Why Should We Continue to Talk About 9/11/01?

Today I talked to my Language Arts students a little bit about why I discuss September 11, 2001 every year with all of my classes. I am not a history teacher by any means (although I get to play one this year! lol), but the significance of this day is not lost on me or anyone else in America. As the years go by and the younger generations become older....it is more and more apparent to me that we need to continue to discuss this in our classrooms and with our children. Today I told my students that I like to discuss it with them because the world on September 10, 2001 and the world on September 11, 2001 at 8:46 am..... is a completely different world. One of my students then proceeded to ask me, "It is?" That caused me to stop for a few moments....with those two simple words I feel that the importance of continuing to talk about what happened on that day 12 years ago is apparent.
We always talk about learning history because if you don't know history we are doomed to repeat it. I think there is something more to it than that. I think that the importance of learning history is to understand and appreciate the world that you are a part of today. The things that happened just yesterday are shaping the world we will wake up in tomorrow. This event effects so much and has shaped the country with live in more than I can wrap my own head around. I truly believe that it is so important to the younger generations to understand and to learn.
There is not  a better way to learn about history then from the people that lived it, and we ALL lived that day. Each and everyone of us has our own story and how it effected us. They can learn from US. There are not many historical events that can be taught by so many primary sources. Not only can we all share our stories, but there are so many videos, so many new stories, so many things that our children has access too to learn about and to help them to understand. I cannot think of any other historical event that has been more documented then the attacks on September 11, 2001. It is so easy to go and watch the breaking news reports from that day.
This is not to say that I think that this is more important than say WWII, Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, Korea, but this was the first and only time that we were attacked on our own soil while we were not engaged in a war. Military was not the target here...it was US it was the civilians. We were the targets and we were the tools. All of the other major historical events that we discuss in history are wrapped around war and our military. This does not fall into that category. This was different. This opened our eyes to the idea that we are all vulnerable and we are not necessarily all safe. That was an ignorant thing to believe.
We need to continue to remember, now because it is time to teach the younger generations.... to show them what hatred can do, to show them what a truly united nation looked like, to show them what kindness is, to show them what strength is, to show them what self sacrifice looks like, to show them fear, to show them that no matter what.....there is always recovery and there is always a way to overcome.
There is so much to be learned from the events that occurred on that Tuesday 12 years ago. I it is something that I will always teach in my classroom and as the generations get younger and younger.... I will make sure that my lessons evolve to support them. I will always light my candle...and one day when I have children of my own...we will talk about it and light the candle together....because We Won't Forget.

Man of Steel

"You just have to decide what kind of man you want to grow up to be, Clark. Whoever that man is, he's going to change the world. "

 

It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's.......One of the most anticipated movies of the summer......Man of Steel. I can't lie. I was one of those people who was definitely excited to see this film. The trailers looked amazing and when I heard that Christopher Nolan had a hand in the making of the movie, I was sold. I mean...everything Nolan touches is gold. After sitting through the almost three hour reboot of the Superman franchise, I have to say that I was less then entertained. Don't get me wrong. The movie was OK, but the WOW factor that DC comics appeared to be looking for was just not there. Something, somewhere in the movie fell flat.
The film starts us out on Clark's home planet, we get a glimpse of the collapse of his people and what created the villain. There is this idea of hope that Clark's parents continue to speak out, and just like with every Nolan film there is that underlying human ideal that he likes to focus on. I felt that for this particular film it was that idea of hope. That idea and the representation of the idea didn't quite come across the way that I think it was initially intended too. I think it was supposed to have to do with hope in the human race, and that they would in the end choose the right thing, but there was not much a of a development of this idea. It was just thrown at you randomly through the movie and you just where expected to go along with it.

