Big Question: Who is Reborn?
OK, people . . . this is a small, unimportant feel-good movie; however, it touches on many heady things. We're going to focus on a few of them, beginning with characters. So, who are these people, and why should they matter to me?
Character chart (as we meet them)
Bill Rago (focus character/protagonist) - advertising degree, master's degree, top of his field,
fired, out of a job, divorced, has a daughter, employment commission found him a job
. . . teaching school (anybody can do that, right?), from Los Angeles and New York
Capt Tom Murdock we don't knowharried, overworked, contact man, cares for troops
Donald BeniquezNew York Cityjoins bigger gang
Tommy Lee HeywoodWillacoochee, GA joins to see the world
(town exists, Allen salaries x2.5; house values x4.0 re: Allen)
Roosevelt Hobbs Detroit, MI joins to learn a new trade
Miranda Myers Cleveland, OH joins because she's "gotta be somewhere,"
and she's looking for home
Jackson Leroyall-state, college football, somewhere
joins for better education and a better job
Brian Davis, Jr. Grand Forks, ND joins to be brave like dad
Melvin Melvin Charlotte, NC joins so he can become conscious (not stated)
Montgomery Jamal Detroit, MI joins to find stability and to know "family"
SSGT Cass we don't know"cares about his job"
We're going to look at the levels, layers, and transitions of this video and at the connections it makes to the works of Shakespeare (from which it borrows heavily), because it is like an onion, not like a parfait.
Propaganda issue - "Be all you can be"
How do you think each of these different characters would see the present war in Iraq?
Write half a page telling why you identify with one of these characters. Use this "emotion" wordlist from the front board. I'll put that list here, probably tomorrow.
sad(en)(ed) agony(ize) doubt(ed)(ful) anguish enthusiasm(tic)
happy nausea(ous)ous love(ed) disgust(ed) excite(d)
bliss(ful) exhaust(ed) craze(d)(y) anticipate(d) low
angry stress(ed)(ful) hope(ful) depress(ed) faithful (fidelity) amazed loathe(d) horrify (ied) jitters(y) anxious(ly)
glad hate(ed)(ful) frustrate(d) tire(d) suicide(al)
mad(den)(ed) shy bore(d) frighten(ed) horrify(ied)
glorify (ied) shock(ed) scare(d) worry(ied) nervous
upset blue gloom(y) aggressive(aggressor) down
Extra Credit Opportunity . . .
1. Compare and contrast the communities of Willicoochee, Georgia, and Allen, Texas.
2. Do the same with Charlotte, North Carolina, and Allen.
In each case consider how your experience would be like or different that of the character in the video. Where would your daddy work, after all? What are the businesses there? Where would you go to school? How many schools in each town. Where are you going to go to college? How are you and your family going to get the money? Where are you going to work for an after-school job?
