Pariah
Today, I watched the film, Pariah. It was featured in Gaige Hall, and was a little over an hour and a half long. No guest speakers were there, and there were only a few other people there to watch the film. In all honesty, I did not enjoy the film as much as I though I might. It kind of seemed to drag out. There were a few parts of the film that got my attention, but most of it seemed confusing and plot-less to me. Perhaps it was because I was taking notes at the same time, but it did not spark my interests too much. Towards the end of the film, however, I did find a few things sad. There was quite a few scenes that reminded me of past readings.
The first connection I made was to the article, U.S.A., Land of Limitations? by Nicholas Kristof. Though it was not a talked about issue in the film, it was clearly filmed in a poorer town. Again, this was not the focused issue, but it still reminded me of the statistics of children who follow their parents income. The main character in this film was incredibly smart. In the end, she even graduates high school early. It was nice to see that she was leaving her town and making something of herself. This led me to connect Pariah to Amazing Grace, by Johnathan Kozol. Just like the children in Kozol's story, who were happy despite their odds, the main character in the film was just as brave. She did not seem to care about being in a less fortunate neighborhood. She also was happy and kind to her mom, even when her mom was nothing less of horrific to her. Her mother constantly made her dress more "girlier". Unlearning the Myths that Bind Us, by Linda Christensen had the strongest connection to Pariah for me. Since the mom was so cruel, all I could think about were the stereotypes Christensen talks about. The mom wanted the perfect daughter that the media portrays. She was extremely harsh to her daughter for not dressing the way society "should". The main character received so much backlash for such stereotypes as these, which are all because of the media.
At the end of Pariah, the main character is attacked by her mother because she opened up about her sexual orientation. As a result, the girl leaves home. She says, "I'm not running, I'm choosing". This scene was very sad to me. She even goes back home a few weeks later to say goodbye, and the mom was still just as cruel to her. I found some statistics on children running away from home because of their sexual identity. This website has stories about children not accepted by their parents. It really upsets me that people can be so judgmental. I can't imagine hating your own child no matter what. Another too real issue this movie touches on is how this can impact the kids. Not being accepted in the LGBTQ community can cause so much damage. There is even research on how this can cause depression. Lastly, this film brings up the issue of being a part of the LGBTQ community while still in high school. It can be so hard, that there are real life videos of people giving tips on how to manage this. This was pretty shocking to me. Overall, I think this is a very sad and shocking topic that needs more light shed on to it. Stereotypes and judgments really need to be diminished. To me, it is just pointless hatred.
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