Part 1: Paikea & Mulan

"And he came on the back of a whale. A man to lead a new people. Our ancestor, Paikea. But now we were waiting for the firstborn of the new generation, for the descendant of the whale rider. For the boy who would be chief"

- Paikea, The Whale Rider

Whale Rider is a film that kind of breaks gender stereotypes. In the film,  the  Maori tribe is waiting for the boy who will become their leader. Unfortunately, for them, Pai is a girl and she won't be accepted in her tribe. There is patriarchy in her tribe, and Pai's grandfather doesn't accept her. As a viewer, take the side of Pai, because I am a woman in society where there is still patriarchy. Pai is a strong female character who is willing to be the leader of her tribe, but her grandfather  denies her. Pai is very persistent, a true example for us, women. 

In a way, Pai and Mulan have so much in common: they fulfilled a role meant to be fulfilled only by men. These two characters are passionate, persistent, and strong. They both broke gender role stereotypes, which is something that we, women, need nowadays. In both stories, the character's own cultures are patriarchal. Coincidence? No, I don't think so. Once in a while, there are a couple of films that depict strong female characters. For instance, Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road came by surprise. Women were extremely happy that Furiosa and Max were equals. But some men were not so welcoming to the fact that a woman could be strong and smart. 

It is incredible that, nowadays, there are feminist, or gender egalitarian films that show children that women and men are equals. Mulan and Whale Rider are excellent examples for children; these two films taught me, after all, that women have the ability to be leaders and  warriors.  Pai and Mulan will stay forever with me. And I am positive that I will show these two films to my children.

Blog #3: Paikea: A Progressive Character in a Traditional Society (The Whale Rider)

"And he came on the back of a whale. A man to lead a new people. Our ancestor, Paikea. But now we were waiting for the firstborn of the new generation, for the descendant of the whale rider. For the boy who would be chief"

- Paikea, The Whale Rider

Whale Rider is a film that kind of breaks gender stereotypes. In the film,  the  Maori tribe is waiting for the boy who will become their leader. Unfortunately, for them, Pai is a girl and she won't be accepted in her tribe. There is patriarchy in her tribe, and Pai's grandfather doesn't accept her. As a viewer, take the side of Pai, because I am a woman in society where there is still patriarchy. Pai is a strong female character who is willing to be the leader of her tribe, but her grandfather  denies her. Pai is very persistent, a true example for us, women. 

In a way, Pai and Mulan have so much in common: they fulfilled a role meant to be fulfilled only by men. These two characters are passionate, persistent, and strong. They both broke gender role stereotypes, which is something that we, women, need nowadays. In both stories, the character's own cultures are patriarchal. Coincidence? No, I don't think so. Once in a while, there are a couple of films that depict strong female characters. For instance, Imperator Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road came by surprise. Women were extremely happy that Furiosa and Max were equals. But some men were not so welcoming to the fact that a woman could be strong and smart. 

It is incredible that, nowadays, there are feminist, or gender egalitarian films that show children that women and men are equals. Mulan and Whale Rider are excellent examples for children; these two films taught me, after all, that women have the ability to be leaders and  warriors.  Pai and Mulan will stay forever with me. And I am positive that I will show these two films to my children.

Blog #3: Transition from "The Lovely Bones" (2009)

"I wasn't lost, or frozen, or gone... I was alive; I was alive in my own perfect world"

- Susie Salmon, The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson is a well-known filmmaker. Just think about the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, and The Hobbit. Beautiful films that have outstanding visual effects. But the one that struck me the most was The Lovely Bones. The scenes when Susie Salmon is in that dream-like place after she was murdered are so powerful to me. When I saw this film in the movie theater, I was mesmerized. My favorite scene from the film is the one where Holly is showing Susie the special place where they can be safe and do what they want. The transition from one scene o another is magical. That place has different environments, weather, and landscapes. It feels like I am in my dreams. I bet you know that feeling. It is an abstract feeling or emotion.

When I read the the novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, I was wondering how Susie's own world looked like. I imagined her world as La Patagonia, which is a real region located between Argentina and Chile in South America. Why did I imagine Susie's own world as a real place? Simple. Because when I saw The Motorcycle Diaries film directed by Walter Salles, I thought that those place where Che Guevara visited with his friend were just visual effects, you know, fake. It turned out that those places where real, existent. I became obsessed with South America: Los Andes and La Patagonia are by far the places that I want to explore in depth. So, I wasn't surprised when I saw the film that Susie's own world resembled South America.