I watched twelve movies on poverty and I felt that each one gave its own side of poverty.
The people in the movies struggled a lot to just get by, to pay rent, to get food, to pay important bills. It is very sad to watch, especially when they cannot seem to get help from anyone. When I saw the movies I wanted to help each person because I saw their lives, their families, friends, and trials. It reminded me that everyone needs love. Just because you do not know someone you should still help them, they have family and friends and a life. Most of the movies ended happily or on a happy note, which makes sense because many people watch movies for entertainment. However, they do not want to see movies who are just depressing. All of the movies had hope, except for one, The Bicycle Thief. While The Grapes of Wrath did not have a happy ending, it ended on a happy note, there was promise for the family. A lot of the things that I saw in the movies like Slumdog Millionaire and Dirty Pretty Things I did not know were going on. Watching Hoop Dreams put real faces with the stories of poor people in the city who deal with drugs and violence every day. I wanted so much sometimes for someone to help a person or family in the movie that I realized that I should and do want that outside of the movies to. One man comments in The Grapes of Wrath that the family could not possibly be human because “a human couldn’t stand to be so miserable.” There should always be help for people who have nothing. I loved the line in A Raisin in the Sun, “There is always something left to love.”
Hoop Dreams
***Spoilers***
Hoop Dreams is a documentary, in the 1980s, about two boys, their families, and their dreams of becoming pro basketball players. They get recruited to go to St. Joseph’s High School. The two boys are William and Arthur. They both have long rides to get to school and get up at 5:30 am to ride to school. They are impressed with the rugs and the clean hallways, things that they say are not in ordinary schools. Arthur starts as starting point guard for the freshman team and William starts on the varsity team. Both have entered high school with on a 4th or 5th grade level and have to work extra hard to catch up. The school is full of mostly white people and Arthur says that it was a little hard at first to deal with. Their sophomore year the tuition increases and William has to get extra help to pay for the schooling, which he gets. William can now go to school until he graduates without having to pay. Arthur is not so lucky and is paying half of his tuition; his family cannot pay it and is forced out of school. Half way through the school year he transfers to a public high school and stays there until he graduates. Mid-season Arthur gets onto the basketball team. At the public high school is a goal just to graduate from high school and some do not; at St. Josephs the goal is usually to graduate from college. Arthur’s mom ends up losing her job because of back pain and his dad leaves. Arthur’s mom says that the children have nothing constructive to do in the neighborhood and it is no wonder that they join gangs. William had a good year at St. Joseph’s and gets a job with the person who is helping pay for his education. Arthur is playing basketball and his dad shows up. He says hello to Arthur and then walks straight to the other side of the area and buy drugs, right in front of Arthur and the cameras. I cannot imagine what that would be like. By junior year William is getting offers from almost every college, but then he injures his knee. Arthur makes the varsity team at his high school, but his family is now on welfare and do not have enough money to make ends meet. The family’s lights and gas have been cut off because she could not pay the bills. William has to have surgery on his knee, but he might be able to play in the tournament. Arthur’s family now has two new additions, his sister had a baby and his friend Shannon has come to live with them. Arthur’s dad starts beating his mom and continues to abuse drugs. Arthur’s dad has to leave the family alone. William has been in rehabilitation and is now a father. While William was not playing basketball he grades sunk. Arthur is doing just enough to pass, but he can do better. One year after leaving their family Arthur’s dad comes back after 7 months in jail and is no longer doing drugs. Arthur and Shannon have to go to summer school to keep passing, but Shannon does not always show up. Arthur says that drug dealers give them money and tell them to buy stuff with it and this is what keeps them in style. The drug dealers realize that they play basketball and give them money to try to keep their basketball careers going. Arthur and Shannon also work at Pizza Hut to make some money. William goes to a basketball camp to show recruiters that he can still play even though he had an injury. Senior year Arthur is dropped from the aid he was getting with his family and his parents separate. William, after trying for forever, finally gets the grades to get into Marquette. Shannon, Arthur’s friends, starts selling drugs and gets caught so Arthur has to go to summer school by himself. It was hard to watch things that I heard and read about were going on actually happen. One week before graduating Arthur is robbed at gunpoint and Arthur’s sister had a gun pointed at her close to the house. He says, “After this I’m ready to leave cuz everybody up here is goin to jail, or in drugs...or dead.” Each boy gets through college, but neither of them has gotten into the NBA. In 2001, William’s brother who we see in the film was murdered and in 2005, Arthur’s dad is murdered. However, the documentary does not include this because it was made in 1994 and ends on a hopeful not as the boys each go off to college.
Hoop Dreams is a documentary, in the 1980s, about two boys, their families, and their dreams of becoming pro basketball players. They get recruited to go to St. Joseph’s High School. The two boys are William and Arthur. They both have long rides to get to school and get up at 5:30 am to ride to school. They are impressed with the rugs and the clean hallways, things that they say are not in ordinary schools. Arthur starts as starting point guard for the freshman team and William starts on the varsity team. Both have entered high school with on a 4th or 5th grade level and have to work extra hard to catch up. The school is full of mostly white people and Arthur says that it was a little hard at first to deal with. Their sophomore year the tuition increases and William has to get extra help to pay for the schooling, which he gets. William can now go to school until he graduates without having to pay. Arthur is not so lucky and is paying half of his tuition; his family cannot pay it and is forced out of school. Half way through the school year he transfers to a public high school and stays there until he graduates. Mid-season Arthur gets onto the basketball team. At the public high school is a goal just to graduate from high school and some do not; at St. Josephs the goal is usually to graduate from college. Arthur’s mom ends up losing her job because of back pain and his dad leaves. Arthur’s mom says that the children have nothing constructive to do in the neighborhood and it is no wonder that they join gangs. William had a good year at St. Joseph’s and gets a job with the person who is helping pay for his education. Arthur is playing basketball and his dad shows up. He says hello to Arthur and then walks straight to the other side of the area and buy drugs, right in front of Arthur and the cameras. I cannot imagine what that would be like. By junior year William is getting offers from almost every college, but then he injures his knee. Arthur makes the varsity team at his high school, but his family is now on welfare and do not have enough money to make ends meet. The family’s lights and gas have been cut off because she could not pay the bills. William has to have surgery on his knee, but he might be able to play in the tournament. Arthur’s family now has two new additions, his sister had a baby and his friend Shannon has come to live with them. Arthur’s dad starts beating his mom and continues to abuse drugs. Arthur’s dad has to leave the family alone. William has been in rehabilitation and is now a father. While William was not playing basketball he grades sunk. Arthur is doing just enough to pass, but he can do better. One year after leaving their family Arthur’s dad comes back after 7 months in jail and is no longer doing drugs. Arthur and Shannon have to go to summer school to keep passing, but Shannon does not always show up. Arthur says that drug dealers give them money and tell them to buy stuff with it and this is what keeps them in style. The drug dealers realize that they play basketball and give them money to try to keep their basketball careers going. Arthur and Shannon also work at Pizza Hut to make some money. William goes to a basketball camp to show recruiters that he can still play even though he had an injury. Senior year Arthur is dropped from the aid he was getting with his family and his parents separate. William, after trying for forever, finally gets the grades to get into Marquette. Shannon, Arthur’s friends, starts selling drugs and gets caught so Arthur has to go to summer school by himself. It was hard to watch things that I heard and read about were going on actually happen. One week before graduating Arthur is robbed at gunpoint and Arthur’s sister had a gun pointed at her close to the house. He says, “After this I’m ready to leave cuz everybody up here is goin to jail, or in drugs...or dead.” Each boy gets through college, but neither of them has gotten into the NBA. In 2001, William’s brother who we see in the film was murdered and in 2005, Arthur’s dad is murdered. However, the documentary does not include this because it was made in 1994 and ends on a hopeful not as the boys each go off to college.
