Critical Reflection on Documentaries and Their Impact

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The documentary film, “White Like Me”, created by Tim Wise, provides a clear picture of what it's like to be a “white” person in America. Wise brings to the screen his investigative racism and prejudices through the eyes of whiteness and white advantage. The narrative's point of view is to understand the obviously calculated thought of white advantage. It also shows how our mistake as an overall population perceives the psychological, social, and political aspects of whites disproportionately and race-based. Thus 'White Like Me' isn't light pursuing, it is filled generously with accounts and individual stories, presented in an entirely receptive way and addresses areas underneath the bigotry into auxiliary prejudice and white benefit. Wise grew up in south Nashville with people of different races whom he had the chance to identify and relate with. Wise talks about how his family dealt with racism, and in their weakest moments, they would hurt. At very young age, Wise figured that race mattered and tried hard to make whites feel terrible about insufficient things our ancestors did for years. His parents, who were educated in a completely segregated environment, sent him to a black preschool where he learned to respect blacks. An example of racial division happened at an early age when he witnessed black friends being treated unfairly. The film additionally handles the idea of turned prejudice in the period of governmental policy regarding minorities in society and the conviction that America has moved past issues of race. In his story he discusses how the police used to overlook these occurrences and they never captured white individuals while in dark for straightforward stuff. Wise demonstrated how prejudice benefit can assume a major job in life. In the end Wise required people to turn their eyes into reality that a large portion of us are denying. We should admit to the unpredictability and face the irregularity with our own eyes and hearts open to reality or preference that defying this reality can make our life less complex.

I believe the weakest argument in the documentary is the fact of how Wise confuses class and race. He points how cultures that have never been exposed to other races still have similar attitudes about the lightness or darkness of the color of a people's skin. There is likewise the mental advantage of simply the acknowledgment that as a white individual, one won't be racially profiled when approaching their ordinary business. Wise also seems to confuse statistics and stereotypes. He appears to interpret everything in terms of anti-racism. Racism is often described in the film as people judged by the color of their skin. This is often misled when making statistical calculations. Mr. Wise, I have three objections to your film. First, you show what white benefit is and share your sentiment with respect to how to address white benefit in the public eye today. The unique form of explaining how white privilege hurt colored people more than society is led to believe something different which is not, and I find it not very convincing. Also, you arranged for tending to white benefit is one not of blame, yet of obligation, a distinctive feature. The idea of feeling regretful for white benefit needs reason since white benefit is something developed through ages and its reality isn't of any one individual's deficiency. Secondly, your film investigates a very limited number of points of view that stood to whites and the degree to which they have characterized the culture of racial separation, which I find quite controversial. Your most troublesome issue confronting America in the field of race relations may not be the most self-evident. The most troublesome issue confronting a racial America is knowledge. The individuals of America are not taught about the historical backdrop of race in this country and until they are race relations will have a lot of trouble improving. Lastly, your film aims to change the national discussion about race and racism in us pursuing to truly align our written American principals with current realities. As an anti-racism activist, you argue that “all” people will internalize elements of racist thinking, which may not be all true.

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The narrative film “The Whistleblower” is about a woman, Sherry Hunt, who worked for Citigroup in the Quality Control Department and became a “whistleblower” after finding out the company had permitted numerous bad mortgage investments made fraudulent. After she blew the whistle with evidence sustaining her claims, Citigroup settled her lawsuit for 31 million dollars. In November 2004, Sherry joined Citigroup as a vice president in the mortgage unit. She was responsible for protecting Citigroup from fraud and bad investments by checking prospective loans to see whether they met the bank’s standards or not. At the time, investor demand was so strong and powerful for mortgages packed in securities that Citigroup couldn’t process them fast enough. As a result, it had a bunch of people processing them.

There were too many loans sold to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae. By 2006, the bank was buying mortgages from outside lenders with altered tax forms, unreal appraisals, and missing signatures. Shelley Hunt reported such discrepancies regularly to her bosses who buried her findings before, during and after the financial crisis, and even into 2012. When a mortgage wasn’t up to federal standards such as an unsigned document, a false income statement or exaggerated appraisal, her team labeled the loan as “defective”. In late 2007, about sixty percent of the mortgages Citigroup was buying, and selling were missing some form of documentation. Hunt says she took her concerns to her boss who alerted Citigroup executives in an email. Citigroup’s response was to move the boss from managing two hundred plus people to overseeing two. By January 2009, the boss no longer worked for Citigroup. She found even worse dealings in her new role. Hunt came across a list of about a thousand loans that the quality-control team had identified for possible fraud. Hunt sued Citigroup for false-claims complaint in U.S. District Court. There was no trial and Citigroup admitted wrongdoing and paid the lawsuit, Sherry Hunt.

The Corporation is a documentary film that documents the passage in modern societies of the right to private property to the creation of private enterprise. It narrates the most powerful held entities in the world and the importance of a legal detail that protects them. The recognized legal persons and ability to act like any other person for legal purposes which allowed the owners of large companies to enjoy legal immunity from the problems caused by corporations. The story exhibits the persuasive press not being the same as the genuine material related to business associations. Business organizations are regularly excessively liable to seeking benefits over the interests of individuals. The narrative raises the worry about moral issues however underpins an excessive amount of the possibility of open asset administration yet neglects to layout the social shameful acts that are submitted by these legislatures in the guise of overseeing open assets. It likewise gives extraordinary credit to socialism without investigating a portion of the negative sides of the equivalent. The full motion picture likewise neglects to gather proof and realities about these companies yet rather gives an abstract supposition about the issue. The film catches relevant examinations from a previous time. The story wins with respect to appearing to the viewer the distinctive negative pieces of a business organization, which consistently gets little thought in the dominating press and noticeable talk. One major theme is the damage caused to the environment by many corporations. One example was the way many paper mills plants were dumping toxic waste to nearby streams and rivers causing irreparable damage to humans. Another example was the case of Monsanto Corporation which introduced a bovine hormone injection proven to be unsafe to humans after testing trials which led consumers at risk. Many large corporations neglect to address these negative outcomes on the environment based on their profitability. Businesses and corporations are often too guilty of pursuing profit over the genuine interest of caring for people and the environment.

