Partial Culture

Human beings decide what makes up truth. Human beings can only be subjective, not objective. Therefore truth is subjective. By this logic any type of narrative is composed of forms of subjective truth; containing some type of truth that can only be told through one or many similar pairs of eyes. 
In this instance the Reframing Mexico Project attempted to counter the partial truths that shape the perspective of Mexico, and replace them with many rounded and varying point of views. It serves to dissemble stereotypes and replace them with real people telling their stories. Because the piece is so collaborative it really does have a much stronger effect in persuading an audience into absorbing the different types of culture inside of the country. Certainly it would not be as effective if the segments were not in conjunction. Also just the mere shortness of the clips and the varying subject matter of each one keep it especially interesting and easy to digest. 
At first I chose to listen to ones about generations and stigma, which coincidentally shared may of the same videos. Most had a large emphasis put on family, both as the greatest importance and a motivation to provide a future. In one video a mother talked about working twenty years at a quesedilla stand to put her daughter through college, another mother spoke about how the want to give her son a better childhood was her motivation to get out of prison. In some ways the videos showed how the whole of the mexican people are effected by the same events and live their lives similarly. On the other hand it really did dive into the individuals and simultaneously showed how every life could be different given similar sets of circumstances. This really manifested in the stories of the "dark life" or goth scene and the "vampire sisters" who both dominated the night life by exhibiting their own styles of passion and culture. Overall the pieces were quite successful in framing the collaborative truths of Mexico. 

Assignment 5

            This could quite possibly be my earliest memory. I now know that what I was seeing and experiencing was a trip to New York to visit one of my moms older and dearest friends. The memory starts on the trip from the cab ride to the house. It’s dark and we have just gotten off the plane. I am too small to really see out the window but I distinctly remember the flashing lights swimming past us as we glided to the destination. Even though I was very small, I still think I shared the general feelings of my other family members in the car of relief to be out, excitement to get there, and of course the distinct stalled numbness of being at a stage in an exciting event where you are either here nor there. After all when visiting a place one does not tend to dwell upon such details as the cab ride. When we got there I really only remembered one room, the one I stayed in. It was like something out a sweet grandmother’s dream. All I can recall were teddy bears. Old fashioned, cream and beige with little bows and outfits in washed out variations of plaid. The wallpaper was also teddy bears so there was not distinct barrier between them and the rest of the room. I can’t even remember and of the other furniture in the room, I just look up to see the dozens of bears aligning the space. Our hostess came in. She had short hair, thick rims, and an honest smile. This all happened when I was under the age of two and I never really mentioned it (we also never went back there again) until my mothers friend died. We spoke about how warm and inviting of a person she was, how loving, and then reminisced about those teddy bear walls. 

Self Introduction

I am Angelica. I grew up in Los Angeles but more specifically West Hollywood, which is practically a city itself (we have our own mayor!) I lived here with my mom and two cats in an apartment, occasionally going to visit my father who resides in Rome. However, due to his job he does tend to travel quite a bit to different countries and I have been fortunate enough to go with him. Most of my family works in film so perhaps that’s where my interest started. I’m not sure exactly what I want to do in film but I at least know it’s the industry I want to be in. Whether it’s doing grand films or working on small projects I could be proud of all my life, I think it’s something that I will always be content and happy with, and that’s very important to me.

Aside from that I enjoy drawing. I’m not particularly good but I enjoy it. I like working with charcoal and pen and have even made a comic book with my boyfriend (he wrote, I drew). Right now I’m working on my own sort of autobiographical work staring little simplistic birds. For comic inspiration I really look up to Daniel Clowes and Jeffery Brown.

Punk shows are my favorite kind of concerts to attend, but I am pretty open about music. My favorite bands are Of Montreal, Joy Division, Dead Kennedy’s, New Order, The Stranglers, The Velvet Underground, Andrew Jackson Jihad, Johnny Hobo and the Freight Trains and Madness. I really liked Outside Lands and Riot fest. I disliked Coachella.

I came to Columbia because I wanted to move. My dad works here a lot, so when visiting him I really grew to love Chicago. Plus I love the hands on approach here. I have friends at UCLA and other schools back home studying film who haven’t even touched a camera. And since film is technically one of those professions where you don’t always need a degree, I’d like to get the fullest extent of mine.

Not to be a smartass, but the medium I fell most comfortable expressing myself is verbally and orally. As mentioned, I like film and drawing so those two mediums serve me well in self-expression. However I did really love photography at one point and still would love to use it for this purpose. And I enjoy writing for my own personal gain. I just don’t think I could do this through music. Though I love and appreciate it I have no gifts there whatsoever.

I hope to shape my voice and ability to express myself in new and original ways.

I don’t want to do shitty in this class. I am generally a good student but I did not do well in Writing and Rhetoric 1 and found my last class to be very dry and anything but stimulating.