The Grapes of Wrath
***Spoilers***
The Grapes of Wrath was the movie about poverty that got to me the most. I was crying throughout a lot of the movie. Tom has been in the penitentiary for four years and when he gets out and goes to see his family he finds out that they have lost their farm and have gone to his uncle’s. The uncle is about to lose his farm too, so the whole family has decided to go to California because they believe that there is a lot of work there. It was so sad to see the families lose their homes when they cannot even feed their children. The owners of the land kicked off about 100 people and left them to the streets. Before they leave Tom’s mom goes through all of her things and has to get rid of the things she doesn’t absolutely need. That morning Grandpa decides that he is not going, this is his land and he is not leaving. They have to force him into the truck, but on the way there he has a stroke and dies. They bury him with a note that says that he was buried by his family because they have no money to pay for funerals. They write this note to make sure that no one thinks that he was murdered so that the police do not have to open an investigation. “The government is more interested in the dead then the living.” This statement is true through most of the movie. They stay at a camp for 50 cents and a man there says that he is coming back from California because there are no jobs left there and says that he is going home to die. They continue on anyway just to see if it is true. There is a scene where they have to buy some food because Grandmother is hungry; they have to buy bread because she cannot chew. The lady brings out a loaf and says that it is 15 cents, but they only have 10. So, they offer the ten cents and say to just cut them off ten cents worth, but the owner of the store says to give it all to them. The two kids have come into the store and see the candy. When they are checking out they ask if the candies are a penny candies and the lady tells them that they are 2 for a penny and the kids are happy. However, after they leave we find out that the candies are 5 cents each from truckers who have stopped there and who witness the kindness. When they leave they give extra money to pay for what was owed by the Joad family. This was probably my favorite scene because there is so much kindness here. One person sees someone else showing kindness and so they show kindness. On the way Grandma starts getting really sick and the family is stopped for a check to make sure that they do not have agricultural items. As they leave the man who is checking cars says, “They can’t be human because a human couldn’t stand to be s miserable.” When they get stopped again later the checkers let them go on without being checked because Grandma looks so sick. We find out that Grandma was actually dead. When they get to California there is no work for them and they have to go to a camp. There are so many people in the camp and the kids in the camp have not eaten all day, at least. So they cook what is left of their food and the kids get what is left over. Everyone leaves the camp because there is word that a bunch of people are going to set fire to it and they can still find to work. They get a flat tire and a man stops by and tells them that there is work picking peaches up the road and they are very happy. When they get there there is trouble and cops are everywhere. People are lined up on the roads. Their first day they only make a dollar and this is barely enough for food, but it is better than nothing. Tom walks outside of the camp to find out what is wrong and it is a strike because they used to work there and they start workers at 5 cents per barrel and then drop them to two and a half cents per barrel. The owners exploit the poor people’s situation to make it better for themselves. Police come upon them and attack the head, who is Connie, who came with the Joad family to California and kill him. Tom gets mad and hits a police man who he accidentally kills, but another police man hits Tom across the face and leaves a bad mark. The family has to leave the work at night and when they do another family comes in and instead of 5 cents they are offered two and a half. Tom wants to leave by himself, but the mom is trying so hard to keep the family together. When they drive down the road they find a camp down the road that is run by the Department of Agriculture and it is a good place to stay. They stay at the camp ground until they can find work during cotton season. Police end up finding Tom and he has to run away and leave his family behind. He decides that he is going to fight for protestors and help out people whenever he can. They stay in the camp a little longer, without Tom, and then go on to pick cotton. The family says that they took a beating, but that’s what made them strong.
