White Mocha - poem

After reading Sons for the Return Home, the theme of first love really stuck to me. I found myself remembering back to the times of my first relationship and how crazy it can be. It sparked interest me and I decided to write a poem of my first experience at this thing we call love. Hopefully this overly sappy and cheesy talk hasn't made you run for the hills. Haha.

White Mocha

White mocha
it was you
from sun rise
to sun set

White mocha
i've lost all
my bitter sense
your taste
and
your sweet scent

White mocha
will you remember
neon lights
electric skies
warm hearts
and
starry nights

White mocha
were you mine
or less we
can pretend
til i can
bend all time

White mocha
it was you
from sun rise
to sun set

Two Cars, One Night

Two Cars, One Night

This short film, Two Cars, One Night, was the short film that I did not get a chance to present at the seminar due to unfortunate circumstances. Therefore I will be writing a short response to it instead.

Two Cars, One Night is a famous New Zealand short film directed by Maori-born Taika Waititi. He belongs to the iwi Te-Whanau-a-Apanui, which is based in the East Coast of New Zealand. The film is some what of a recollection of his past experiences growing up there, with the setting being based in a local pub, Te Kaha, around that area.

The film depicts an unlikely meeting of children, 2 boys and a girl, in their respective cars outside the pub. The intended audience is probably a New Zealand audience because there is a lot of vernacular language spoken in the film which may be hard to understand for an international audience.

Words and phrases such as "choice as" = good. "Egg" = idiot. "Wasted" = drunk. "Flash" = fancy. "Nick" = steal. Also, the children's thick east coast accent may prove to be difficult to understand as well.

What caught my attention in the short film was the themes. It focuses on the characteristics of children such as innocence, naivety, vulnerability, rivalry and friendship. Also, the underlying message of being able to find beauty in the most ordinary settings.

•Taika Waititi mentions that “There are a few moments in childhood that have a lasting impact. Not because they change the course of your life, or because they arrive with any great fanfare, in fact quite the opposite. Those are moments where an unexpected joy is found in the everyday, a moment of beauty in the ordinary.” (Waititi, n.d.) 

He artistically implemented this idea by setting the film in black and white rather than in colour.

 

The lighting techniques used in the film contrasted what was bad and what was good. The dark parts of the film were the pub, smoking, drinking etc. In one scene it showed the two cars outside the pub, the backgrounds and surroundings were dark. The only light source was from the two cars and the light highlighted the children inside the car. This was to show the children's innocence and purity, and how they were oblivious to the dangers of the adult world. Also to show that, good things can happen in bad places, and that there is always light in the most unexpected places.

The relationship between the two main characters (the children), Romeo and Polly emphasizes this idea. They start their relationship by yelling insults at each other creating rivalry, while remaining in their respective cars. It highlights the child's innocence towards the opposite sex - love does not exist in a child's world because they do not understand it. The distance between the two cars, at first, acts as a barrier. However, the rivalry slowly diminishes when Romeo approaches Polly, crossing the line that was a barrier. The next scene depicts Romeo in Polly's car with her, conversing happily with each other. At this point the barrier is completely broken and a new friendship forms. You could say, it is a child's first experience at first love. 

Other than the use of black and white (which creates a sense of horror), the short film was actually sweet. It would let viewers begin a nostalgic journey back to their childhood, where these unlikely interactions were taken for granted. Taika wanted viewers to know that these moments were the ones worth treasuring, even though they would not change the course of your life completely. It is these moments that gives us hope, that even if we are in a cruel, cold world, there will always be a small speck of warm light to guide us. We lose this sense as we reach adulthood, this is why using children to show these ideas was perfect. Their innocence makes them see the good even in the worst situations. 

Reference

Waititi, T. (n.d.). Two Cars One Night Press Kit. Retrieved from http://www.nzfilm.co.nz/sites/nzfc/files/Two%20Cars%20One%20Night%20Press%20Kit.pdf

 

 

Sons for the Return Home

 Sons for the return home response

To my surprise, this novel became increasingly engaging as I continued reading it. It definitely wasn't a novel that I would have found myself saying "now this is a novel I could get into", whilst browsing through bookshelves of a local library.

Before I finished reading it, I did not expect it to leave a bigger than expected impression and impact on me. Firstly, I'd admit, I was not too fond of the genre. I generally had a lack of interest in New Zealand novels, and especially ones that involved culture/race that I could not fully understand. However, after diving deeper into the novel, I noticed that the Samoan culture is no different than many other cultures, especially Asian culture (Chinese for me).

There are certain issues, taboos, morals, values rooted to the Samoan culture that reflected in my own. For instance, education. For Chinese people, it is extremely important for one's children to have the best education and pursue top careers such as lawyers and doctors. It's pretty stereotypical but for traditional families, they believe that success is determined by these kinds of professions. The sad truth is that people treat you differently based on your education in China, this applies to Samoa as well. For example, the main character is treated differently almost immediately in the chapter when the receptionist at the hotel finds out that he has high education and held two degrees from NZ. He was treated as an outsider at first, with the hotel people thinking he was just a villager who had no business at the hotel.

