Art is one of the popular forms of expression of human thoughts and deep feelings. In particular, cinema is one of the areas of art that allows people to raise and reveal eternal questions. The Secret in Their Eyes is a good example of a work that addresses critical human issues. It raises moral issues and discusses what people are guided by when acting in a particular way. This film also discusses the manifestations of justice, which can sometimes be cruel. In addition, one of the most important topics of this film is the love and actions that it pushes people to. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how these details appear in the film in terms of form and content.
The plot is built around an immoral crime: the rape and murder of a young woman. Viewers see her life with her husband in retrospect, which allows them to penetrate sympathy better and get to know the characters more deeply. Undoubtedly, murder is a severe crime, regardless of motive. While the plot unfolds, viewers can look at this from the point of view of different characters and make up their minds about the actions of Gomez, the killer. He was in love and jealous and could not forgive the woman for choosing another man, but this does not justify his actions.
It is hard to evaluate the justice of the outcome of this situation. At the end of the film, viewers see that the widower keeps the killer in inhuman conditions for many years, so that he suffers until the end of his days. On the one hand, the widower can be understood, since he suffered a grave loss. On the other hand, he has shown terrible cruelty towards Gomez for many years, which complicates his own life. He keeps seeing the criminal every day, always remembers the events of the past, and cannot continue to live calmly.
Another central theme of The Secret in Their Eyes is love. The crime itself around which the narrative is built was due to love. The relationship between the protagonist Esposito and his colleague Irene is a vital love line as well. After watching the movie, viewers can conclude that the love in it is all-conquering. The loving husband defeats the killer of his wife; Esposito and Irene get together. However, love also pushes people to terrible acts, such as rape and murder. In this way, the director shows the viewer the depth and spontaneity of this feeling, so important for people.
The Secret in Their Eyes has many awards and positive reviews from critics for a reason. It raises profound topics that are important to people and considers them from different angles. For this, the director uses various tricks, for example, a retrospective. In addition, he makes the plot itself unusual and exciting. Thanks to this, the movie creates a lasting impression on the audience and makes them think about eternal questions.
One of my favorite films is the 2011 French movie Intouchables. It also addresses many important issues that everyone should be aware of. For example, kindness, responsibility, and a willingness to help those in need are the most essential human qualities that tfilm’sfilm characters have. Social inequality is also a critical issue, and this film shows that it is not always justified and fair. Therefore, cinema helps people rethink various values and make their life and the lives of others more eventful and enjoyable.
Evolution Of Neurogenesis Concepts
Throughout her life, the author has been confronted with ideas — broadcasted by teachers and parents, among others — about the inability to restore nervous tissue. Thus, the adults tried to show how harmful to be nervous so such opinions can be perceived as protection, but as it turned out, they are completely unfounded. In her lecture, Thuret (2015) said that neurons are actually regenerating, and by the age of fifty, the human brain has completely different nerve cells than it had at birth. This is tremendous news that has shocked the author and changed the way she thinks about brain tissue. Thuret also showed how factors of environment, nutrition, and activity affect the process of creating new neurons, neurogenesis. Given this knowledge, it seems obvious that the inner desire to engage only in constructive activities that contribute to neurogenesis. This includes adding more Omega-3 to the diet, switching to short-term fasting, and abandoning ethanol. Physical activity that increases blood flow is also likely to catalyze neurogenesis: running, swimming, or gym will be a good strategy for all people who want to develop gray matter. Ultimately, it gives a person an improved memory, the ability to think critically even in old age, and a positive mood.
In fact, it turns out that even after physical or biological brain damage, neurogenesis is involved. In particular, as a result of trauma, neurons naturally break down, which leads to a violation of the person’s cognitive abilities: memory, recognition, and thinking. There are many examples of such damages: concussion, stroke, or even coma. Due to the phenomenon of cognitive reserve, until a certain threshold is reached, the human brain will continue to function normally, so tissue destruction symptoms may be invisible (Ridding, 2017). Probably, neurogenesis plays a big role in this phenomenon, producing new neurons in response to the destruction of old ones. Therefore, it can be argued that in brain damage, neurogenesis plays an adaptive role in preserving the body’s functionality.
This statement does not seem to be entirely true for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). As is known, as a result of AD, the human brain undergoes irreversible pathomorphological changes in the hippocampus (Choi & Tanzi, 2019). The same area is responsible for neurogenesis, so the relationship between the two factors seems transparent (Thuret, 2015). Thus, it is possible to postulate that the older the patient becomes, the worse their neurogenesis is. However, it seems that in the early stages of AD, neurogenesis may still prevail over tissue destruction.
References
Choi, S.H. & Tanzi, R.E. (2019). Is Alzheimer’s Disease a neurogenesis disorder [PDF document].
Ridding, M. (2017). What is ‘cognitive reserve’? How we can protect our brains from memory loss and dementia. The Conversation. Web.
Thuret, S. (2015). You can grow new brain cells. Here’s how [Video]. TED.
Andie From “Honky” Play By Greg Kalleres
Sexuality Stereotypes
One of the main characters in Honky, Andie Chastain, is a young woman whose behavior reflects multiple stereotypes linked with sexuality (Kalleres, 2014). Today, social media researchers are concerned about the harmful stereotype, according to which women tend to lie about rape or sexual harassment (Stabile et al., 2019). Unfortunately, Honky supports this stereotype, which is clear from Andie’s behaviors in scene four. When doing her stretching exercises, Andie discusses her parents’ friend referred to as Mr. Brennan. Then, she suddenly says, “I’m pretty sure I have a repressed memory of Mr. Brennan touching me as a kid” (Kalleres, 2014, p. 14). From her monologue, it becomes clear that she has no evidence against the man but does not mind casting suspicions on him. Although Honky is a satirical play, this representation might distort people’s perceptions of the trustworthiness of sex crime victims and strengthen the idea that false rape and child molesting accusations are extremely common.
Race Stereotypes
Honky is a contemporary satirical play that covers a range of social issues, including communication in racially diverse societies and white people’s fear of being called racists. Andie Chastain from Honky is a white woman whose behaviors sometimes support stereotypes about white people. An example of such stereotypes is that white people misunderstand the systemic nature of inequality in resource distribution (Case & Rios, 2017). In one of the scenes, Andie’s dialogue with her fiancé Peter about white privilege demonstrates that her ideas align with the previously mentioned stereotypical opinion. For instance, in the scene titled “You are so white,” Andie openly rejects the idea of white guilt and does not agree that her race has anything to deal with her current financial position and opportunities in life (Robinson, 2015). Concerning this representation’s potential impact, it might reinforce negative ideas about ignorant privileged people. On the other hand, the scene mocks white people that blame all representatives of their race for any issues faced by people of color.
References
Kalleres, G. (2014). Honky. Dramatists Play Service Inc.
Stabile, B., Grant, A., Purohit, H., & Rama, M. (2019). “She lied”: Social construction, rape myth prevalence in social media, and sexual assault policy. Sexuality, Gender & Policy, 2(2), 80-96.
Case, K. A., & Rios, D. (2017). Educational interventions to raise awareness of white privilege. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 28(1), 137-156.
Robinson, J. (2015). ONSTAGE IN AMERICA: Honky. KPBS.