The Grapes of Wrath was the movie about poverty that got to me the most. I was crying throughout a lot of the movie. Tom has been in the penitentiary for four years and when he gets out and goes to see his family he finds out that they have lost their farm and have gone to his uncle’s. The uncle is about to lose his farm too, so the whole family has decided to go to California because they believe that there is a lot of work there. It was so sad to see the families lose their homes when they cannot even feed their children. The owners of the land kicked off about 100 people and left them to the streets. Before they leave Tom’s mom goes through all of her things and has to get rid of the things she doesn’t absolutely need. That morning Grandpa decides that he is not going, this is his land and he is not leaving. They have to force him into the truck, but on the way there he has a stroke and dies. They bury him with a note that says that he was buried by his family because they have no money to pay for funerals. They write this note to make sure that no one thinks that he was murdered so that the police do not have to open an investigation. “The government is more interested in the dead then the living.” This statement is true through most of the movie. They stay at a camp for 50 cents and a man there says that he is coming back from California because there are no jobs left there and says that he is going home to die. They continue on anyway just to see if it is true. There is a scene where they have to buy some food because Grandmother is hungry; they have to buy bread because she cannot chew. The lady brings out a loaf and says that it is 15 cents, but they only have 10. So, they offer the ten cents and say to just cut them off ten cents worth, but the owner of the store says to give it all to them. The two kids have come into the store and see the candy. When they are checking out they ask if the candies are a penny candies and the lady tells them that they are 2 for a penny and the kids are happy. However, after they leave we find out that the candies are 5 cents each from truckers who have stopped there and who witness the kindness. When they leave they give extra money to pay for what was owed by the Joad family. This was probably my favorite scene because there is so much kindness here. One person sees someone else showing kindness and so they show kindness. On the way Grandma starts getting really sick and the family is stopped for a check to make sure that they do not have agricultural items. As they leave the man who is checking cars says, “They can’t be human because a human couldn’t stand to be s miserable.” When they get stopped again later the checkers let them go on without being checked because Grandma looks so sick. We find out that Grandma was actually dead. When they get to California there is no work for them and they have to go to a camp. There are so many people in the camp and the kids in the camp have not eaten all day, at least. So they cook what is left of their food and the kids get what is left over. Everyone leaves the camp because there is word that a bunch of people are going to set fire to it and they can still find to work. They get a flat tire and a man stops by and tells them that there is work picking peaches up the road and they are very happy. When they get there there is trouble and cops are everywhere. People are lined up on the roads. Their first day they only make a dollar and this is barely enough for food, but it is better than nothing. Tom walks outside of the camp to find out what is wrong and it is a strike because they used to work there and they start workers at 5 cents per barrel and then drop them to two and a half cents per barrel. The owners exploit the poor people’s situation to make it better for themselves. Police come upon them and attack the head, who is Connie, who came with the Joad family to California and kill him. Tom gets mad and hits a police man who he accidentally kills, but another police man hits Tom across the face and leaves a bad mark. The family has to leave the work at night and when they do another family comes in and instead of 5 cents they are offered two and a half. Tom wants to leave by himself, but the mom is trying so hard to keep the family together. When they drive down the road they find a camp down the road that is run by the Department of Agriculture and it is a good place to stay. They stay at the camp ground until they can find work during cotton season. Police end up finding Tom and he has to run away and leave his family behind. He decides that he is going to fight for protestors and help out people whenever he can. They stay in the camp a little longer, without Tom, and then go on to pick cotton. The family says that they took a beating, but that’s what made them strong.
Oliver Twist (2005)
Oliver Twist starts at a workhouse. A little boy and a wealthier older man are walking through the streets on 1830s England and end at a workhouse. The little boy is 9 years old and is an orphan. His name is Oliver Twist. They take him to the work house to learn a useful trade. There are hundreds of children in this workhouse and they are all crammed in there together. One boy paces the floor at night because he is too hungry to sleep, they do not get a lot of food, and when Oliver asks for more it is a huge deal. Some even suggest that he should be hanged for asking. There is a chimney sweep who comes to the workhouse to get a boy to help him, but Oliver does not want to go with this man when he is taken to him and one man has pity on him and lets him go back to the workhouse. Oliver goes to a house to work. He has to sleep with coffins in the room and under a desk. By this time he is 10 years old. He does not get a lot of food here either. The man of the house seems to take pity on Oliver, but in the end he conforms to everyone else. When the boy that is in charge of him says bad things about his mother he starts to hit him and they lock Oliver in a closet. Bumble, the man who took him to the workhouse comes to flog him because the head of the house is not there, but he then Mr. Sowerberry gets home and does it himself, even though he doesn’t want to. Oliver decides to run away that night and ends up traveling, on foot, the 70 miles to London. A carriage roles by him, but no one in it cares to help him. He tries to get food from one house, but they turn him away. He keeps traveling and collapses outside of a ladies house. She does not have much but offers it to him and lets him sleep in her house. He keeps walking until he gets to London, when he gets there a boy sees him and offers him help. The boy then steals some bread and then takes him back to where he lives. Oliver meets Fagin, the man who has taught all of these boys to steal what they need and want. While Oliver is out with them for the first time and they steal from a man he is caught, even though he did not actually do anything. The man they were stealing from takes pity on Oliver and takes him back to his house and lets him live there. However, one day when Oliver goes out one of Fagin’s friends steals him back because they were afraid he was going to tell on them. No one helps Oliver and when he tries to run for it, they chase him down. They are not as nice to Oliver as they were at the beginning. Fagin threatens Oliver to do what he wants.
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Then Fagin’s friends take Oliver and force him to help them rob the man’s house that was nice to him, Mr. Brownlow. Mr. Brownlow wakes up as they enter the house and they try to shoot him, but hit Oliver instead and Mr. Brownlow becomes very concerned for his well-being. Fagin and his friend, Sikes, decide that they have to kill the boy, but Nancy, a girl in their group, hears this and does not like this. She goes to Mr. Brownlow’s house and tells him to meet her and when he does she warns him. But Fagin has sent someone to follow her and he reports back to Fagin and Sikes that she warned him. Sikes then goes to Nancy and beats her to death and he and the rest of their crew become wanted men. Sikes runs away with Oliver when he sees that this is his only chance, but ends up accidentally hanging himself. The police catch Fagin and he goes to jail to be hanged. Oliver goes to live with Mr. Brownlow, but feels sorry for Fagin and goes to visit him in jail.
This movie shows what some people resort to when they have no money and then do not try to work. They steal what they need from others. During most of this movie I wanted to yell someone help Oliver. Not too many people cared what happened to him. The workhouse was sad, that so many little children were orphaned and poor. Many people in this movie only cared about their own well-being and did not help others. But in the end Mr. Brownlow sees the need and helps Oliver.