I also would have liked to have seen a bit more of Clark growing up and dealing with the changes that he was experiencing. It was these experiences and the teachings of his parents that shaped him into the man that he had become and I think that it would have been a much more interesting film if we would have been able to have been given a more in depth glimpse at his childhood and teen years. I went into the movie with the idea that I was going to be watching Superman become Superman, and he does in a way, but it was very much thrown together.
I thought that he found the hidden spaceship pretty quickly and easily. I thought that he just accepted what the alien ship had to tell him easily and without any real questions. I thought that he wasn't superman one minute and then all of a sudden he was. It was such a quick progression that I would have liked to see more a development with rather than the random flashbacks. I did appreciate that when he was fighting he really didn't know what he was doing yet, and didn't dominate every fight because he still was learning what to do, but I felt that it was just to rushed. For a film that was supposed to be about the origin of Superman, it skipped over that part pretty quickly.
The acting was ok at best as well. Henry Cavill did a decent job as Clark Kent. He maintained to poise that Superman always held very well, and I thought defiantly did a pretty good job with the calm and patient manner in which he addressed everyone. I did really enjoy Amy Adams as Lois Lane. I thought she brought the character to life a little when the rest of the movie seemed to be falling a bit. Michael Shannon did a great job as the villain Zod. I thought he had the most life in the entire movie. Laurence Fishburne will just never be anything of than Morphious to me. lol
You can tell that this is a Zack Snyder movie from a mile away. The fight scenes are epic. Nothing is spared. There is much you can do and create in a fight scene when the two people fighting are almost invincible. He seemed to be pretty excited about the idea of the movie being in 3D. You could tell that many of the fight scenes seemed to be geared toward the 3D gimmick. Which we all know I cannot stand.
All in all I would say that the movie was ok. Nothing that I would be telling you to run to theaters tomorrow about. If you happen to miss this one, there is no great loss in watching it on DVD. If you must see it in theatres, I don't think I would spend the extra money on the 3D. If anything, at least he was nice to look at for 3 hours.

Oz the Great and Powerful

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain."

Everyone in their lifetime as seen The Wizard of Oz if they are any sort fan of cinema. It was such a groundbreaking movie for it's time and was the building block for much of our film landscape today. I truly wish that I could have been one of those movie goers sitting in the theatre for the first time when Dorothy opens the door and color filled the screen. That had to have been a breathtaking moment for anyone who got to experience it. That being said...I understand that nothing can compare to the original...and I understand that nothing should try to be compared to the original....that is not what I am trying to do.
Oz the Great and Powerful was a huge disappointment. There where so many great elements going into the film; Sam Rami directing, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weiss, and Michelle Williams staring just seemed to be a recipe for a fantastic time in front of the silver screen. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Right away the movie starts off in black and white. While I do appreciate the homage that it was trying to play to the original Wizard of Oz, there really is no need. Maybe if the storyline grabbed me from the beginning I wouldn't have cared so much, but I felt like it was trying to be like the original movie, and that just wasn't going to work.
I found that visually the movie was less than impressive as well. Everything now a days in CGI. CGI has allowed us to explore many different areas of film that we might now have been able to experience otherwise, but I feel that we have become to dependent on it for our movies. It was was to over the top for me, and WAY to computer looking. Even the way the characters moved around was just to artificial. Many movies have been visually stunning without CGI.
I also really hated the 3D...so unnecessary. Nothing was enhanced for me with the 3D at all. I really hate this whole 3D gimmick and I hope that it goes away soon. It takes away from the real point of a movie---to tell a good story.

The story itself really was not that interesting either. Someone said to me that it was because I already knew how the story ends. This is not true. I love stories that take place as prequels so to speak. There are so many possibilities open to HOW you got to the beginning of that movie in the first place. It is no different then making a sequel. BUT how you tell that story is important. This one lack any sort of excitement. I really didn't care about any of the characters, and to be honest with you, I don't know if it was because I was bored from the beginning of the movie, or if the movie lacked the character development necessary for you to really develop a taste for who the characters are. The actors where way to over the top and it was not an endearing over the top that was part of the movie or the characters themselves. You almost felt like you where watching a bad cartoon. I don't know if that was what Rami was trying to go for, but that was really not the way to go. Oz is supposed to be almost like a real place. The people are supposed to feel real, but there are those supernatural elements that are thrown in there to make it Oz.
I thought that they tried to remake the original by following that blue print-complete with meeting some friends along the way and giving them special gifts at the end. Now I have never read the novels, and someone told me that this was close to the novel, but I cannot say one way or the other. Either way, the screenwriting was not very good at all. THAT is what makes or breaks a story. You can have the greatest novel of all times, but if all the elements are not there to help it.... you won't have anything at all to go on.
 
 
 
I guess you could say that I really didn't like this movie. hahaha If this was something that I was watching at home on TV I would have changed the channel about 15 mins. into it. I would really suggest waiting until this one comes out on DVD to see it, but if you really feel the need to go to the theatre DO NOT GO SEE THE 3D. Not really the somewhere over the rainbow I was hoping for.