The End?
In this project, I look into myself and try to capture some sense of meaning within what I like to do - watching movies. As someone who loves the theater, the opportunity to see how people strengthen and develop their art, to become a master of their craft, is truly one of my favorite pastimes. However, as I have gotten older, I have started to realize that Hollywood’s glamour and gloss over certain topics tend to completely change the meaning of the stories at hand. In this project, I want to peer behind the curtain of Hollywood and see how the directors, writers, and actors/actresses are taking the polish off and trying to deliver the most authentic piece of art they can without Hollywood’s “help”. Specifically, I want to look at how Hollywood has depicted civil rights and the stories of African-Americans. By seeing the perspectives of how directors have shaped the public perspectives of these events, I want to be a part of that movement by creating multiple products that can sustain themselves and grow with time rather than against it. As I delved further into my project, there was a name that kept popping up everywhere - Spike Lee. I had no idea who he was, but when I looked into him, I couldn't stop. This man - this director - has forever imbedded himself as one of the best directors of all time with his intricate stylings, story and overall honesty of his films. In order to understand his stylings, I - of course - had to watch his movies and as I did, I couldn't rip my eyes from the screen as he kept me intrigued and aware of the story as they are based on real life and real struggles. I can't say I can completely understand Spike Lee, but I understand his true message of his films, "I have something to say and I am going to say it."
History“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Our founding fathers wrote that amendment close to 230 years ago and with that, this nation has found ways to express that right through a multitude of ways. Spike Lee has embraced his first amendment right in all of his films with his voice and attitude towards his subjects prevalent. On the other hand, the audience and within the audience critics do have their own opinions regarding his films - and they are all protected within their first amendment rights. Understanding this is very important for all filmmakers and people to understand the boundaries within their rights. Film critics despite how poisonous and harsh their words can be protected. In order to understand the Man in The Legend of Spike Lee, I want to see how others besides myself admire his work or how others despise it. Spike Lee is a very brave man for his subjects and muses of his films but not once has Spike Lee regretted it. based on his character, Spike Lee can handle set criticism from anyone and everyone. I looked into some of his greatest films and most popular films, Malcolm X, Blackkklansman, and Da Five Bloods. And I took some of America's greatest, the most famous people and I applied their own opinions to these movies. I understood a multitude of perspectives regarding these people and how they look at films that are based on real life events that affected them also helped people way before the time of movies would react to such brave and outspoken freedoms of Spike Lee. Personally, I believe this strengthens my own opinion about his work and how he feels about his work and how she feels regarding his own work, but the people I looked into have contradicted and their own opinions that they have protected within their own First Amendment rights.
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EnglishAs I learned more about Spike Lee, I studied his muses and what he himself feels passionate about. As I stumbled across Thomas Jefferson's legend as he was one of the writers of the Declaration of Independence, 1 of America's founding fathers I stumbled onto a name that will forever change the course of my project - Sally Hemings. If you don't know her, oh, it's not your fault but the fault of history for forgetting a girl who gave birth to just 6 of Thomas Jefferson's children and just happened to be 14 years old when their relationship began. Sally Hemings was a girl you never had it easy as she was not black enough to be labeled as black go but she wasn't white enough to be considered free. Sally Hemings was born into slavery and sadly died a Slave despite her master dying years and years before. Spike Lee wood I believe he would honor the Legacy in the person of Sally Lee rather than the Glamour and Glitz of Thomas Jefferson. For the shape of The Descendants and for the future generations of America, I believe Spike Lee would want everyone to know of this woman who had control of a founding father as she was able to bargain for the freedom of her children that she had with him. This woman was willing to give up her own Freedom she had founded in France for the sake that her family would be free even if she wouldn't - She was 14. Even though one might think she was a concubine, she was more than that: Sally Hemings was a daughter, a mother and a woman that will forever be in American history and forever immortal who remembers her. I wanted to understand Spike Lee's process, so in turn I decided to create a portfolio of a film about this woman and what's going on in the eyes of Spike Lee. During the course of this project, I created my own script for the opening sequence that was based on many of his films' introductions. In addition, I created an outline for the movie and how in-depth and understanding a different lense of Thomas Jefferson. Lastly, I created a portfolio summarized version of the movie through the characters, how they looked and how the movie would unfold in a simple format. You could say I was indecisive, but I would argue that I was passionate, passionate like Spike Lee would be regarding one of the most powerful women in our history - in our American history.
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Art
For art, I wanted to create something with my hands and something I could be proud of. As I looked into movies, so many times there is always a crocheted work stitched into the movie even if its just for a few moments. As first, I wanted to make a blanket, but as I started to work on the script and solidify my ideas, I didn't know where or when a blanket would see suitable. However, I looked at my yarn stash and I pulled out this gray lace weight yarn and it hit me - a shawl...that would probably work. Turns out, Europe during the 1760s loved their new imported Asian shawls! Now, to apply that to the life as Sally Hemings was surprisingly easy. Once I found that yarn, my art project began to come together with each row I crocheted. When I was making this shawl, I understood how much effort can go into making something like this, so if someone were to gift this, it would be caring and endearing. The meaning changes if a style like this is dated about fourty years or so and you were to gift this to a person. In my outline, I created a scene in with Martha Jefferson Randolph would gift this shawl to Sally Hemings as a token of good will and as a form of an apology. Despite being a slave for most of her life, Sally wasn't uneducated and she sees right through this gift and right to Martha: Sally sees the lack of awareness a gift like this has for a person like her, how precious something so nice could be for her, but since it was from the hand of a Jefferson, Sally has a reaction to it that is powerful and inspiring. As Sally is leaving Monticello, this gift turns into a symbol of freedom as Sally leaves it on a post on the grounds of Monticello as a sign of her refusing to have anything tying her back to her hellscape for all of her life.
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