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Then Fagin’s friends take Oliver and force him to help them rob the man’s house that was nice to him, Mr. Brownlow. Mr. Brownlow wakes up as they enter the house and they try to shoot him, but hit Oliver instead and Mr. Brownlow becomes very concerned for his well-being. Fagin and his friend, Sikes, decide that they have to kill the boy, but Nancy, a girl in their group, hears this and does not like this. She goes to Mr. Brownlow’s house and tells him to meet her and when he does she warns him. But Fagin has sent someone to follow her and he reports back to Fagin and Sikes that she warned him. Sikes then goes to Nancy and beats her to death and he and the rest of their crew become wanted men. Sikes runs away with Oliver when he sees that this is his only chance, but ends up accidentally hanging himself. The police catch Fagin and he goes to jail to be hanged. Oliver goes to live with Mr. Brownlow, but feels sorry for Fagin and goes to visit him in jail.
This movie shows what some people resort to when they have no money and then do not try to work. They steal what they need from others. During most of this movie I wanted to yell someone help Oliver. Not too many people cared what happened to him. The workhouse was sad, that so many little children were orphaned and poor. Many people in this movie only cared about their own well-being and did not help others. But in the end Mr. Brownlow sees the need and helps Oliver.
The Pursuit of Happyness
“Will Smith stars in this movie tale inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a San Francisco salesman struggling to build a future for himself and his 5-year-old son Christopher (Jaden Smith). When his girlfriend Linda (Thandie Newton) walks out, Chris is left to raise Christopher on his own. Chris’ determination finally pays off when he lands an unpaid internship in a brutally competitive stockbroker-training program, where only one in twenty interns will make the cut. But without a salary, Chris and his son are evicted from their apartment and are forced to sleep on the streets, in homeless shelters and even behind the locked doors of a metro station bathroom. With self- confidence and the love and trust of his son, Chris Gardner rises above his obstacles to become a Wall Street legend.”[1]
This really is the basics of the movie. Throughout the movie I really felt for Chris, he just goes through one trial after the other. I cannot imagine having to stand in such extremely long line for so long and just hope to get a room in the homeless shelter, but I know it happens every day. Chris has to keep his son in mind and does a lot of the things that he does for him. He hates to see his son homeless and out on the streets, but together Chris and Christopher get through the trials and are able to make it. It is incredible that Chris got the job he did and he showed hard work and determination.
[1] http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thepursuitofhappyness/
This really is the basics of the movie. Throughout the movie I really felt for Chris, he just goes through one trial after the other. I cannot imagine having to stand in such extremely long line for so long and just hope to get a room in the homeless shelter, but I know it happens every day. Chris has to keep his son in mind and does a lot of the things that he does for him. He hates to see his son homeless and out on the streets, but together Chris and Christopher get through the trials and are able to make it. It is incredible that Chris got the job he did and he showed hard work and determination.
[1] http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/thepursuitofhappyness/
Cinderella Man
Cinderella Man opens in 1928; Jimmy is a boxing star who lives a comfortable life with his family. However, the movie quickly flashes to 1933 and four years into the Great Depression. Bills come into the house and they have no way of paying them. They do not have enough food, at breakfast Jimmy’s daughter says, “Mommy I want more,” but the answer she gets is you cannot have anymore because we have to save some for the boys. Jimmy tries to get fights at night, but they seem to be few and far between, so to try to make some money Jimmy gets up really early and goes to the docks to try to get a shift. There are tons of men crowding the gate to get a shift and they only need about five to ten people each day. Jimmy hasn’t gotten a shift in a while. When he gets home he finds out that his oldest son, Jay, stole salami. Jimmy makes him return it and does not seem to understand why he took it, but as they leave the store he says that his friend had to go to family far away because his parents could not afford to keep him. Jimmy promises that they will always be together as a family and that he does not have to worry about that. Jimmy goes to the fight, but does not fight well at all and has his fighting license revoked. His kids sleep on the floor and they cannot afford to pay the rent of the heating bill. They are out of credit at the market, so they have no more food. By December they are way past due on their heating bill and the company turns off their heat. The kids start to get sick and when Jimmy leaves Mae, his wife, sends the kids away, she is unaware of his promise. Jimmy gets very angry and goes to a relief agency to get money, and then he goes to his boxing buddies and pleads with them for money. He gets enough money for them to turn the heat back on and brings the kids home. His situation is terrible and it really shows how people lived during the Great Depression. They barely had enough to live on. It also shows what many people who deal with poverty today go through.
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In June of 1934, Jimmy gets an offer to come back into the boxing ring for one night to fight one of the latest hot shots. They let him go on because they figure if he wins it will be huge and if he gets knocked out, which they think is the most likely; it will be huge because he has never been knocked out. He wins the fight and his manager is able to get him into a few more fights that he wins. Mae is not happy that he back in the ring because she worries about him so much. When she goes to his managers fancy apartment she realizes it is just to keep up appearances. He has sold most of his furniture to make it look like he has plenty of money. Jimmy’s friend loses his job and gets into some trouble. He participates in a strike that turns bad; he gets trampled and dies. This worries Jimmy a lot and he does not want this to happen to him or his family. He accepts a fight for a big title against a guy who has already killed two people in the ring. When he is warned that he might get killed he tells the men around him that more people die working on scaffolding and working triple shifts each day. He knows that he does not want to go back where he was and says that he has something to fight for now. He goes through the fight and comes out victorious.
********************************Spoilers*****************************
In June of 1934, Jimmy gets an offer to come back into the boxing ring for one night to fight one of the latest hot shots. They let him go on because they figure if he wins it will be huge and if he gets knocked out, which they think is the most likely; it will be huge because he has never been knocked out. He wins the fight and his manager is able to get him into a few more fights that he wins. Mae is not happy that he back in the ring because she worries about him so much. When she goes to his managers fancy apartment she realizes it is just to keep up appearances. He has sold most of his furniture to make it look like he has plenty of money. Jimmy’s friend loses his job and gets into some trouble. He participates in a strike that turns bad; he gets trampled and dies. This worries Jimmy a lot and he does not want this to happen to him or his family. He accepts a fight for a big title against a guy who has already killed two people in the ring. When he is warned that he might get killed he tells the men around him that more people die working on scaffolding and working triple shifts each day. He knows that he does not want to go back where he was and says that he has something to fight for now. He goes through the fight and comes out victorious.
