Kung Fu Hustle - Sing (9/21)

To be honest, Sing - the character played by Stephen Chow in Kung Fu Hustle, really reminded me of myself in my younger days of adolescence. Sing's determination to be a part of the Axe Gang , which is the epitome of a popular group, is identical to the determination I had to be in a popular group at school that performed extremely negative actions such as bullying, disruptive behavior during class, and the usage of inappropriate words . Sing's acceptance into the Axe gang caused him to be zealous and okay with doing all the negative things that fulfilled the status quo of the Axe gang due to his need to prove his worth to them. This was similar to how I would bully people verbally and be disruptive during class just to demonstrate to the collective mind of my class that I was a part of the popular group and that everyone must accept that. About 2 years into my affiliation with this group, when we as a group were bullying this new kid that was fairly short, I came to my senses that being a part of this group didn't serve me any justice nor did it resonate with what I actually felt like doing and what I thought was right. Things got physical and that's when I drew the line, stopped the physicality from ensuing, and left the group. I didn't resonate with them just as Sing didn't resonate with The Axe Gang when they were telling him to harm the two Masters. Sing's awakening after this is also resembles how I became awakened spiritually and mentally.

A Better Tomorrow :) (10/26)

Overall, John Woo's "A Better Tomorrow" (1986) is a very spectacular film that really had me intrigued from start to finish, and, even after the movie was finished and over, had me thinking about certain aspects of the movie that certainly had me emotionally invested and marveled. One of these aspects that I am talking about is the ending scene(s) in which Mark, Kit, and Ho are on the dock and Ho is in agony due to his gunshot wound. In this scene, Mark aggressively grabs Kit, gives him a closeup of Ho, and tells Kit to look at Ho and see that Ho's actions surmount any of the anger or spitefulness Kit had inside for his brother. The fact that Ho traded Shing's Life for his Brother, Kit's, life is a big deed indeed and Kit should recognize that and put all of their qualms behind them. Mark's advocation of peace between Ho and Kit shows how much Mark truly loves and cherishes the bond both he and Ho share as well as the bond Ho shares with his brother, as Mark attempts to rectify this bond. This action, especially the delivery, of Mark showing Kit what he is doing to his own brother really spoke to me on a deeper level. It really signified how sometimes, we might need someone else, or a 3rd person point of view, to see the negativity we have in our lives/causing in our lives and how we can fix it.

BTS (11/16)

BTS is a Korean Pop band name and it stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan in Korean and Burn the Stage/Beyond the Scene in English. When translated into English, Bangtan Sonyeondan means "Bulletproof Boy Scouts", which I think is pretty badass to be honest! Thus far, this band has taught me a lot about the humility, perseverance, and uniqueness that come into play for a band, or any artist, to "make it big". In one of BTS episodes I watched, the men were talking of their passions and aspirations with the group and it completely caught me off guard. I did not expect one of them to say something along the lines of "sometimes, I am just laying on my bed doing nothing and people expect me to always be working..." for I too expected them all to be ALWAYS working as our sources often portray. It is interesting how I am a huge advocate of not believing everything the media portrays to us, yet I believed that their portrayal of artists is true. Watching this episode of Burn the Stage/ Beyond the scene made me feel an understanding of "the process" artists go through all-while making me feel more wary of what I do believe in and to stay true to my own word. Overall, this episode really showed me how we all are humans so as long we keep "doing us" everything is solid. The men of BTS have showed me that even though we are different culturally, we are, at heart, very similar in regards to work ethic, passions, and other things.