Love and Basketball

My first time seeing the movie “Love and Basketball” was when it first came out in the movie theatres. At a young age I did not know what to expect after viewing the movie. I did not think much of it but I all I knew was that it was a long movie. Years later I viewed the movie again and fell in love with it. To me, it is one of those classic black movies that everyone has seen and love. The way that it was set up with the different quarters was a very smart idea to me. During the first quarter they started off as young kids having a crush on one another. The second quarter they no longer had a crush on one another but were still friends. I like the fact that the girl received more respect than the girls that Q was dating. It was as if she was better than them in a way. I think that it was very romantic how at the end of the prom they finally came together and after that became a couple. I was surprised to see that during the third quarter they fell apart. I feel as though he broke up with her for no reason. The fact that she would not stay out with him late at night because she had curfew was a dumb reason. It seems to me as though he was just jealous that she was doing well with her basketball “career”. The fourth quarter ended perfectly. After being separated for years he found a new love but when they saw each other after all that time their feelings for one another started to come back. My favorite part of the movie was when she was able to win his heart over a basketball game. This will forever be one of my favorite movies.

Slumdog Millionaire

One of the most recent films that I have seen is “Slumdog Millionaire”. I was visiting at my friend’s house bored and he turned the movie on. At first I was not paying attention to it because I found it to be boring and confusing but as the movie progressed, I finally understood what was going on. It was probably one of the best movies that I have seen in a while. I never really thought of how little kids in India were living, but watching this movie gave me an insight on their lives. I found it to be very sad. When the two boy’s mother died it was hard for me to see how they were going to be able to survive. I did not know that people took little children in in order to exploit them in such a way as the man in the movie did. The fact that he was using the children to get money was horrible. When the two boys ran away and left the little girl behind I was afraid to see what was going to happen to her. As the movie continued, I was not quite sure if the guy had made her become a prostitute or a dancer. The name he gave her, Cherry, made it seem as though he had her working the streets. I like the fact that the flashbacks were occurring because he was explaining to the men in charge of Who Wants to Become a Millionaire how he knew all the answers. It was one of the best plots that I have seen in a while. I was not quite sure what the host of the show was trying to do when he gave him the answer. I love the fact that at the end of the movie he wins the girl and the money.

“School Daze” was the first Spike Lee movie that I ever saw. I had to watch it for an African American history class that I took in the 10th grade. During this time I did not know that much about fraternizes and sororities. I understood that these were groups per say that individuals could join. Men and women join these groups to be a part of a brotherhood and sisterhood. Watching this movie I received a better understanding as to what exactly portals to become a part of these Greeks. In this movie, Spike Lee showed a sort of war in which light skinned girls with long hair have with dark skinned girls with short and nappy hair. For many decades light skinned women have always been perceived as more beautiful than dark skinned girls. In my opinion this is not true. To me, this mind set all started during slavery when Willie Lynch told slave owners to turn their slaves against each other. The women that worked outside in the fields began to turn against the women that worked inside. The women working inside are often times the children of the slave owners making them light skinned. The women in the fields felt as though these women thought highly of themselves. As if they were better than the women working outside. I also found it very interesting in the movie that you are not a man unless you have had sex. The character that Spike Lee played was not able to join the fraternity unless he lost his virginity. This is not something that should determine whether a man is a man. Whether or not he steps up and takes care of his responsibility should determine that. It is also a man’s character that can determine whether he is a man or not.

One of the best movies I have seen over the past year is “The Secret Lives of Bees”. When I first saw the trailer for the movie I was not quite sure what the movie was about. I realized what a phenomenal cast there was so I figured it must be a movie worth seeing. As the movie began to start I really did not think it would be all that great. They started out talking about this white little girl’s sad story but I was not sure as to how that would tie into the black women in the movie. As the movie progressed and the little girl and her maid went to South Carolina I found the movie to be very intriguing. At many parts the movie even touched my heart. It was interesting to see the role that Jennifer Hudson played opposed to the other black women in the movie. Hudson was to be the maid of the little white girl and her father. This is a common role for black women when filming a movie in the mid 1900s. On the other hand it was very refreshing to see a house full of black, strong and independent women during this time. I have never seen a movie that takes place during such a time that portrayed black women in this way before. The fact that these women actually had money made the movie even more intriguing. They were able to create their own business and make a very big profit from it even though there was still a lot of racism taking place. I found it very interesting that none of these women were married. Only one of them was dating a man and ended up being engaged in the end. This movie is very inspirational to woman all across America.