Thank You Hum Core!

What I really enjoyed about Hum Core is the alternating lectures and change of topics and perspectives that were given to us. From the very beginning learning about empires all around the world, from Romans, to Incans, to Spanish colonization, slavery at home and across the Atlantic. Also the concepts of biases, hierarchy, gender and racial conflicts that define a persons class and acceptance in different societies. It has been a very interesting course as well as discussion sections in which lectures are broken down and lead into deeper conversations and discussions about the concept and the perspective that a lecturer has taken on it and why.

One thing that has really surprised me about myself in taking this course is how much I’ve been deprived of historic cultural knowledge all my K -12 years of learning in a public American educational system. Most of what I learned in Hum Core was completely foreign to me, and if not foreign then it was taught in a different and overgeneralized perspective that didn’t go into much detail with our societies context which is what matters the most!

One thing that didn’t work for me was some of the readings that we had to do, I understand that it was apart of the curriculum but sometimes they were very lengthy and boring. Along with that, many times the lecture wouldn’t even touch bases with the readings, the reading would serve as an example or foundation for the context in the lecture but it wouldn’t come hand in hand.

This course was definitely tough and time consuming on my end, little more challenging than I think it was meant to be in my case for having to work a full time job and commute. Regardless, I learned new relative historical context, writing techniques, approaches, and learned a lot from my mistakes that have made me better and more prepared for my future courses at UCI.

A Chaplin Film: Modern Times

Charlie Chaplin’s film “Modern Times” is a portrayal of times throughout the Great Depression with a critique of the human condition and a critique of the Machine Industry that was advancing in America. All through this portrayal, Charlie Chaplin made this film as a comedy to provide some ironic hope and joy for the viewer while he is in some ways “making fun” of their current condition in a humane way.

This film was made in 1936 which was a prime year for the development of film, the ability to be able to put a motion picture together and incorporate sound, sound effects, and dialogue. Charlie Chaplin starring as his famous “The Tramp” is seen as a working man in a factory where his job consisted of tightening bolts on a moving belt. While the job itself became dependent on man and a machine, it caused The Tramp to eventually go crazy with the repetitive motions in which he was unable to keep up with the machine and begin screwing everything and anything that had circular screw shape to it. He eventually began going through society unable to provide for himself by working in a factory setting as the condition was inhumane while working with machinery.

Saul Austerlitz both writer and critic has said that Chaplin “is placing his own genius in competition with modernity” where he uses his film to speak to audience to favor his old fashioned work over the new technology and machinery that has been coming over society in their period of economic instability. This is also in response of Chaplin’s last silent film of Modern Times while many new movies that were being released then had dialogue in them. Austerlitz claims Chaplin wanted to continue striving for the easier and simpler times.

Through my perspective I see Chaplin’s intention of this film to express the dehumanization of man kind during this time of the Great Depression where there were many jobs replaced by machines and a lot of hype over the technological advancements that eventually were to fail and eventually become less effective than the work of a man. Overall, he makes it a point to show the flaws about the factories being incorporated, the economy, and the impoverished lifestyle that was being lived and no one was doing anything about it but being distracted by the new inventions.

“Film-Fluences”

One of the biggest influences in American culture is media and its rapid expansion and advancement that has been growing rapidly throughout time. In my interest for research, I would like to focus on the revolution of technological advancements and it’s impact it has made on society especially during the Great Depression. Machinery and technology has become a big empire standing all on its own, that has eliminated the empire of man as an essential part of our working force. I will be focusing on the film Modern Times by Charlie Chaplin that portrays the “colonization” of machinery over man eventually showing the conflict of machine vs. man.

This film has many aspects that challenge the idea of the incorporation of machinery into society. In fact, it was the introduction and the transitioning of manual labor to factories, and the transition from silent film to film with sound. Generally speaking, this film captures a culture that is no longer static but changing along with the times that are being portrayed. As Chaplin filmed this during the Great Depression, he captured the living conditions that most of them were living in while showing the transition they were all going through together eventually reaching a new kind of lifestyle.

This can be a strong topic to cover because of the impact that technology still has today, also because of the transitioning that our society is still going through just as they did during The Great Depression. It can also be weak because Modern Times can be seen as a political statement rather than a critique of the advancements of technology.

Why I’m choosing a Chaplin film for my project is because I have always loved his films ever since I was introduced to his work at a young age, as I began discovering more as I understood more I began to realize that in many ways Chaplin was being politically aware in his films and in ways making his viewers aware as well.

The Power of Control

After watching the Forbidden Planet for Essay 4, it made me view the effects of excessive power and the negative impact that control may have on a large scale of people. In the film itself, on Planet Altaira it was only Morbius and Altaira who were residing in the planet until John Adams and his space crew landed on a space mission. Before the men landing, Morbius did not allude to the idea of a dictator even though he was the only man in power but in power over his daughter. When the men arrived and situated themselves on his land when they were warned not too, thats when the man in power lost control when someone else wanted to intrude in their space and not oblige to their rules.