Dirty Pretty Things
Dirty Pretty Things takes place in London. There are two immigrants who work in the same hotel, Senay and Okwe. Senay is an immigrant from Turkey and Okwe, an illegal immigrant from Nigeria, rents her couch so he can have a place to stay. He drives cabs during the day and works at the front desk of the Baltic Hotel at night. He rarely sleeps and buys drugs to keep him awake. During one of his nights at desk a prostitute comes down from one of the rooms. She says that something was wrong with one of the rooms and that he should check on it. He goes to unclog the toilet and finds a human heart in it. He because concerned and tells the man who runs the hotel about it. He says to forget about it and everyone that is around Okwe seems to know something that he doesn’t. They warn him not to get involved. Immigration comes after Senay at the hotel because she is not allowed to working and they visited her, she is not allowed to have anyone renting from her. She narrowly escapes both incidents, but she cannot come back to the hotel as a maid, so she goes to work at a sweatshop. The man who runs the sweatshop realizes that Senay is in trouble because the police come and all of the workers have to run. To stay there and to not call the police the man sexually abuses her.
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Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Okwe, who was a doctor in Nigeria, finds a man in the hotel who needs a hospital, but will not go. He realizes that this man gave his kidney illegally to obtain an American passport. Okwe finds out that the hotel manager is giving people passports for their kidneys. He sees it as okay because he is helping a person who needs a kidney is getting one and a person who needs a passport is getting one, but Okwe does not agree to help. Senay gets tired of the abuse and decides that she needs a passport and we find out that she knew all along what was going on, she had to clean up after the operations. The man who does the operations is not good at all; this is why there was a heart in the toilet and decides the only way to save Senay is to do the operation himself. Okwe and Senay get passports and then trick the manager and take his kidney instead. Okwe goes home to Nigeria and Senay goes to New York to stay with her sister.
This movie was shocking and anyone who watches it needs to be away of the R rating. It showed a dramatic side of the poverty that was happening at the Baltic Hotel. Drug dealers, hookers, and illegal organ donating was just everyday occurrences. It was sad to see the people in the hotel and the workers in the sweatshop just accept what they had to do and their only way out seemed to be to obtain these illegal passports, but they were at quite a cost.
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Meanwhile, back at the hotel, Okwe, who was a doctor in Nigeria, finds a man in the hotel who needs a hospital, but will not go. He realizes that this man gave his kidney illegally to obtain an American passport. Okwe finds out that the hotel manager is giving people passports for their kidneys. He sees it as okay because he is helping a person who needs a kidney is getting one and a person who needs a passport is getting one, but Okwe does not agree to help. Senay gets tired of the abuse and decides that she needs a passport and we find out that she knew all along what was going on, she had to clean up after the operations. The man who does the operations is not good at all; this is why there was a heart in the toilet and decides the only way to save Senay is to do the operation himself. Okwe and Senay get passports and then trick the manager and take his kidney instead. Okwe goes home to Nigeria and Senay goes to New York to stay with her sister.
This movie was shocking and anyone who watches it needs to be away of the R rating. It showed a dramatic side of the poverty that was happening at the Baltic Hotel. Drug dealers, hookers, and illegal organ donating was just everyday occurrences. It was sad to see the people in the hotel and the workers in the sweatshop just accept what they had to do and their only way out seemed to be to obtain these illegal passports, but they were at quite a cost.
Pretty Woman
Pretty Woman opens by contrasting the two groups of people that each main character belongs to. Edward is a wealthy man who buys businesses that are in trouble and then sells them in pieces to other companies. Vivian is a prostitute who lives in an apartment with her friend who is also a prostitute. Vivian cannot pay the rent because her roommate used some of their money to buy drugs. While they are on the street Edward pulls over because he is lost and Vivian gets in the care to show him how to get home personally. He is going to just let her go and work out getting back on her own, but then decides to hire her for the night, but not for prostitution. In the morning he decides to hire her as an escort for the week he is in town. She is not used to his lifestyle and makes mistakes, like not knowing when to use the correct fork at dinner. The money she asks from him seems like a huge amount to her and she even tells him that he could probably not afford it; she doesn’t realize that to him money is not at all an issue. He even gives her his credit card to buy nicer clothes. She is treated poorly by the people who work in the nice stores on Rodeo Drive because of her appearance.
***********************Spoilers******************************
Vivian manages to mesmerize most of the members of Edward’s upper class world. She even manages to mesmerize Edward, but she wants love from him, not just the occasional paid get together when he is in town. Vivian is treated very badly by Edward’s lawyer and friend when he finds out that she is a prostitute. However, Edward gets really mad at him for this and not treating her right. In the end, Edward realizes that he has fallen for Vivian. She has already decided that she is moving and does not want to be a prostitute anymore when he comes driving up to her apartment. This was the movie that I watched that dealt the least with poverty, but it did show the differences in the worlds of the rich and those of the poor.
***********************Spoilers******************************
Vivian manages to mesmerize most of the members of Edward’s upper class world. She even manages to mesmerize Edward, but she wants love from him, not just the occasional paid get together when he is in town. Vivian is treated very badly by Edward’s lawyer and friend when he finds out that she is a prostitute. However, Edward gets really mad at him for this and not treating her right. In the end, Edward realizes that he has fallen for Vivian. She has already decided that she is moving and does not want to be a prostitute anymore when he comes driving up to her apartment. This was the movie that I watched that dealt the least with poverty, but it did show the differences in the worlds of the rich and those of the poor.
A Raisin in the Sun (2008)
A Raisin in the Sun does a good job showing an African American family’s struggle with poverty in the 1950’s. The family lives in an apartment that is not very nice and doesn’t enough room for them. They share a bathroom with two floors of people and the little boy has to sleep on the couch in the living room. They do not have a lot of money, but, in the beginning of the story, they are about to get a check in the mail. They are getting the check because it is an insurance check because Lena Younger’s husband died. The dreams of his children depend on this check. Walter Younger wants the money so that he can start a liquor business with his friends. Beneatha Younger wants to be a doctor and the only way they can pay for her schooling is by giving her some of the money. Ruth, Walter’s wife, is going to have a baby, but they do not have the money for a second child in the family and they have no room left in their little apartment. Walter is not caring toward Ruth anymore and doesn’t seem to care about the child and Ruth decides to have an abortion.
The family also has to deal with racism. Lena goes to the market to buy groceries and gets treated badly.
