Rana's Wedding & COLor of OLiVEs

I think I would have to watch Rana's wedding one more time to grasp the themes better, but one thing that stood out completely was how oppressed and trapped Rana seemed from the beginning of the movie when she read her father's list of men she was allowed to marry. Her life was in the hands of the men around her; it was obvious that she lived in strong male dominated society where she held little to no freedom or authority. Her character definitely contrasted with the images of women in the Egyptian film. Even though she was not wearing a veil and she looked "modern," the rules of the society she was living in upheld traditional customs such as strong gender separation and arranged marriages. The story was interesting because in the beginning all Rana wants is to marry the man she wants, but when she finds him she takes him and the audience on an emotional roller coaster. There is so much tension and frustration throughout the movie that somehow placed the reader into Rana's situation and the feeling of living under Occupation. Her emotion and confusion mirrors the chaos through check points, surveillance and military guards, which has become an everyday reality. I enjoyed the film because it gave an authentic feeling and an emotional journey of a Palestinian woman trying to overcome the city's barriers in order to have some control in her life. 

The Color of Olives was very odd. It was strange because the film (through silence and images) portrays Hani Amer and his family as prisoners in their home. A lot of the students complained that it was too intense because of the stillness and silence of the film, but I do not think anyone heard when Professor Metcalf said that maybe it was trying to portray how the Palestinians have no voice and how exciting could a film be about Palestinians living under Occupation. A step further than Rana's wedding, this film artistically and directly gave the audience the closest experience of what it would feel like to live under Israeli Occupation. Students could not handle 5 minutes of the film, but it is a film showing how a family lives and survives in the Occupation. It is disheartening to grasp the fact that the Occupation has become a way of life for Palestinians. But good thing we are Americans and we can ignore and dismiss realities of the world continue our lives guilt free.

I am glad I took this course and the only words that can sum up my feelings and conclusions is a quote from my Latin American professor:

There is the way you think the world works

And there is the way the world works.