Bethany Khan's Pensieve

For this assignment, I picked my mother as the subject of my documentary. Basically, I picked out a few key stories from her life so that I could tell the viewer a little bit more about my mom that one wouldn’t necessarily know just by looking at her. I choose to film her in front of a wall that is located in the main entrance of our house which is filled with family pictures that we take every year; our family is very important to my mom, and I wanted my placement of her to reflect that. Also, since she is instrumental in getting us all together every holiday to take a picture that she then sends out to our family and friends, it seemed only fitting that she be filmed in front of the wall of yearly Christmas greeting card pictures. I wanted my mom to the subject of this documentary short because she doesn’t usually get to talk about herself all that often, she is usually recounting achievements of her kids or taking care of us, so that is why I wanted to see what she had to say if I just put a camera in front of her and started asking her questions.

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“Home…in past tense� by Bix Gabriel





When I was growing up Hyderabad had a bad reputation. People who were from there or had some cultural attributes were not as good as other Indians. No one ever came out and said that, it was just something that I knew. I came to college not really giving that a second thought. I didn’t think people from Hyderabad were bad, I just didn’t challenge the notion that they weren’t any good. All I knew was that I loved Hyderabadi Biryani.

This piece resonated with me because I loved seeing pictures of India and learning more about the South Indian culture. Being half-Indian myself, I love anything to do with India…no matter what region. I found her story to be rather engaging and I thought her quote about her house back in Hyderabad being "a musum about growing up," and her before and after photos of Hyderabad to be poignant reminders of capitalism and globalization.

I thought it was so cool that Bix Gabriel was exploring her roots and not forgetting where she came from. I loved seeing an Indian woman who was filmmaker in the spotlight – definitely don’t get enough of that. This piece was an excellent reminder of stereotypes that learned growing up and that I personally still have work to be a more socially just person.

Continue reading "Indian. Woman. Storyteller." »

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Reframings: New American Feminist Photographies by Lucy Lippard

Lucy Lippard’s goal is that she is trying to walk the reader through the process of figuring out what “feminist art� is, especially in terms of a landscape. She talks about the terrain and the lack of critical attention it gets from a majority of feminist analysts. She said that usually the focus is on the home, workplace, urban and suburban environments, but not so much on the terrain. She makes the point that the terrain has been possibly gendered into a masculine symbol of freedom that many women feel excluded from.

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*Feb. 9th
4pm: Watched “Jersey Girl� on Netflix (instant viewing)
6pm: Watched CNN cable news and read the MN Daily during dinner
9pm: Watched random news shows on TV and then caught the last 45 minutes or so of Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp version).

*Feb. 10th
4pm: Watched “Glory� on Netflix (instant viewing)
6pm: Read the MN Daily during dinner
7-10:30pm: The Grammys on CBS

*Feb. 11th
1am: Watched “California Suite� on Netflix (instant viewing)
10am: Started “Bus Stop� on Netflix
11am: Kare 11 “Discovering MN� during breakfast
12p: Read/skimmed through the Pioneer Press and the MN Daily
9pm: Read online news at CNN.com and watched NBC Nightly News
11:30pm: Continued “Bus Stop� on Netflix
2am: Finished "Bus Stop"

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“Visual arts is our picture of the world.� - Judy Chicago

Before, I saw this film I had no idea of who Judy Chicago was, and I was really struck by how tough and honest she was. She really pushed her studio students outside of their comfort level as much as she could, and I really do think that they grew a lot because of that. She was so forceful at times and really harsh with her students, so much so, that I really kind of grew to resent her - I was so glad that I wasn’t in class with her.

I did, however, find some of her statements to be enlightening and I did learn more about some new aspects of feminist art and feminist pedagogy from her.

Continue reading "My thoughts on Judy Chicago..." »

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I...
-am a junior majoring in print journalism, minoring in social justice and gwss
-live on-campus (Dinkytown)
-am in love with my new digital camera that I just got for Christmas. See a picture of it here.
-am 21, but still love most of the Disney Princess'...even though I know all the reasons why I shouldn't. My fav? Jasmine!
-love: reading fun, going to bed really late and sleeping in.
-strongly dislike: shaking people's hands when I am introduced to them.
-use the word facetious too much!
-love anything that comes in the color pink or black
-cut my hair to the shortest it's ever been over winter break
-could and probably will spend the rest of my life dedicated to learning all about social justice, and making the world more socially just
-love to be put in uncomfortable situations, that are safe...it's where I grow the most!
-used to be more optimistic, but ever since I turned 21 and realized that I haven't done shit with my life yet, I am more cynical
-am ethically conflicted with my major right now. Journalists aren't supposed to make news, they are supposed to report on it and be objective. Problem? I like to make the news, and I often do (not to my choosing), and I like the access I am given at "the table" as a participant rather than just reporting on those who sit at the table.
-Guilty pleasures: Bollywood, mayo and ketchup w/my fries, Rated G and PG movie, Disney and Harry Potter Scene-It
-collect: bangles, earrings, anything glittery, shiny or pink
-fear: not achieving my dreams and goals, losing someone I love, angry men,
-am wary of: big brother, politicans, administrators,
-can't wait to: be 30 and have everything figured out...? and be working in my career and love it!

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