Black Panther
Film Summary
Years ago, five tribes of Africa were at war over the possession of the most robust metal in the whole world, vibranium. One warrior gains superhuman powers and unites the tribes into one, Wakanda. T’Challa returns home to take his birthright as the king of the nation of Wakanda. T’Challa’s strength as the Black Panther and the king of Wakanda is in the test when a powerful enemy reappears. The dispute puts the future of Wakanda and the whole world at risk. The newly crowned king must reunite the rest of the tribes of Wakanda and use the might of Black Panther to gain victory over his enemies and assure the safety of Wakanda and the whole world.
Conflict in Black Panther
There is cultural conflict in the film Black Panther. The nation of Wakanda lies between modernization and tradition despite its technological advancement. Wakanda has decorations of symbols of each tribe’s animal spirit, with the panther being the most prominent animal figure representing T’Challa’s tribe. African traditional clothing influences the costumes used in the movie. The whole time, the city is overfull with high technology, which they keep from the rest of the world by hiding away. T’Challa has to protect the secrecy of Wakanda despite the challenge he gets from N’Jadaka, whose interest is to expose the might of vibranium, thus putting the world at risk.
Social Issues in Black Panther
Social issues addressed in the film Black Panther include feminism (Schmidt, 2019). The role of women portrayed in the characters gives them high-ranking positions and roles in Wakanda. T’Challa’s advisors and warriors throughout the movie are women. T’Challa’s sister is a technological genius, and Nakia is an undercover spy, traits mainly upholding men in society.
Poverty is another addressed social issue in the movie. N’Jadaka is revengeful for his father’s death, claiming that whole of his life he had lived in poverty. Poverty in the film starts with kids playing basketball in a poor neighborhood that addresses poverty as a concern.
How Does the Film Fall Under Micro, Mezzo, or Macro Category of Social Work?
The film falls under the macro-level category of social works because it addresses Wakanda and the entire world. The people of Wakanda keep their secret safe so that vibranium may not harm the world. When watching the movie, you can see the technological advancement of Wakanda through the discovery of vibranium; however, if misused can be harmful and dangerous. The film falls under the macro level when Black Panther saves the abducted women who Nakia infiltrated by the militia. The problems addressed here if affecting a community, thus a macro-level social work.
Helpful Skills for Social Workers
Some skills are handy for a macro-level social worker, including Public relations. Good public relations makes a good image of the organization therefore readily accepted by the people. For example, when people perceive social work as racist or biased, there will be minimal participation with the public minimizing its potential. Marketing is essential in creating awareness of the intentions of social work. For example, when the social worker wants to address racism in the U.S, social media to reach out to people would help get more audience.
Personal Experience Watching the film
I love action and fiction films; therefore, Black Panther is a combination of the two. Black Panther is one of my favorite movies. How the director incorporated the African and American culture is so unique, and the action in the movie was enjoyable. I love the African diversity shown in the making.
Blue Valentine
Film Summary
In the movie Blue Valentine, Dean and Cindy are a married couple with a young six-year-old child living quietly in a humble neighborhood. Everything appears normal in the eyes of the neighbors but having a closer observation, the couple having problems in their marriage.
They were happy when their relation started; however, along the way, their relationship is troubled. Dean and Cindy both lead their marriage to an irreversible state, causing even more problems in their marriage. Initially, they asked questions to get to know each other, but in their present marriage, they asked one another questions to judge action neither did approve, leading to miscommunication. Dean’s lack of ambition and Cindy’s need for more out of life makes her realize that their marriage is over. The movie ends with the two walking away from each other, separated.
Obstacle Facing the Main Character
In the film Blue Valentine, Dean and Cindy face the realities of life and struggle through the problems associated with marriage. Their love starts with so much energy in it to the point of getting a child and getting married. As the film unfolds, I realized that Dean is comfortable with what he has, but Cindy wants both to achieve more. Dean is not stable financially, and Cindy works as a nurse. They constantly get into arguments, neither ready to change and accommodate the other person’s expectations. They have to face the challenges of marriage, each having a background and being victims of a dysfunctional family
Social Issues in Blue Valentine
Marriage is a social issue presented in the film Blue Valentine. The director addresses the problems that couples go through in marriage that not necessarily show to the public through the film. Dean and Cindy meet each other, and from the start of their relationship, they are hopeful of each other. As the film unfolds, they grow apart. Their marriage dominates arguments and fights until they separate from each other. The director uses the film to address how some marriages are despite people’s expectations of a happy family.
