Coates "Hate is baggage"

American History X is quite a film.  The movie is very detailed about racism and prejudices that face the world.  The film is about two brothers who are led on the wrong path to become white supremacists. The eldest brother, Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton) is the man of the household after his ‘racist’ father is killed by a black man during a fire. He is then put into jail when he shoots three black men for stealing his car.  His younger brother, Danny (Edward Furlong) begins to follow in his brother’s footsteps under the wing of his brother’s neo-Nazi party leader, Stacey Keach (Cameron Alexander). While his brother is in jail, Danny is sent to the principals office because of a offensive paper he wrote.  He has been told to write a paper about his brother instead.  This is where the story unfolds into black and white memories of the boy’s past.  Derek explains to his brother about what happened to him in jail and how he is a changed person.  Derek tries to change Danny’s behavior and changes his perspective of how he views others.  In the end, we think that all is well because of their change, but Danny is horrifically shot by a black boy who he had confrontation with in the beginning of the movie. 


To me, this movie was way over my thoughts about racism. I never thought that people could be so hateful to each other.  The movie not only shows the racism between blacks and whites, but also against Jewish, Hispanic, and Asian people as well.  It is a pity to think that some people are really that angry about differences.  Even though the movie showed racism to great extremes, it still made an impact on the way that some people view others.  I believe that the adult’s influence greatly impacted this story. There was the father, who was prejudice towards black people, an older brother who was a neo-Nazi skinhead, and an even older father, almost grandfather-like influence that was the same way.  Danny was stuck in a world of hate until his brother told him the stories of his time in prison. 


Sad enough, (I didn’t want to be right) I predicted someone’s death in the end.  I thought that it could possibly be Derek because of the way he killed the men in the beginning or because he turned on his white supremacist friends. But I expected Danny’s death even more. Danny didn’t go through the same change that Derek did. Sure it was great that he changed his views, based on his paper and his new found attitude when taking down his racist posters, but he never really had any closure, forgiveness, or apology between him and his murderer.  Not that there should or should not have been, it was just a movie kind-of prediction.  

Coates: Good Night, and Good Luck

To me, this movie was very boring. It was in black and white and the topic was not necessarily interesting to me. It was set in the 1950s and was filmed in black and white, yet the movie came out in 2005. It was slow and had no variety on the setting. I think that it should have been presented in a way that more people can relate to it instead of only bringing up the point of view of the media. If the movie were to be re-made, the first thing that they could do is put it in color. It brings a lot of meaning to a movie and its easier to concentrate on the movie. Everything looked the same to me, so it was difficult to concentrate on the scenes. Secondly, I think if they wanted to get the points of the movie across to a younger group, they could have made it into a love story along with the main points. I feel like they should have played more on the fact that the husband and wife were not allowed to work together, because it showed how America was almost being Socialist. That way, the movie's story line would have been more interesting and could have had a hidden meaning. Although this movie isn't one that I would recommend, the movie did bring up a few topics of discussion. The points that were in the movie were Communism, Socialism, and most importantly the role that the media plays in society. Communism and Socialism are two things in society that people always fear. It would change the government as we know it and take away certain freedoms that we have. In the 1950s, people also feared that if they had any positive comments about Communism or Socialism, they would be 'hunted' out or be tortured because of their beliefs. Sounds un-American if you ask me. Today, people are free to say what they want, but are still somewhat fearful if our country became Communist or Socialist. In conclusion, the movie really is just about the news and the true difference between the importance of what goes on in front of camera and what goes on behind the camera. 

Coates: Nice is Different Than Good

For my Politics and Reel Life class, we were assigned to watch the movie, "Good". At first, I thought the movie would be boring, but as it continued, it made me think. What classifies the true meaning of good and bad. At first, John Halder seems to be a normal person, but then he changes his ideals because of society. He slowly begins to fall into the wrong crowd and ends up losing a friend over it. John was blind to the wrong that he was doing because of society. He is between the lines of fear and blame. He tries to do what will help his friend, after his friend realizes the danger is in. John is still afraid of what could happen to himself. He ends up regretting his fear, only after it is too late. Sadly, it is not his fault that he was so afraid. He was so pressured into making the right decision, but was unable to pick the good one. If John really cared for his friend, he would have done anything to save him. Instead of buying one ticket for his friend, he could have bought one for himself as well and they could be away from the thing that they fear. But he didn't. In the end, John only saved himself and was left to what would be a dark, scary world.

The movie relates to today's world in many different ways, but the thing I noticed most was the way he conformed to society. Today, many people have sectioned themselves into different social groups or 'cliques.' Teenagers especially can have trouble with this. It may not always be the best choice, but sometimes people are drawn to different groups because they are accepted. In my life, for example, I have been more drawn to people who sing or play music over those who do not. Luckily, all of my friends are good people, but I always wondered what would have happened if they weren't. Although this is a smaller majority than the movie, the ideals are similar. Would I have still been friends with these people if they enjoyed the same things I did, but had bad morals? I think at a younger age, I could have been swayed to go in the wrong direction just to fit in and be a part of this group. If my ideals were different, I could have risked being rejected by peers who were like me. Now that I am older, I have a stronger independence to be who I want to be, and I could live without people who have similar interests. 

Jade Coates- Introduction

Hello! My name is Jade Antionette Coates, and I am from Destrehan, Louisiana. I am 18 years old and I am currently studying Music Therapy at Loyola University New Orleans. 

I have studied music since I was in the second grade. I have studied with a classical private vocal coach since the third grade. I love to sing! I have also been in over 40 musicals from school productions to professional productions. Some of my leading roles include: "Velma Kelly" in "Chicago The Musical", The "Witch" and the "Baker's Wife" in two productions of "Into the Woods", and "Marty" in Grease. I have also been in the chorus in four operas with the Jefferson Performing Arts Society: "La Traviata", "Tosca", "Madame Butterfly", and "La Boheme". I am also an alumni of Louisiana Kids Inc. This organization performs at nursing homes, fairs, and hosts regional, state, and national competitions for members. I currently am a member of the Storyland Theatrical Players in New Orleans City park. I play, Jade the Mermaid. As a Storyland Player, I act as a mermaid, paint faces, sing songs, and do magic tricks! I love music, theatre, and visual arts as well.

I love the 1920s-1940s era. I love the music, the fashion, and the history. I love to sing songs from the 1940s era especially. One of my biggest inspirations is Judy Garland. I've been told I look and sing like her! I love her voice! :) I love Rita Hayworth too. I would love to see all of the movie Gilda someday! I am also quite obsessed with Fairy-tales, Disney Princesses (Ariel), the old Disney cartoons (not the new stuff).

http://style.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/judy.jpg   http://www.thegoldenyears.org/hayworth.jpg

It's just a coincidence that some of my favorite people are redheads :)

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I never thought I'd be a blogger. Actually this is an assignment from my freshman experience class called: Politics and 'Reel' Life. From the get go, I was worried because I am not very politically correct on many levels. As far as politics go I stand on two major topics: PRO-LIFE and Arts and Music educations being kept and added to more schools.  I was worried I would be bored. So far I'm not! Honestly, I am glad they made us do a blog. Its an interesting experience! I might even post when we don't need to! :) More to come!

http://aggreen.net/pro-life/baby.jpg