Dear Lemon Lima

I went to see Dear Lemon Lima at SIFF and loved this film! Dear Lemon Lima is a coming of age film about a young girl named Vanessa Lemor. After her first love, Philip, breaks her heart over summer break, Vanessa is awarded the minority scholarship to Philip's school, where she befriends a group of outcasts who call themselves the "fubars."

Vanessa is half Yup’ik, and indigenous people from Alaska and Russia, and although she doesn't relate to that part of her background she is seen by the teachers at the school as a poster child for their native heritage. At thirteen she is more interested in regaining the affection of Philip.

Vanessa and the "fubars" sign up for a strength and endurance competition based on Yup'ik traditions, though the exercises seem more like a parody than giving homage to their ancestors, in an attempt to impress Philip and win him back. Instead, she learns that her happiness and friendships are more important.

Her neighbor, Hercules, who is also one of the "fubars" has a much more difficult time finding happiness. This is mainly due to his very restrictive parents not allowing him to hang out with "that native girl" and the rest of the "fubars". Another of the "fubars" who goes by the name "Nothing" is also given a difficult time, only by her peers instead of her parents. Although she looked perfectly healthy to me she was supposed to be the heavy set girl and endured a lot of ridicule from her classmates. But when the group of friends are together nothing seems to bother them. They find strength in each other and are determined to win the competition, or at least try their hardest as a team.

I loved this movie because it shows that just because you may be labeled a certain way or thrown into a stereotype doesn't mean that you have to follow suit. And for those who are enforcing the stereotypes that someone's race, gender, or body type doesn't put them into a fixed personality mold.

Beyond Ipanema

I recently went to see Beyond Ipanema at SIFF (Seattle International Film Festival) and was surprised that I actually enjoyed the film as much as I did. Beyond Ipanema is a documentary about the history of Brazilian music and it's impact on cultures throughout the world. You may not know this but much of the music popular in America, past and present, has been majorly influenced by the many different styles of Brazilian music.

When I hear the name Carmen Miranda one thing comes to mind, bananas. What I didn't know was she was the first Brazilian performer to reach international stardom. What I really like about Carmen Miranda is although she conformed slightly to meet Hollywood standards at the time (bleaching her hair and singing in English) she refused to assimilate completely. All of her film contracts included at least one or two songs sung in Portuguese, even though American audiences could not understand her. She was also the highest paid woman in the United States!

Carmen Miranda paved the road to global success for other Brazilian artists. Because of this exposure, American music has maintained a Brazilian influence throughout the decades.

Bossa Nova, a genre of Brazilian music popular in the late 1950s, was said to have been an offshoot of American Jazz. But when Jazz musicians began to travel to Brazil in search of inspiration they found that Bossa Nova had a much more complex beat and brought this sound back to the U.S. For years Bossa Nova set the mood for cocktail parties and other social events in America and around the world.

What I really liked about this movie and what I learned about the many different genres of Brazilian music is how diverse the music is while maintaining a strong sense of culture. It doesn't appeal to just one race, class, or gender and there are no borders or boundaries.

Most people I've spoken to about social and economic class have claimed to be middle-class even though they spread across a broad spectrum, from poor, to financially stable, to wealthy. A few believe they are lower-class but no one I've spoken to thinks they are upper-class. I believe I fall into the lower-class category and have most of my life.

In Class In America - 2009 by Gregory Mantsios, he mentions that people commonly place themselves into the middle-class category and their is a common belief that this is a middle-class nation or a classless society altogether. Contrary to this belief, the gap between the wealthy and the poor grows wider everyday. Here are a few facts that contradict these myths:

• The wealthiest 1% of the American population holds 34% of total national wealth.
• Approximately 13% live below the official poverty line and an estimated 3.5 million people are homeless every year.
• Average after-tax income of top 1% increased by 20% between 2003 and 2004 which was the highest increase in 15 years.
• Average after-tax income of the bottom 80% only increased about 2.1%

Another misconception about personal economic growth in the U.S. is that anyone can achieve the American dream if they try hard enough. This is often refered to as the Horatio Alger myth. Horatio Alger was a former New England minister who wrote dime-novels popular in the 1920s. He often wrote about people who start at the bottom of society and rose to the top, usually with the help of a wealthy humanitarian.

This typical character started to appear in cinema. Harold Loyd often portrayed a middle-class American working hard to finally achieve success. One well known character that did not follow the Horatio Alger myth is Charlie Chaplin, who prefered the lower-class life. Although there are several films today about the lower-class struggle, many films today still hold strong to this myth.