Another example is the emphasis of family. Family is everything in Samoan culture as it is in Chinese culture. They are the backbone, the crutch, the spine, and your only support in the world. To dishonor your family is like turning your back on your own identity. Respecting your parents is the same for these two cultures, what your parents say is treated as law, and respecting your elders is an undying principle to follow. Having "face" is huge in China, this means to have something like social value to the community. Losing face, is one of the worst things you could do in Chinese culture because it not only affects you but it affects your family as well. Regarding the novel, the main character's mother gives 100 dollars as donation to the church where as the other families gave at most 10 dollars each. It was definitely the mother's own need for the feeling of superiority among her peers, however, to the others, it was a sign of generosity and that the New Zealand soil had not made her greedy or snobbish. Also, bringing her son back to Samoa after acquiring a higher form of education gives her face, and in turn gives her whole family face. It showed the others that their family was amazing and one to be respected.

The issue of inter-racial marriage is also big in both cultures. Chinese people typically do not like to marry outside of their race due to cultural differences and language barriers. This seems to apply to the Samoans as well. However, in today's society, it seems that inter-racial marriage has become more acceptable. In regards to novel, if the main character were to marry the white girl, all the face that his family had required would have vanished. They would then be exiled by their community and be treated unfairly, which I find pretty ignorant.

I found the novel relative to my culture and how it could be relevant to anyone. The ending was not what I expected, however, it gave me a sigh of relief. I thought it would have been a typical love story with a happy ending but it wasn't - it was deeper than that. When stripping away the surfaces, I found that it showed the dark side to culture, and how people treat other people based on their appearances - something like "judging the book by its cover". It's ironic because that is how I judged the book at first, but now given the chance to read it, I was proven wrong. I love the book!

Representation of the identity in response to Tatz by ku'ualoha ho'omanawanui (Seminar brief #2)

I think the style of the poem is pretty much straight forward, her opinion or view of young people of this generation, for example so many young males have tattooed or sleeves on their legs and biceps, and I think the writer is trying say that most of the young males seem to showcase their tattoo as a part of their culture, representing who they are and where they come from, so I think this poem talks about identity and staying true who you are. 

Another view where it says Da bois write tatz, all up dea ahmz, an down dea thighz, across dea backz, tappin experience, into dea skin like genealogy, - I mean the sound, which kind of like a slang;  I think what she is trying to say is that some people with the tatau takes it for granted, for example some people may think being a Polynesian gives them the right to have traditional tatau or patterns on their skin, because what I’ve noticed with so many people in our generation they mostly get tattoos just for fashion,  and have absolutely NO knowledge or understanding of the tatau or tatttoo.

For example having a malu or pe’a, the person must understand the meaning of the tatau, the person also have to get permission or a blessed from the family, and must be ready to take the title of sogaimit- meaning serving the aiga, community, village and church. For a person to be tattooed in the traditional tatau they should be able to know what it means and what they represent. It is embarrassing and disrespectful seeing people getting tattoos without knowing the meaning and the important of the tatau. 

As a young Polynesian or Samoan girl living in a different country with so many different ethnics and having to speak the second language in everyday of my life, is some how challenging. Having to experience new ways of living life; e.g. studying, worrking, trying to fit in small societies. Being a brown Island girl is very complicated in life, I guewss what I am trying to say is that us Polynesian girls have expectations from families and communities that we have to live by. For example, obeying rules within the family and accept all responsibilities within church, villages and communities. Similarly to responsibilites given to a person recieving tatau or pe'a. For example every single patterns of teh tattau repsresents th culutre and its traditions, the responsibilities and the beliefs. But fo young pacific islander girls and womens, we tend to be forced in volunteering ourselfs in so many commitments because of our culture and our tradition of Fa'asamoa, respecting and obeying the alders or looking after older siblings children. But being true to who you are and your identity will carry you through all the challenges in life.

For the malu and pe'a- I believe that it should be strictly tattooed on people with the knowledge of the tatau and the Samoan culture, the way the traditional of tatau will carry on to our new generation. Seeing young people wearing traditional tatau is shocking especially this generation, because I have witnessed so many people in Samoa getting tattoos but the hard one was witnessing my mother and my little cousin getting tattooed. Because some people they don't have a choice but to get tattooed because of the chiefly title their father holds. What I'm trying to say is that tatau should be sacred and respected and not used as a fashion or taken for granted by so many young people. Because most of us girls/ boys in Samoa don't have choices. I myself is lucky enough to have a choice of not getting a malu because my father is the high chief of our village. The main reason why I chose not to get a mainly its because I don't have enough knowledge about the malu and the different meaning of each symbols and patterns. Because having to wear a malu for the rest of my life and knowing so little about it is a disgrace to me and especially to my father and my family.