In class we watched a video called "Life in a Day," which was a montage of videos filmed by people all over the world, all on July 24, 2010. This video was produced with the future in mind; it was created with the intent that future generations will be able to see what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.
I really enjoyed seeing the various life styles that people endured on an average day, and how many different routines and cultures were taking place at the exact same time. It fascinates me to think that even today, in different parts of the world other people are probably doing some of the things that we saw taking place in the video.
I most vividly recall the scene with the Japanese man and his young son lighting the incense for the picture of the boy's deceased mom. I loved the amount of respect they still had for the mom; how they thought of her every morning and held her in high regards. It was kind of sad to think about how the little boy accepted it as something regular that every child does, ringing the bell and lighting incense for a mom who is no longer there. I remembered best the scenes with children, because I recall thinking about how they are not phased by their unfortunate situations; they accept it as everyday life.
I think I had a positive emotional reaction during the question "What do you love?" because I enjoyed seeing the shift from what we face every day, people complaining, to so many people giving different answers about blessings in their lives. It was refreshing to see people being thankful for a change, because in the world we live in we are constantly faced with people failing to acknowledge all we've been given.
I had a negative emotional reaction in the scene with the festival in Berlin; it was so terrible that one minute everyone was rejoicing and having a good time, and in an instant such a tragedy had to occur. It reminded me once more how precious life really is. It's a gift, one that we must unwrap rather than letting it lie around in our closets collecting dust. We could all have our lives taken away from us at any instant.
Prior to watching this movie, we all tried to answer the question "What does it mean to be human?" to the best of our abilities. I feel like I struggle with this question, specifically with putting my thoughts into the right words. I think that to be human means that we are unique. We are each our own person with our own thoughts, words, and situations. They are so many different ways one could possibly be human that it is difficult to answer one thing for this question. We saw such a variety of lifestyles, customs, cultures, and routines in the movie that it made me realize how different yet intricate we really are. If you're reading this post, take a minute to consider how detailed the designs of our bodies are. Our hands. Our feet. The placement of our teeth and tongue; the way we are able to speak with the vibrations of our vocal cords. While most of my classmates seemed to believe that we are merely a more highly evolved species, I disagree. We are so different and our abilities are amazing. I don't know if my idea of being human was well communicated with this paragraph, because it is something I love to think about but have trouble putting into words.
I suppose the obvious pattern of humanity lies in the question that so many different people were asked and gave different answers to. We all have emotions. We all are capable of loving other people, places, things, experiences, and ideas. No one answered "I do not know what love is," or "I do not love anything." We all have our emotions in common. We all also have fear in common. While some people did claim to be fearless, people gave so many various fears. I think it is part of being human to have fear of certain thing, and since we are all so unique we all fear different things. We are doubtful of everything, which results in fear.
There were so many juxtapositions that took place, and I can't name any exact examples. However, I noticed that almost always, the movie would switch from a resident of a highly developed country to a resident of an underdeveloped country to show the huge contrast in lifestyles. When it showed everyone getting up for breakfast, it would show some high quality, luxury food, and then show what people were eating across the world. Most of the juxtapositions involved the contrast between rich and poor, and I believe the point being made was that people who have so much more than others don't realize all that they have.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience of watching this movie! I was baffled by the variety of different people who inhabit the earth, and I was opened up to the reality of how other people live. I think that there is a point to life, that we are not just a bunch of worthless beings. I like to think that the film reflects a positive outlook on humanity, that we are so diverse and different, but our feelings are similar. I would definitely recommend this film to others because it is so eye-opening. It's amazing to see so many different lives taking place at once, and it helped me realize what I have. It's a really interesting project, and I wish it had been done in the past so I would be able to watch it now!
Thanks for reading my blog post!
No comments:
Post a Comment