In Persuit of Happyness (2006) is about a poor, single father, played by Will Smith, who goes from being a salesmen to eventually becoming a stock broker. In Pretty Woman (1990), Julia Roberts plays a prostitute who came from a poor back ground. She goes from rags to riches when she meets a wealthy man who falls in love with her and takes her to the top of society.

These entertaining examples of the American dream should be viewed as just that, a dream. This is not reality and it never will be. Social status and class is based primarily on who you know and what your parents fall into when you are born.

Acknowledging White Privilege

White privilege is a very complicated and weighted subject. Until recently I had a vague understanding of what white privilege meant. I thought that it simply meant white people had more opportunities than people of color. Throughout American history this has been true and although in the present day we're all supposed to be equal there are many obstacles still blocking the path toward true equality.

In White Privilege - Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy Mc Intosh made a list of privileges she experiences everyday due to her "whiteness" and most of them I could relate to. She refers to white privilege as unearned entitlement, which I agree is a more accurate title. Her list includes the fact that she never has to worry that her race played a role in negative situations and feels that her daily routine is much easier for her than people of color due to the fact that she is white. This article really forced me to view certain scenarios that I've witnessed in a new light.

A few years ago I was in a court room in Long Beach, California and witnessed several people being convicted of letting their dog out in public without a leash. None of them could afford to pay the fines associated with the charges and because of this they were all sentenced to three to six months in county jail. What I didn't notice then was the fact that they were all African American. I can't imagine that a fifty year old, white grandma with an unleashed miniature poodle would have been given the same poor treatment.

White privilege is not only about unearned entitlement, it's also about the things that I never have to worry about. Just as Peggy Mc Intosh states in her list, I never have to worry about my race playing a role in negative situations I may experience. Even if race is not the issue it's still something that people of color are constantly conscious of. If I'm not approved for a loan I'm pretty sure it's not because I'm white. If I'm followed by a clerk in the grocery store I'd never question if it has something to do with the color of my skin.

In Racism, Right-Wing Rage and the Politics of White Nostalgia, Tim Wise mentions that many people seem to want to forget that the history of this country is based on oppression. It's no wonder most people choose not to accept, or are at least ignorant to the fact that oppression still exists. While it is a fact that all Americans have a right to the same opportunities as their neighbor, the struggle and hardships of some might be greater than others because of their race. And the only way this can change is if White America steps out of oblivion and realises that creating equal rights was not the last step, we still need to make them obtainable.

A few weeks ago I was shopping for my friend's baby shower and was browsing through the registery list at Target. The items on the list included a blue Pooh Bear onesie, safari themed daiper bag, towels embroidered with dinosaurs, etc. It was obvious that the baby was going to be male. At the time I didn't think anything of it but after reading a chapter from Women, Men, and Society by Claire Renzetti and Daniel Curran about gender socialization I realized how much impact these toys are going to have on the social aspects of this child's life. I started to remember the toys I had as a child and wondered if they had a role in shaping who I am today.

From as far back as I can remember I had a wide range of toys and a lot of them were obviously not marketed for little girls. Although I had Barbies and babydolls I also had G.I. Joe, Micro-Machines, and transformers. I also had several gender neutral toys such as legos and play dough. I discussed this with my mom and asked her if she had felt troubled by this or if she encouraged my interest in these toys. She said that she had never really thought about it and added that when I was three my favorite toy was a huge, yellow Tonka truck. She said if there was a mud puddle anywhere in sight I was sure to be in it, splashing my yellow truck around and making loud engine sounds. Although this made me laugh it also started to raise a lot of questions in my head.

Growing up I guess you could say I was somewhat of a tomboy. I didn't like dresses, despised pink, and prefered to be outdoors. My lack of interest in these things hasn't changed much over the years. Although I do like pink on certain things and dressing up can be fun, I still prefer to be outside, in the mud. A few days ago one of my girlfriends even jokingly called me a "dude" because I apparently act more like a guy than a girl. Is this because I was free to choose between a doll or a truck?

My younger sister, however, had completely different interests growing up. She wore frilly dresses, had bedazzled purses full of plastic lipstick and compact mirrors, and loved to bake cakes with her Easy Bake Oven. My mom said she never had an interest in trucks or G.I. Joes, just "girly things." She too has not changed much since then. Is this because she was encouraged to play with more gender appropriate toys? Or does the fact that she was the second child, or "baby", have more to do with it than the fact that she is female?