any questions. He states consumers that think they are distanced from agriculture because they can easily buy food, making them ignorant of cruel conditions it went through to get on the shelf. Humans have become controlled by the food industry, and regard eating as just something required for their survival. Berry wants this to change as people realize they should get an enjoyment from eating that can only come from becoming responsible for their food choices and learning more about what they eat. While describing the average consumer’s ignorance and the food industry’s deceit, he effectively uses appeals to emotion, logic, and values to persuade people to take charge, and change how they think about eating.
Nutrition, I have learned plays a big part in our life. To be honest I was clueless about how much nutrition affected our everyday lives. I love going to the gym working out, now that I know what should go into my diet I think I will see a lot more improvement. I occasionally follow the latest diet fads because I believed it would be better for my health, but in turn it really hurt more than it helped! This Diet Analysis project has been extremely useful course because I can personally relate to it and can use much of the information learned to my daily routines. The Diet Analysis project was a real eye opener because it let me see what exactly I was putting into my diet.
In Everyday Use, Mama, the main character, is an educated but caring mother. She has two children, Maggie, the oldest, and Dee, the youngest. She has two different relationships with her two kids. She cannot relate to Dee because Dee is more educated, and she makes sure she shows it to her mother and sister. Dee is sophisticated, neat-looking and overdressed. Mama is longing for a connection with Dee. As she narrates, “Sometimes I dream a dream in which Dee and I are suddenly brought together on a TV program of this sort. Out of a dark ...
There dream was to finally move up in the world and be more successful as a certain group of people. After trying relentlessly to accomplish this they found out that to reach the dream they were aspiring for they must work as a family not as individuals. Mama arguably the main protagonist in this story is bring home a ten thousand dollar check for life insurance from her husband. This money drives the family crazy and with their mind set still individualized people start getting selfish. Walter, Mama’s son has the idea of investing the money into a liquor store and looses a lot of money. Mama eventually buys Travis a house for the family to live in, Travis being Mama’s grandson, this sparked the family to start thinking less of themselves but for the family as a whole. After a few days a man from the communities welcoming center came to offer them a deal to sell the house and make a profit. This symbolizes their dream trying to be bought with money. The family now had the choice whether to follow their dreams or abandon them. Obviously they had not given up on their dreams and thanks to Mama the family started looking out for each other which was the most important thing for the
The value of keeping family members together as one is a struggle. There are many families today that are still doing traditional events to celebrate one another's accomplishments. In the movie Soul Food, it tells the story of a big African-American family from Chicago. Although each family member displayed love for one another, trust was broken when a family member slept around with another family member's spouse. Soul Food displayed how black families stay in constant communication over large family dinners.
She is the focus of the family, whereas she takes control of the situations that goes on in the Younger family. Mama in the play looks out for Beneatha, Beneatha is having a bad time with her boyfriend, George Murchison. Mama gives her advice, “I guess you better not waste your time with no fools.” Mama is corrupted and old, but she knows what’s best for her family She made a decision that was good for them all. The idea of buying a house, came from the thought of thinking of Travis, “Now when you say your prayers tonight, you thank God and your grandfather-‘cause it was him who give you the house-in a way.”
To begin, Mama is a large, big-boned women with rough, man-working hands. She was raised with no education and wears overalls during the day. Mama has two daughters named Maggie and Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo (Dee). Mama is a dynamic character due to her changing in the story.
Mama, unlike other typical grandmothers, does not spend her days baking cookies or spoiling her grandchildren. She is the kind of Grandma that is willing to look her children and grandchildren straight in the eyes and say the honest truth because she wants what is best for them. She is a wholesome woman that constantly looks out for the best of her family using her faith as guidance.
Each chapter tells a different story, that in the end goes back to proving the claim. In the documentary Food Inc, it uses the emotional appeal to show the cruelty of what food industry has done such as cutting off the beaks of baby chickens. Shown in the film, just by using newborn chickens and cutting off their beaks, this appeals to the audience that innocent young chickens were being tossed around through the belt while the worker takes it out of the beak. Another emotional appeal was the story of three year old Kevin dying from E-coli. He passed away twelve days after he was diagnosed and during those twelve days, was also not allowed to drink water. This appeals to the viewers because you saw what Kevin’s mom went through when watching her son beg for water and was not able to give him any. This film maintains a strong emotional appeal through harsh images and personal stories. Emotion is definitely one thing the director uses to convey the message in Food Inc.Showing the entire process was a very effective way to get the viewers to feel emotionally involved in the film and most of the messages it was