How Does the Film Fall Under Micro, Mezzo, or Macro Category of Social Work?
The film falls under a Mezzo-level social work since the film looks out for groups, in this case, Dean and Cindy’s family. In the movie, the plot focus on the relationship between Dean and Cindy. The director addressed marriage by focusing on the past and the present union of Dean and Cindy, thus addressing a group of people. The fact that marriage affects a group of people and not an individual makes the film fall under the Mezzo-level social work.
Helpful Skills for Social Workers
A mezzo-level social worker needs skills such as empathy. Empathy is when you put yourself in someone else shoes to understand what that person is going through (Moore et al., 2017). Addressing the problem that Dean and Cindy are going through requires the social worker to be empathetic enough to understand the couple’s issues.
Persuasion is an essential skill that social workers should equip themselves with, especially when dealing with Dean and Cindy’s marriage. The social worker should convince the couple to try a change of behavior, for instance, and try to understand each other. Without good persuasion skills, the couple will continue falling apart.
Personal Experience Watching the film
The movie was so real I could relate to what I was going through growing up since I come from a dysfunctional family myself. While watching the movie, I kept feeling like the director was telling my story. I am glad that I watched the movie.
Boys Don’t Cry
Film summary
The film Boys Don’t Cry is about Brandon Teena, a young transgender person who flees from his home area when his ex-girlfriend’s brother finds out that he is not born male. Brandon settles in a small town in Nebraska, where he finds love again. He falls in love with Lana, who was enthusiastic about singing, and together they make their plans. He later ends up in jail. Brandon’s arrest put him in the female section, where Lona inquires and declares her love despite Brandon’s condition. They both are happy with each other’s company and contented with the relationship that they are in together with Lona. However, Lona’s ex-convict friends, Tom and John, find out about Brandon changing their plans and killing him because of his sexuality.
Conflict in Boys Don’t Cry
Brandon faces the challenge of living everyday life as a transgender male living in Nebraska. He falls in love but hurts for his sexuality, forcing him to flee away, watching his back. When arrested, the officer directs him to the women’s section, Lona asks why he is there, but instead, he chooses to lie. Brandon faced much discrimination for his sexuality, including rape by Lotter and Nissen.
Social Issue in Boys Don’t Cry
Transgender is a social issue addressed in the film Boys Don’t Cry. Throughout the movie, we see the struggles and problems that Brandon goes through for being transgender. Based on a true story, the story of Brandon is an issue that still affects the LGBT community in the U.S today. The director uses this film to create awareness of the discrimination that transgender goes through because of one’s sexual preference. In the movie, Brandon is proud of himself. He wants to love and to lead an everyday life, but society is against him.
How Does the Film Fall Under Micro, Mezzo, or Macro Category of Social Work?
The film falls under the mezzo level of social work since it addressed an issue affecting a group of people, the LGBT community. The director uses the story of Brandon to illuminate the discrimination and shortcoming of a group of people who go through the same prejudice. The LGBT community goes through all these shortcomings because they do not fit in our society today. Since the film creates awareness of a problem affecting a particular group of people, it falls under a mezzo-level social work category.
Helpful Skills for Social Workers
Advocacy is one of the skills that a social worker should have since it promotes justice and empowers communities and clients by creating awareness of their rights. Being transgender is not a crime; therefore, the people shout not treat them as such.
Communication is another skill that is important for a social worker (koprowska, 2020). Through good communication skills, the social worker can convey understandable information about the problem, which helps address the issue. Good communication is essential when handling the case.
Personal Experience Watching the film
The film I impressive with a good script, outstanding cast, and the soundtrack gave that little extra to seal it. What I remember is the demonstration of emotional courage from the case. I loved watching this movie.
References
Koprowska, j. (2020). Communication and interpersonal skills in social work. Sage.
Moore, M., Cristofalo, M., Dotolo, D., Torres, N., Lahdya, A., & Ho, L. et al. (2017). When high pressure, system constraints, and a social justice mission collide: A socio-structural analysis of emergency department social work services. Social Science & Medicine, 178, 104-114. Web.
Schmidt, p. (2019). ” Black Panther:” Some Thoughts On Anti-Colonialism, Feminism, Xhosa, And Black Pixels In The Film (With An Aside On Ava DuVernay’s” A Wrinkle In Time”). [Ebook].