DOTCOM REEL ACTION film themes

Peace/War/Conflict

Different peoples go to war for the wrong reasons. So much hate and dispassion is rooted in differences as well as in hated similarities. I find myself attempting to be a pacifist but sometimes I wonder why violence is not justified when a war is being waged by police and law enforcement in predominantly areas populated by people of color. The root of war and conflict is a deeply rooted fear of the "other". Very rarely is this fear admitted but violence is the easiest (and dumbest) solution to that fear. It feeds the fear instead of analyzing fear and moving to overcome it. I find it very interesting how countries can easily manipulate the people into believing someone about the "other." People are forced to choose sides. Personally, if I were drafted and served in combat. I would no less be able to murder an Afghan man than a US American soldier standing next to me. Wars can be waged against nations, genders, races, ethnicities, religions, natural resources, anything and everything basically.

Race/Ethnic

It's really frustrating how the overall view white folks have within the United States is that people of color largely deserve to be treated badly, to be suspected of dealing drugs or carrying guns, to be suspected of being a rapist, to be called names, and to attempt to escape their race or ethnicity. White privilege is something that goes unnamed and unseen. When we speak of Barack Obama as having "transcended race" in the election, we think of him as being an intelligent, strong black man (the "exception"). Yet, transcending his race means that their is something fundamentally wrong with being black in the first place. On a different note, crack cocaine prison sentences are nearly three times as long as powder cocaine sentences. One needs powder cocaine to make crack, powder cocaine is drastically more expensive so the dealer is making far more money from illegal substances, and crack is found predominantly in areas of color. How can that legislation not be seen as racially driven? I think film is a fantastic medium to express racial tensions through symbolism.

Gender

Gender is a social construction, it acts as a dichotomy of feminine and masculine that forces men and women into specific roles that are considered the norm. It is a construction of the patriarchy and, personally, anything created or manipulated by the patriarchy is something that I want absolutely nothing to do with. When couples have their son watch Bob the Builder and scold him for wanting to play with dolls or for wearing dresses, they are placing gender stereotypes on that boy. Why should boys not play with dolls? Don't men have to learn how to care for their children as well? I wonder if the near 50% divorce rate today in the U.S. is based on strict gender roles that have become impossible to conform to while having a family. The rise of raunch culture in the past decade has created a rape culture in the U.S. where one in three women are sexually abused. Without films that teach how the patriarchy manipulates all of us (men and women), we are all lost in a world of contradicting gender expressions.