Faces of America Documentary
- Submitted by: mizuki
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- Category: Politics: Economics
- Date Submitted: 11/10/2010 03:31 PM
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Faces of America Documentary
I love the concept of this documentary. Searching out your family line going back numerous generations, and looking at who you are made up from; it must be enlightening. I traveled to Scotland and the Orkney Islands when I was 15, with my mother and sister, and we saw tombstones of my mother’s side of the family from her grandmother. Names I never knew, attached to faces only my grandmother would recognize. I was too young to fully appreciate it, but looking back on it now, it’s pretty incredible. Because now I know what they went through to get where they were, before they died, and what they did to get me where I am.
In a lot of people’s cases, one's family history, where they came from and what culture they are part off, dictate their career choices. One perfect example from the documentary is Mario Batali, the famous chef. His Italian lineage guided his profession into Italian cooking. Knowing where you came from can be inspiring. What’s more, you realize suddenly that your ancestors lived through all of the chaos that you learned about in school and books; the many world wars, famine, racial injustice. I think it’s really easy to forget what your ancestors went through, because we so easily get caught up in our own lives.
I fine it very interesting, however unsurprising, that those in the documentary who are Jewish, or Black, etc., admit to not knowing or understanding "race" until they got to America. They had to travel great distances, in many cases, learn English, adopt a new way of living almost entirely, and all they receive initially is racial difficulties. I was especially moved by Gladwell's interpretation of his father as he was growing up; a person who innately "doesn’t see color" sounds like a miracle. He was raised in a house and a community, luckily, where his mother who was Jamaican was welcomed. He didn’t understand that racism was an issue until he was older and came to the United...
Faces of America Documentary
I love the concept of this documentary. Searching out your family line going back numerous generations, and looking at who you are made up from; it must be enlightening. I traveled to Scotland and the Orkney Islands when I was 15, with my mother and sister, and we saw tombstones of my mother’s side of the family from her grandmother. Names I never knew, attached to faces only my grandmother would recognize. I was too young to fully appreciate it, but looking back on it now, it’s pretty incredible. Because now I know what they went through to get where they were, before they died, and what they did to get me where I am.
In a lot of people’s cases, one's family history, where they came from and what culture they are part off, dictate their career choices. One perfect example from the documentary is Mario Batali, the famous chef. His Italian lineage guided his profession into Italian cooking. Knowing where you came from can be inspiring. What’s more, you realize suddenly that your ancestors lived through all of the chaos that you learned about in school and books; the many world wars, famine, racial injustice. I think it’s really easy to forget what your ancestors went through, because we so easily get caught up in our own lives.
I fine it very interesting, however unsurprising, that those in the documentary who are Jewish, or Black, etc., admit to not knowing or understanding "race" until they got to America. They had to travel great distances, in many cases, learn English, adopt a new way of living almost entirely, and all they receive initially is racial difficulties. I was especially moved by Gladwell's interpretation of his father as he was growing up; a person who innately "doesn’t see color" sounds like a miracle. He was raised in a house and a community, luckily, where his mother who was Jamaican was welcomed. He didn’t understand that racism was an issue until he was older and came to the United...