Week Four
I believe the concept of everyday is interesting to look at. In the eyes of an unobserver, the term can appear trivial and unimportant. However, after viewing the film Cusp, anyone can see that it is in the everyday we see important examples of gender and power. When anyone thinks about it, gender and power would not be such a controversial concept if it appeared outside the everyday life. People would be able to recognize it, digest it, and at least come up with a form of a compromise that would fit everyone's needs and comfort levels. However, it isn't that way and that is because it lays subtly in the everyday actions.
In the film Cusp, Alice is an adolescent that is in the transition of becoming a woman instead of a girl. Any female can relate to this large change in their life. After the film, many from the class commented on certain actions and scenes from the movie that they saw in their own life. I, myself, felt the same way. It was the pressure of Alice to get a boyfriend, it was the pressure of Alice to be pretty, it was the pressure of her trying to fit in that people relate to. This stuff is universal. It happened with we were little and it is still happening now. What if Alice was attracted to women? Society would do as much as it can to change that about her. People would strip her down of anything she deserved, such as friends, a stress free life, a loving home to go home to. This is wrong, but it happens so subtly that it happens before anyone can do anything about it. I mean, not all things the society tells her is bad, it just that some of it IS bad, and she has to go along with it or else she is rejected. Rejection is a sort of limit to her happiness and power over her life. Alice it forced to fit into a box which she has no control over creating. It eliminates her from self-expression.
Although I missed some of the movie (my fault, didn't check e-mail, got lost, ect.) the few scenes I saw showed her limits on self-expression. Take for example the scene where her friend told her to get lost and that she didn't want to be friends anymore. Alice was just being HERSELF, and because she didn't fit into this box of "coolness/acceptance" she is rejected from her best friend. I, myself, remember being in situations like that. I will spare you the pain of me ranting endless stories of my not-so-lovely tween years, but like I said in the before these situations are universal and wrong.
I liked this film. I finally have something to relate to which helps. A lot. All these readings are finally making sense. :)
Also I like how her name was Alice. To me, I interpreted it as being close to 'Alive'. Alice felt a lot of pain, formed relationships, made hard decisions, failed, and succeeded. This is what it means to be a human being. I don't know, just a little side note.