****************************Spoilers************************
With the money that they received Lena goes out and buys a house. She bought the house in an area that has no black people and a white man comes to their house and says that he will pay them a lot of money to not move into their new house. Most of the movie Walter has been fighting his family for the money so that he can invest in his liquor store and eventually Lena decides to let him have the rest of the money, the part that she did not spend on the house. He does not spend any of it wisely. He does not set any aside for his son’s education, but spends it all on his liquor store investment and the man heading up the investment runs away with the money. However, they still move into the neighborhood and into their new house, the house that they are very happy about. So, while the movie has a sad ending because they lose the money, it ends on a happy note, the family moving out of what they feel causes misery and into a better home.
The family also has to deal with racism. Lena goes to the market to buy groceries and gets treated badly.
****************************Spoilers************************
With the money that they received Lena goes out and buys a house. She bought the house in an area that has no black people and a white man comes to their house and says that he will pay them a lot of money to not move into their new house. Most of the movie Walter has been fighting his family for the money so that he can invest in his liquor store and eventually Lena decides to let him have the rest of the money, the part that she did not spend on the house. He does not spend any of it wisely. He does not set any aside for his son’s education, but spends it all on his liquor store investment and the man heading up the investment runs away with the money. However, they still move into the neighborhood and into their new house, the house that they are very happy about. So, while the movie has a sad ending because they lose the money, it ends on a happy note, the family moving out of what they feel causes misery and into a better home.
Ballet Shoes
“DREAMS DO COME TRUE…
“We three Fossils vow to put our name in the history books, because it is ours, and ours alone…” With these words, three orphans, raised as sisters, embark on an exhilarating journey that takes them to the heights of the stage, screen and sky.
Pauline (Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige) and Posy Fossil (Lucy Boynton) are adopted as infants by eccentric explorer Professor Matthew Brown (Richard Griffiths), whom they affectionately call Great Uncle Matthew (or “Gum” for short). When “Gum” goes missing, his niece Sylvia (Emilia Fox) keeps the family together by taking in lodgers and eventually enrolls the girls in the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. This suits the ambitious Pauline, who longs to act, and Posy, a natural dancer, but Petrova, who yearns to become an aviator, has her own dreams of soaring the skies. The girls’ lives in show business are filled with triumphs and lessons learned until “Gum’s” surprise return provides the perfect happy ending for them all.”[1]
Ballet Shoes focuses on the fact that “dreams do come true.” However, this movie also deals with poverty. The movie quickly sets up the plot. A young girl, Sylvia, and her nurse go to Professor Matthew Brown because he is the girl’s last surviving relative and he reluctantly, at first, lets them live with him. The professor, known as Gum, leaves for years and brings back a baby whose parents have died. He then quickly leaves again and when he gets back he has another baby. Once again he quickly leaves, but this time he doesn’t come back and sends a third baby. Gum does not come back and eventually, as the children grow older, they run out of money. They are pulled out of school and have to rent rooms in their house to get money. The girls get enrolled in Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training because the head of the school will take in the girls if she gets part of their salary when they start working. Pauline gets a role immediately, when she starts to work, and can help the family out with some of their money problems, but Sylvia is getting sick. She has a bad cough and cannot afford to rest and to take care of it. She does go to see a specialist, but she needs more than that. She insists on hiding this from the girls and tries to hide the fact that they are poor, as well. Petrova is the next oldest and she also gets a job because there is no one else trying out for the role, she is not as talented as her sisters and does not care. Petrova just wants to earn money so that Sylvia can have a holiday and rest to take care of her cough. Posy, the youngest, gets to train with the head of the school, an honor.
The girls want to help out in any way they can because they know they are poor. They have to be taken out of school to be home schooled because they cannot afford to pay. When they get into the new school, they do not have the money to buy new dresses to audition in when it is time to work. There is the constant worry over Sylvia’s health and weather they have the money to help her. The family relies on the girl’s paychecks and the money they get from the boarders to get everything.
*******************Warning: Spoilers***********************
The big trouble all start on Christmas when Sylvia reveals to Patrova that they cannot afford to keep the house. Gum has been declared legally dead and there is no money left. Pauline gets a part in a movie, which is good, but the head of the school has a stroke and this upsets Posy a lot because she can no longer finish her training. While the family is at the premiere of the movie Posy runs away to try and get the professional ballet to accept her and train her. The family does not know where she has gone and is in a panic. However, when she arrives home she has great news. The ballet wants her to train in! However, the family does not have the money for this, but Pauline has been asked to sign a five year contract to act in Hollywood, so she accepts it and Posy will get to go. Nanny can go with Posy and Sylvia can go with Pauline to California, and this will greatly help her health. Everyone seems to be happy, but wait, what about Patrova? All she wants to do is fly planes, where will she go? She can stay right there because all of a sudden Gum, who is not dead, walks through the door and he knows how to fly planes. Sylvia is then proposed to by one of the boarders and they all go to the wedding, except Patrova and Gum who later fly above in a plane. It is a very happy ending and they all get to live their dreams.
This is not very realistic; many people in poverty do not get the chances that they get in the movie. However, the movie is about dreams and not poverty. It does do a good job at showing some of the everyday struggles of people who are living in poverty. They cannot afford schooling or medical care. They cannot always afford to buy new clothes and often live paycheck to paycheck. While this movie has a too happy ending, it also can show some struggles that many people in poverty face. At one point Sylvia says, “The world isn’t kind to girls who can’t support themselves.” She has seen that not many people really care about them and that they have to take care of themselves. Someone should have helped them, if it were not for Gum coming back at the end; these girls would have lost their home and everything.
[1] http://www.balletshoesdvd.com/info.htm
“We three Fossils vow to put our name in the history books, because it is ours, and ours alone…” With these words, three orphans, raised as sisters, embark on an exhilarating journey that takes them to the heights of the stage, screen and sky.
