My Life in Film: How Film Has Affected and Shaped My Life - Essay Example

My Life in Film: How Film Has Affected and Shaped My Life At this day and age, the film industry had boomed to greater heights as compared to the 1990’s. There are more and more films from all categories which are being released every year. Despite that, not all of the films released make an impact in our lives. Certainly, it cannot be debated that there are only countable films that tend to capture our imagination and inspire us based on the following emerging topics such as: gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, life and other social identities. Based on these aspects, there are a number of films that have helped inspire me in my life. These include: the pursuit of happiness and twelve years a slave. The pursuit of happiness The film “The pursuit of happyness” is important to me since it teaches the essence of having adventure in life, the meaning of hard work, hope and pain in order to achieve our goals and heart’s desires. The main character in this film was Will Smith together with his son- Jaden Smith. This combination of father and son revealed the true essence of the pursuit of personal goals in life despite the challenges that one may face. Based on that, this film helped me to develop a sense of persistence in life. It also revealed to me that hard work never goes unpaid. It taught me that no matter what happens in life, an individual should always have hope and expect the best in life. Finally, it taught me that each and every person has their destiny to fulfil and nobody in this world except one self can prevent the happening of destiny. With that, I view myself as an individual who is motivated to achieve more than what I currently have. In addition to that, I also view myself as a being that has the capability to change for the better since a majority of the attributes that the film projects such as persistence are values that I do not have. As such, with this film in mind, I am working to change my habits for the better. I currently view the world as a place that has a lot of opportunities for each individual who has the passion to achieve more than what they have. I realised that a lot of people believe that the world lacks opportunities. But with this film in mind, I got to know that the world has many opportunities for people with hope, belief and persistence to take advantage of. Moreover, the character of Christopher Gardner who was a struggling salesman with a son motivated me to have belief in myself no matter how bad things may get in life. The main message that was projected by this film is that in life, nothing ever comes by our way easy. Moreover, we have to be determined to achieve our goals and our destiny based on personal heart desires. In addition, we all have the potential to be who we want to be but only if we believe, hope and persist long enough to make it work. According to a conversation between the character Christopher Gardner and his son, Christopher Gardner mentioned that, “don’t ever let anybody tell you ... you can’t do anything ...you have a dream ... you got to protect it ... if you want something, go get it”. With regard to the effectiveness of the message, the film has indeed projected their main theme to their audiences. As such, the two (2) characters - Christopher Gardner and his son managed to showcase passion for life and the achievement of dreams. Based on that, this film is flawless. With regard to the matter of gender as well as family commitments, the film revealed the aspect of fatherhood. The character Christopher Gardner was a salesman who did face some challenges with regard to his profession. Despite that, he managed to take charge of his son as the only parent to make a living so as to take care of his son since the mother was not present. As such, those are the main reasons as to why I managed to connect with the film “The pursuit of happyness” by director Gabriele Muccino. Twelve years a slave The film “Twelve years a slave” is important to me as it reveals a number of themes. These include slavery, gender biasness and ethnicity. Back in the olden days, there was a lot of slavery that was taking place from Africa to the Western countries – such as the USA and UK. People of African heritage were forcefully taken from their families and they were sold to work as slaves for the white settlers. The impact and effects of slavery were not known or even felt until this film was released in 2014. As such, the film is important to me since it helped me realize that slavery was indeed real and the people who were forcefully taken from their families and homes were indeed affected by the whole ordeal of having to be a prisoner for somebody else who cared less about them. This was adequately demonstrated by the character of Solomon Northup who was a free man in the state of New York and he was abducted through the form of being offered a work opportunity and sold as a slave to work in a farm that was located in a different state. After his abduction, nobody even his previous employer ever heard from him for close to twelve years until he started reaching out to them. Secondly, the film is important to me due to the fact that it taught me that all people are the same since we all have feelings and emotions as well as a sense of family and attachment. For example, when the character Solomon Northup was abducted from his family, he became bitter towards his abductors and he also lost the sense of love and attachment since his captors were not caring to his needs. Neither did they show him any form of love and concern. I related to this scene since if the same would happen to me, I would feel powerless and I would also lose all hope in life since I would be a prisoner to somebody who I did not know whether they would release me or not. Moreover, they did not even care for me. Thirdly, the film is important to me due to the fact that it showcased talent of an African personality. That is, Lupita Nyong’o was one of the newest representatives and/ or celebrities from the African heritage in the film industry. She proved to the world that through hard work all people regardless of their gender and ethnicity had the capability to make it big in this world. All that matters is that somebody had the dream and desire to make it happen. The film helped me to shape the way I communicated and related to other people with whom I do not share the same gender and ethnicity with. I view myself an individual who is open to a whole lot of different cultures as well as different gender differences. In addition to that, I personally view the world as a place where all people are the same regardless of their differences. Based on that, all people should learn to respect people who have a different gender as well as ethnical background. I relate to the film’s message in the manner that once I experienced a situation where I had to practice what I had learnt from this film. One of my friends was being bullied for being “different”. Apparently, they were from a different ethnic background. As such, they were being bullied based on that. Out of my morals and what the film made me realize that all people are the same since we all feel and have emotions, I had to intervene and told the other kids to stop doing that since it was not ethical. Based on my actions, I can vividly state that the film fully reveals the thematic messages of slavery, respect for other peoples despite of their differences in gender as well as ethnical background. With regard to the film’s critique, I personally conclude that the film is flawless. All the themes were adequately projected to the audience. With regard to gender, the film revealed that women too have the right to be independent and to achieve their heart’s desires. From the film, the actress Lupita Nyong’o became the first Kenyan African star in a best seller film in the USA. As such, it made me realized that all people despite their gender should be respected equally. Moreover, women have the capability to be independent and achieve their dreams without being criticized. In addition, ethnical backgrounds do not really matter when it comes to our human nature. References The pursuit of happyness. Dir. Gabriele Muccino. Perf. Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton and Brian Howe. Colombia Pictures, 2006. DVD Twelve years a slave. Dir. Steve McQueen. Perf. Lupita Nyong’o, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt and Dwight Henry. Fox Searchlight Pictures and Entertainment One, 2014. 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