Medium Challenge: Watch the film: ‘Freedom Writers’

For this challenge, I was told to watch the film: ‘Freedom Writers’. It’s a highly anticipated film that is based on a true story. It’s about high school kids that live in Long Beach. Long Beach is a very diverse melting pot of different ethnicities. It’s a place where violence is a very common way of settling differences. Many describe living in Long Beach as if they are living in a war zone. A lot of students also refer to living in Long Beach as being at war with a dozen different armies.

It’s a story about a school where different ethnicities come together to learn. Groups quickly form, people with the same background and colour of skin join together. There is a very hostile ambience in the classroom and people scold each other for who they are. The fights and grudges that exist on the streets are also reflected in the classroom.

One day, a different teacher arrives at the school. This teacher has a white skin colour and wears a rather posh set of clothing. To top it off she wears nice pearl jewellery and looks very well aware of her appearance. The first reaction of the classroom is very hostile and disrespectful. They explain to her that life is tough for them and that they have to fight to survive. The teacher is very shocked about this reaction is set to do something about their attitude.

Over the course of the year, you see that these kids are very hurt. The teacher tries to come up with some creative ways to make the class more open to each other and have some respect. Tolerance is a word that is used very often in this film.

I don’t want to spoil the end for you guys, so I won’t go in on all the details. Go watch the movie yourself, it’s a real eye-opener.

What I found particularly interesting is how they describe the word ‘Tolerance’. I got the feeling that they mix tolerance with respect to this film. I think they are two completely different things.

The Netherlands is a country which is famous for it’s relatively great tolerance to different cultures and people that’s why I experience tolerance all the time. I think you can tolerate a lot without immediately respecting someone. To tolerate someone’s behaviour is to accept I and basically not make a fuss about it. To respect is to agree or be fond of something or someone. And I think that in this film those things got a bit confused.

I would love to know what you thought of the film and felt the same way about this subject. Leave a comment about what you thought! I would love to read them soon.

Large Challenge: Jan Cunen

For the large challenge, we went with 3 of our group members to the Jan Cunen Museum. Everybody chose a sector they wanted to write about. If you’re interested in the other sectors you can visit the blogs of Dean and Cas.

The section that I’m reviewing is called: ‘Naakte emotie’ by photographer Micky Hoogendijk. It’s a gallery about women who live in a society that is suppressed by males and masculinity. The theme is called: ‘Power vrouwen’ which translates to ‘Power Women’. It’s a very strong and beautiful way to visualize the power that woman have within them and that they shouldn’t be holding any of it back.

Micky Hoogendijk has always been a model and actress in her past career. These professions have inspired her to become a photographer herself. Micky Hoogendijk describes herself as a power woman; she knows what she wants, sees opportunities, and reinvents herself constantly. She describes this way of living as: “doing what you want, stay close to yourself and be a woman. Don’t be as the society that is dominated by men wants you to be.”

Her work is more than just photography. Her photos exist of different layers, to give the picture more immersion and almost looks magical. Micky Hoogendijk, who works from here office in Los Angeles, describes her work as such: “I use myself and my subjects in a provoking way, with fundamental questions about life and our existence as a result.” She claims: “Of all attributes of women, I think that vulnerability is the strongest and most beautiful one. It’s the attribute with the most power.” That’s the reason why this piece of art is called ‘the naked emotion’ because Micky Hoogendijk is so fond of this particular attribute. In a final statement, she said: “To capture ‘The Naked Emotion’ is a craving of mine. I hope to look through the eyes of my models, maybe this is a way for me to look at myself.”

Theme week 2 visit: Thursday
As you all know, there has been an international week at Fontys ACI. Overall this has been a greatly anticipated week with a lot of variety in assignments and lectures. I’m going to explain what happened on Thursday that week. I’ll try to explain it as objectively as possible!
The day started rather early, at about 9 o’-clock in the morning. It started with a small explanation about the first half of the day. We were going to watch a documentary about white privilege and how white people sometimes underestimate their subconscious racism. After the talk, we watched the film and later filled in a word web to illustrate the feelings of the audience.
As a white male, I was personally affected by this film. I didn’t like it at all. Not because it was confronting or anything, but because I felt like a victim of racism myself. People assume that all white guys the same and have some kind of personal grudge against people of colour. I think this is nonsense. I’ve listened to different podcasts about this phenomena. The one that had the most impact on me and I also deem as the truth, is one with Ben Shapiro. Shapiro is a Jewish guy who lives in the States. He says that actually, the exact opposite of white privilege is happening in our society. It’s very interesting to listen to and I highly recommend you watch it. If you search his name on youtube and put ‘white privilege’ next to it, you’re bound to find it.
After that, we had a very inspiring lecture about trendwatching. The name of the lecturer is Dr Prof. Carl Rohde. He’s a trendwatcher but prefers to call himself a coolhunter. He has a unique way of teaching and working at the same time. He is a profound professor in the Netherlands and China who travels around the world to spread a message and manages to get a good income from it too. I’ll link his CV and website later on this blog so you can check it out yourself. A very interesting man and a very interesting work field as well.
https://nl.linkedin.com/in/carlrohde