The negligence and the resistance to an extreme power has been seen all throughout history and it has created some of the most well known people that we know in our American society today. I say “American” because our country has always been on democratic based and for the people, so dictators have always been given a negative connotation in the American perspective. This has changed a bit thorughout the world, especially when speaking about horrible history that has happened in the past that has caused many lives to be lost damaging a vast group of people.

Adolf Hitler, the most well known dictator has been recognized to be the biggest murders of the Jew population throughout all of history, and this was all due to the want of power and the desire for control over Hitlers own people. German nationalism is what caused all the support, and the power hunger that was derived from the support of the people who supported Hitler and his ideals.

The Eventual Fall of the US

While I continue being a bit political about this new “Trump Administration” in the US, I also continue incredibly frustrated, upset, and angered at the toll that the feared being instilled by President Trump to local communities and families that play major parts in the functionality of business and economy.

“With the flick of a pen, a new president can undo years of work by a previous administration through his constitutional executive powers” (CNN), as well as many hopes and aspirations that have been shotdoee to his new power. As a close friend of an undocumented student in the DACA program, I have definitely seen the toll take effect in her life. This in other words can be seen as a fall in her empire, in which she believed to have the opportunity to continue higher education regardless of her legal status. With the ability to have a higher education, it meant the ability to have a future career, and an eventual stable lifestyle financially and emotionally. As of now, she has a hold on her DACA in which she received financial aid to attend UC Santa Barbra. This has created a domino affect that has been affected her life because due to this hold on her DACA she is unable to pay her college tuition and is in debt which means she is no longer able to register for next quarters classes because of her outstanding funds. This has led to her decision to take a “leave of absence” from UCSC to avoid being in debt and having to put such a financial responsibility on her mother who has been a single mother raising three children.

Although an Empire consists of a range of land and people under one authority, her life is an empire as she is the supreme authority of her actions, decisions, and life overall that has been effected by a higher form of authority. My reasoning for minimizing this to a single life that has been affected is to prove a point how those who are not being affected do not see the reality of what is happening right before our eyes.

Because “A Day Without Imigrants” just passed February 16th, there is a need to create the generalized image of Trumps presidency into greater detail. This day many businesses, small shops, were closed to stand in “solidarity” with immigrants. Many people did not go to work, school, shop, or leave their homes to create a visualization of America without immigrants as they have a great investment in the American economy. It was a form of a retaliation towards Trump and his ideals towards “big business” in America. As he strives for the growth of American economy, he is also asking for a decline in it as immigrants contribute greatly to the continuous growth for food, supplies, and essential necessities that are needed while living in America with families.

History Repeating Itself

As ironic and familiar as it sounds, this presidential election and inauguration seems very familiar in terms of history. This has become history repeating itself and as unfortunate as it is, it will continue repeating itself through the good and the bad future events. What is also familiar to me is the way a person never learns and listens the more and more you imply or suggest or really encourage a person to do, and this is just as America is doing now.As a result, this presidential election between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump had ended up in the most “unwanted” presidential election that has ever been known to occur in history. This has not only been an upsetting election for one particular group, but it has been a disappointment to many races yet some more than others.

Just as the Spanish conquered the indigenous, Trump has conquered America by instilling fear, hate, and false hopes to the pessimists who believed America was once great. Although he is already an example intertwining European authority as it did in the 16th century, his authority is represented in the dollar sign and the need to generalize, dehumanize, and attack minority groups such as Mexicans and women.

Within all of this, I have found it disappointing to see is a woman on live aired television or a picture that has gone viral holding up a sign saying “Women for Trump” as well as an upsetting NY Times article.

A NY Times article on why Trump is supported by a “21st century feminism” college-educated family. In reality, is there really such a thing as a 21st Century feminism in a society where 21st century ideals that aren’t even relevant between a man and a woman? If now President Donald Trump refers to women as “nasty women” then I find it hard to believe that there feminism is now being referred to as “21st Century feminism” because in this case an attack on all women still exists. Of course, the women being interviewed are white American women, and as statistics show in the US, the way white Americans and other minorities such as African Americans are treated, white Americans get the better side of the spectrum.

White supremacy is still very present in our “21st century” just as is was in the 60’s or in the 16th century. In O’Tooles lectures for HumCore, Conquistadors found themselves prided themselves as an authoritative figure to the indigenous people, because they knew that as white European men they were going to take what had belonged to indigenous tribes. They believed that the indigenous would not resist because they were believed to be submissive, and although much of history claims that there was no resistance this minority did in fact resist and fought for what was theirs.

Although it has been a very difficult time in history for the present generation, and the future generations to come. It is important to keep resisting against such forms of oppression to prevent Americas voice to be silenced in educational material that will eventually enlighten our future. It is important to keep on carrying on with our lives and continue doing bigger and better things to give ourselves that assurance that we are much more than what we are claimed to be.