The highlight of my experience in this class was definitely watching all of the films. I typically never follow films closely or ever know what is in theatres and what’s happening in the movie world. However, this is not because of disinterest; it’s really because of a lack of free time. I would like to see more movies than I do, so that was an awesome plus of this class. A movie I had been wanting to see for a while was Mulholland Drive, and I loved it. I also really liked the last film we watched, Tangerine. Another highlight for me was the energy in class. I really enjoyed the humor and less formal vibe from our proffessor, which in turn made myself and my classmates around me feel more relaxed and open to be themselves and be humorous as well. I definitely met some great people in class.
Having family in Los Angeles as well as living very close to Los Angeles, I had a pretty realist (to put it nicely) view of L.A. and L.A. culture before this class. I would say most of my beliefs were confirmed. Those beliefs include the idea that Hollywood is fake, fame drives people crazy, and that L.A. has no culture, yet the “no culture” is the culture within itself. The culture of L.A. is the diverse melting pot of people moving there with big hopes and dreams. Mulholland Drive definitely proves my first idea of Hollywood being one big lie, and Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard supports the second idea of insanity caused by fame.
My least favorite text was Chinatown. I don’t have much of an argument; I was just bored. My favorite text we studied was either Sunset Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, or Tangerine. The first two I was so glad we were viewing because they are two classics that I had always meant to watch but never did. What made them 2 of my top 3 favorite texts we studied is that both movies actually exceeded my expectations. Tangerine on the other hand is one of my favorite texts that we technically did not really study, but did watch as a class, and it makes the list because I found it funny, engaging, and it taught some good lessons. Most of all though, it makes the list because it is a film I had never heard of before, and probably would have never seen if it wasn’t for this class. I really appreciate that about this class. Thank you for making me more cultured!!
Ava Ganz 