Pauline (Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige) and Posy Fossil (Lucy Boynton) are adopted as infants by eccentric explorer Professor Matthew Brown (Richard Griffiths), whom they affectionately call Great Uncle Matthew (or “Gum” for short). When “Gum” goes missing, his niece Sylvia (Emilia Fox) keeps the family together by taking in lodgers and eventually enrolls the girls in the Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training. This suits the ambitious Pauline, who longs to act, and Posy, a natural dancer, but Petrova, who yearns to become an aviator, has her own dreams of soaring the skies. The girls’ lives in show business are filled with triumphs and lessons learned until “Gum’s” surprise return provides the perfect happy ending for them all.”[1]
Ballet Shoes focuses on the fact that “dreams do come true.” However, this movie also deals with poverty. The movie quickly sets up the plot. A young girl, Sylvia, and her nurse go to Professor Matthew Brown because he is the girl’s last surviving relative and he reluctantly, at first, lets them live with him. The professor, known as Gum, leaves for years and brings back a baby whose parents have died. He then quickly leaves again and when he gets back he has another baby. Once again he quickly leaves, but this time he doesn’t come back and sends a third baby. Gum does not come back and eventually, as the children grow older, they run out of money. They are pulled out of school and have to rent rooms in their house to get money. The girls get enrolled in Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training because the head of the school will take in the girls if she gets part of their salary when they start working. Pauline gets a role immediately, when she starts to work, and can help the family out with some of their money problems, but Sylvia is getting sick. She has a bad cough and cannot afford to rest and to take care of it. She does go to see a specialist, but she needs more than that. She insists on hiding this from the girls and tries to hide the fact that they are poor, as well. Petrova is the next oldest and she also gets a job because there is no one else trying out for the role, she is not as talented as her sisters and does not care. Petrova just wants to earn money so that Sylvia can have a holiday and rest to take care of her cough. Posy, the youngest, gets to train with the head of the school, an honor.
The girls want to help out in any way they can because they know they are poor. They have to be taken out of school to be home schooled because they cannot afford to pay. When they get into the new school, they do not have the money to buy new dresses to audition in when it is time to work. There is the constant worry over Sylvia’s health and weather they have the money to help her. The family relies on the girl’s paychecks and the money they get from the boarders to get everything.
*******************Warning: Spoilers***********************
The big trouble all start on Christmas when Sylvia reveals to Patrova that they cannot afford to keep the house. Gum has been declared legally dead and there is no money left. Pauline gets a part in a movie, which is good, but the head of the school has a stroke and this upsets Posy a lot because she can no longer finish her training. While the family is at the premiere of the movie Posy runs away to try and get the professional ballet to accept her and train her. The family does not know where she has gone and is in a panic. However, when she arrives home she has great news. The ballet wants her to train in! However, the family does not have the money for this, but Pauline has been asked to sign a five year contract to act in Hollywood, so she accepts it and Posy will get to go. Nanny can go with Posy and Sylvia can go with Pauline to California, and this will greatly help her health. Everyone seems to be happy, but wait, what about Patrova? All she wants to do is fly planes, where will she go? She can stay right there because all of a sudden Gum, who is not dead, walks through the door and he knows how to fly planes. Sylvia is then proposed to by one of the boarders and they all go to the wedding, except Patrova and Gum who later fly above in a plane. It is a very happy ending and they all get to live their dreams.
This is not very realistic; many people in poverty do not get the chances that they get in the movie. However, the movie is about dreams and not poverty. It does do a good job at showing some of the everyday struggles of people who are living in poverty. They cannot afford schooling or medical care. They cannot always afford to buy new clothes and often live paycheck to paycheck. While this movie has a too happy ending, it also can show some struggles that many people in poverty face. At one point Sylvia says, “The world isn’t kind to girls who can’t support themselves.” She has seen that not many people really care about them and that they have to take care of themselves. Someone should have helped them, if it were not for Gum coming back at the end; these girls would have lost their home and everything.
[1] http://www.balletshoesdvd.com/info.htm
Rent
Rent is a musical that is about people living in poverty in the city. They struggle with drugs, paying rent, and AIDS. A group of friends form a strong bond and keep each other going and alive. The people who are wealthy and own the buildings were not lenient on those who could not pay their rents and just kicked people out. They did not care about the person, they just wanted their money. Drugs were a problem in the movie, as they are in today’s world. A young girl, Mimi struggles with drugs through the whole movie; she tries to stop a few times, but keeps going back to them. She is in a relationship with someone, Roger, who had struggled with drugs and each time she goes back to them he leaves her. There is an AIDS group that meets in the movie and a few of them die. The friends meet with the AIDS group, even though they do not all have AIDS. The group gets through their hard lives together and depends on each other.
****************************Spoilers**************************
After one of the friends, Angel, dies of AIDS the group seems to be breaking up. Roger leaves all together and leaves Mimi to battle drugs alone. One of the friends has a job now filming news stories and is making money. However, they are all still battling with poverty. In the end, Roger comes back only to find that Mimi is missing. All of the friends get together again to search for her and they eventually find her in a park. She is dying from a drug overdose. Roger sings a song for her and tells her that he loves her, but she dies. They are all devastated, but then she comes back and says that she followed the light and saw Angel who told her to listen to song and that she shouldn’t leave him. The friend who got a job filming news stories has been working on a documentary about poverty the whole time and he has finished it and they all watch it.
****************************Spoilers**************************
After one of the friends, Angel, dies of AIDS the group seems to be breaking up. Roger leaves all together and leaves Mimi to battle drugs alone. One of the friends has a job now filming news stories and is making money. However, they are all still battling with poverty. In the end, Roger comes back only to find that Mimi is missing. All of the friends get together again to search for her and they eventually find her in a park. She is dying from a drug overdose. Roger sings a song for her and tells her that he loves her, but she dies. They are all devastated, but then she comes back and says that she followed the light and saw Angel who told her to listen to song and that she shouldn’t leave him. The friend who got a job filming news stories has been working on a documentary about poverty the whole time and he has finished it and they all watch it.
Slumdog Millionaire
“Today is the biggest day in Jamal Malik’s life.
A penniless, eighteen year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, he’s one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested for cheating. After all, how could an uneducated street kid possibly know so much? Determined to get to the bottom of Jamal’s story, the jaded Police Inspector spends the night probing Jamal’s incredible past, from his riveting tales of the slums where he and his brother Salim survived by their wits to his hair-raising encounters with his local gangs to his heartbreak over Latika, the unforgettable girl he loved and lost.
Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveal where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show?