The main focus from 'Letter From Birmingham Jail' by Martin Luther King Jr, is that he was clarifying how they basically set up their peaceful protests and why they picked such particular day to protest for their human rights. Martin Luther King Jr. composed the letter in a way questioning his protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King went to jail for a week before being released on bond. The purpose of such writing was directed to address the critics, ministers, and rabbi, who targeted the peaceful demonstrations. King tried to defend the strategies against nonviolence resistance to racism. King effectively and powerfully presented his arguments that the discrimination of African Americans was unbearable and unlawful. King was adamant about having the moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. Most rhetoric appeals used in the text were very persuasive. King ends his letter by explaining why the letter was so long, despite being previously more concise and apologizes to the clergymen for his impatience and exaggeration.

Morality is not a fact but an aspect of ideology that would be objective if it had a purpose to it. Only in the human mind exists the essence of one’s existence. It is the root of how values and virtues can be obtained. It helps human beings thrive for existence, stability, and happiness. Morality sets a system where rules for right and wrongdoing integrates from each other. There’s a strong opinion on how the laws of the supernatural exist. The key to realization is that there is no universally right moral value system. There are universal moral laws but also cultural moral as well. Morality is a personal choice of the individual as taught not by society, family or peers. The moral and spiritual costs for those who see unethical practices and refuse to say anything have two areas to deal with which include immorality and ethics. Unethical behavior is something that falls under a gray area that most people do not know how to react. Always good to remember that unethical behavior is an illegal activity that leads to serious consequences.

The film “Witness: Voices from the Holocaust” is a recollection of testimonies from Holocaust survivors. Many of the personal accounts comprise declarations from Jewish people who came to live in Britain during and after World War II. These declarations sum the many personal genuine stories that portray the terrible life suffered from the Holocaust during Hitler’s dominance. For many, the Holocaust history brings back agony and torture lived throughout unbearable camps. In Witness: Voices from the Holocaust, we’re able to learn the human tragedy based on actual testimonies of survivors. Some of the examples presented throughout the film were the way many Nazis came barging in to capture the Jews that were hiding inside the homes. Another example was the way the Jews arrived at forced labor camps, had to undress, and be separated into groups. Also, there were 3 brothers that were being sent to cremation and the oldest told the youngest to go with his parents instead for safety not realizing that they were going to cremate. There was a mother carrying a baby completely wrapped in her arms as she tried to hide it from being taken away. After the baby began to suffocate, the Nazis noticed the baby crying and took the baby away. There were a Jew carpenter cutting woods and when he wrongly cut a piece of wood, the Nazi shot him. These are some of the examples of the horrifying events that happened during the Holocaust. For many survivors, the memories are still vivid. The declarations of these unfortunate fatalities were transcribed as original as it could be to keep the survivors’ stories truthful. Such accounts were vivid experiences that existed in a sole Holocaust experience.

During the Holocaust, people had a choice, whether to intervene or not. Jews often were targeted and separated from their families. They were sent to forced labor camps and killing centers. This happened until a small group of people from European countries risked their lives to help save the Jews. Some Jews survived because non-Jews risked hiding them. Non-Jews would mostly get killed and their houses and properties burned for hiding Jews. Those who rescued Jews showed that it is possible to have individual choice even if there are thousands against it even in dangerous circumstances. There was Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist, who was down for saving the lives of thousand Jews by employing them in his factory.

I believe thesis A and B both have very important facts about humanity. Humans indeed can cause horrifying things. At the pace that society is going, as in cruelty and evil, it has only gotten worse over time. Although it would be clever to give a person that has committed a crime another chance; it would also be a foolish thing to do. If one did give a felon another chance, it's a very risky thing to do considering that they could be a danger to themselves and others. Today, humanity is so full of immoral and wicked people that is rare to find good people. Don't misunderstand though, there are good people in this world but one must find them because it’s a small group. I mean when you learn about the Holocaust you start to think, how can there be so much hate in this world; how does someone so malevolent murder innocent women, men, and children. People still do indescribable things to each other. An example of being moral is when non-Jews risked their own lives and their own families by hiding Jews in their homes. Even though everybody was scared and was against Jews, there were people chosen to do the right thing and some chose their own path.

Citations:

  1. Corporation, The. “THE CORPORATION [17/23] Unsettling Accounts.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Feb. 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw.
  2. Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.], https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html.
  3. “Rescue.” YouTube, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h66eoydNVCQ.
  4. “The Whistleblower.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/video/playing-rules-ethics-work-whistleblower/.
  5. “White Like Me.” YouTube, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijK4hoh1D0s.
  6. YaleUniversity. “Witness: Voices from the Holocaust (HVT-8076).” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Aug. 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leqkGOqyWMI.
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Critical Reflection on Documentaries and Their Impact. (2022, September 27). Edubirdie. Retrieved November 23, 2024, from https://edubirdie.com/examples/critical-reflective-essay-on-documentaries-white-like-me-the-whistleblower-the-corporation/
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Critical Reflection on Documentaries and Their Impact [Internet]. Edubirdie. 2022 Sept 27 [cited 2024 Nov 23]. Available from: https://edubirdie.com/examples/critical-reflective-essay-on-documentaries-white-like-me-the-whistleblower-the-corporation/
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