When the next day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out…”[1]
This movie does a great job of showing the viewer what life is like in India for those in the slums. It gives a gruesome, but realistic view of what poverty in India is like. Jamal is being investigated and each question he knows the answer to on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” goes back to things he experienced as a child in the slums. It was very creative the way these two were woven together. I was not aware that life could be so hard for people in the slums of India and this movie shed light on the hardships impoverished people face, especially in the slums of India. This movie has been criticized for not being realistic enough; there is no way that a boy from the slums would get on this show. However, I feel that the movie does point this fact out, that Jamal is very lucky. Just the fact that Jamal knew certain answers because they happened to be connected with his past is lucky, but the movie connects this with fate. Even throughout the movie he was very lucky in other ways as well, he seemed to just be in the right place at the right time at some times.
******************Warning: Spoilers*************************
This movie shows such sad details about life in the slums not many people will leave the theater with a happy feeling, even though the ending is very happy. Jamal’s whole reason for going on the show is to find his love Latika. Through a series of events they find each other and in the end everyone in the cast dances an Indian dance. Throughout this movie Jamal and Salim find people that are willing to help them.
At one point Jamal shows Americans the real India and a cop finds him starts to beat him. He tells the Americans, “You wanted to see the real India, well here it is.” The Americans make the cop stop and give Jamal money and tell him that that is really American help. It would be great if all Americans would stop and help those who are homeless all around them and be so considerate to those who are living in poverty all over the world and more Americans should stop worrying about themselves and help others.
[1] http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/
A penniless, eighteen year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, he’s one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, suddenly, he is arrested for cheating. After all, how could an uneducated street kid possibly know so much? Determined to get to the bottom of Jamal’s story, the jaded Police Inspector spends the night probing Jamal’s incredible past, from his riveting tales of the slums where he and his brother Salim survived by their wits to his hair-raising encounters with his local gangs to his heartbreak over Latika, the unforgettable girl he loved and lost.
Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveal where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show?
When the next day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out…”[1]
This movie does a great job of showing the viewer what life is like in India for those in the slums. It gives a gruesome, but realistic view of what poverty in India is like. Jamal is being investigated and each question he knows the answer to on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” goes back to things he experienced as a child in the slums. It was very creative the way these two were woven together. I was not aware that life could be so hard for people in the slums of India and this movie shed light on the hardships impoverished people face, especially in the slums of India. This movie has been criticized for not being realistic enough; there is no way that a boy from the slums would get on this show. However, I feel that the movie does point this fact out, that Jamal is very lucky. Just the fact that Jamal knew certain answers because they happened to be connected with his past is lucky, but the movie connects this with fate. Even throughout the movie he was very lucky in other ways as well, he seemed to just be in the right place at the right time at some times.
******************Warning: Spoilers*************************
This movie shows such sad details about life in the slums not many people will leave the theater with a happy feeling, even though the ending is very happy. Jamal’s whole reason for going on the show is to find his love Latika. Through a series of events they find each other and in the end everyone in the cast dances an Indian dance. Throughout this movie Jamal and Salim find people that are willing to help them.
At one point Jamal shows Americans the real India and a cop finds him starts to beat him. He tells the Americans, “You wanted to see the real India, well here it is.” The Americans make the cop stop and give Jamal money and tell him that that is really American help. It would be great if all Americans would stop and help those who are homeless all around them and be so considerate to those who are living in poverty all over the world and more Americans should stop worrying about themselves and help others.
[1] http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/
The Bicycle Thief
The Bicycle Thief starts by showing the poverty and the need for jobs. A large group of men who are out of work are standing around a man who is giving certain men jobs that they can do. However, the men tell him that they would be willing to do anything to get work. Antonio Ricci is the person who gets a job, hanging posters around the city. This requires a bicycle that he says he can get. It turns out that he had just sold his bicycle to get enough food to feed his family. They are living in poverty and are doing everything they can just to get enough food because Antonio is not working. Antonio’s wife goes around the house and takes all the sheets off the beds and they sell those to get money to buy another bike. The movie shows how many people are trying to sell whatever they own to get what money they can. There are huge piles of sheets and there are rows of bikes. Antonio gets the bike and therefore gets a job. However, almost immediately after starting to hang posters he has his bike stolen. Antonio’s life and work depended on a bicycle. Once it is stolen he can no longer work. They spend most of the movie trying to find the bicycle. He goes to the police, but they do not do much to help him, they just say that if he finds it himself they will have proof that it was stolen. Antonio does not seem to know how to deal with the loss of his bike and job. He knows that this will keep him in poverty. At one point he says, “You live and suffer to hell with it.” He seems that eventually he doesn’t care at all and takes his son to an expensive restaurant. However, while sitting there he again realizes how much he needs this job. Not many people try too hard to help Antonio. Throughout the movie it seems that people are doing whatever they can to get just enough.
**************************Spoilers**************************
The father and son fail to find the bike and Antonio feels completely helpless. He tries to send his son home ahead of him and then goes to steal a bike. He sees no other way to survive than to steal another person’s bike, but he gets caught. The man who owns the bike seems to see this man’s trouble and doesn’t take him to jail. The end of the movie shows just how hard it is to get out of the poverty. Antonio and his son walk home with no bike and the son looks at the father as if to say not only “I am disappointed in you”, but also this act makes the son realize that they do not have a way out and looks at his father as if to say “What do we do now.” What do we do know? It is probably a question people who are in poverty ask sometimes. Many people could have helped Antonio get a bike, but they do not. People who see this movie should want to help those who are in poverty and just need a bike.
**************************Spoilers**************************
The father and son fail to find the bike and Antonio feels completely helpless. He tries to send his son home ahead of him and then goes to steal a bike. He sees no other way to survive than to steal another person’s bike, but he gets caught. The man who owns the bike seems to see this man’s trouble and doesn’t take him to jail. The end of the movie shows just how hard it is to get out of the poverty. Antonio and his son walk home with no bike and the son looks at the father as if to say not only “I am disappointed in you”, but also this act makes the son realize that they do not have a way out and looks at his father as if to say “What do we do now.” What do we do know? It is probably a question people who are in poverty ask sometimes. Many people could have helped Antonio get a bike, but they do not. People who see this movie should want to help those who are in poverty and just need a bike.
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