Sleep Dealer is a science fiction film that was produced by Alex Rivera and was released in 2008. It focuses on and predicts how the future might look. It stares Memo, who is a boy whose interest is electronics though his father wants him to farm in their rural home in Mexico. Memo’s homeland, where he was supposedly told to do the farming by his father, has run short of water due to a private water project that tapped water into a heavily guarded damn. Memo’s interest in electronics and computer hacking led him to develop a monitoring device he used to draw frequency communication of the drones used in safeguarding the water project. He was soon noticed, which led to his home being attacked, and his father killed. He moves to Tijuana to look for work and also to seek revenge. He meets a lady, Luz, who helps him find a job but also takes advantage of him to get money by selling her memories with Memo. Ramirez, the drone driver who killed Memo’s father, buys the memory and realizes he murdered an innocent man. Ramirez makes up to Memo. During a war that led to a water source being developed for Memo’s region farmers (Enfer, 2015).

The film Sleep Dealer brings to attention the lack of access to water that is the day to day reality to millions. Access to clean and potable water should be a basic human right. The fact that water has become a resource that has been capitalized has resulted in mass poverty, deaths, and disease of millions. It shows how big companies are using their monetary and military power to snatch natural gifts from people. Farmers in the region that Memo’s family resided had to walk miles away to get water under tight security watch. Water is supposed to be a gift provided by nature for the sustenance of life. The water company has, however, taken that from the people. Therefore, this film foreshadowed the future of the privatization of nature (Enfer, 2015). The film, however, has a plot that is not very open. The film even ends unexpectedly. We needed to see how the farmers enjoyed the access to free water and if they enjoyed it throughout the subsequent years. We also needed to know how the water company reacted to this new development. Another important theme that Sleep Dealer explores is the exploitation of migrant workers within the United States. It is important to recognize that in the midst of the corona pandemic we’re in, migrant workers have been deemed essential workers due to their work providing us with goods such as produce. So, even when they have been deemed essential they are still not valued by so many within this country or provided with additional resources during this time. We are all essential and should be treated as such.

Environmental and race issues are issues that have continued to raise concerns across the universe. According to Purdue ecocriticism is defined as “the study of relationships between literature and the physical environment” The following articles and the Ted Talk make the argument that this simple definition does not include real human beings or ethnic minorities and how their experiences and lives play a role in the environment. They are not taken into account nor are they valued as something worth evaluating or learning from their stories. Often, they are used as a platform in which to place blame on by those who are in power. T.V. Reed in “Toward an environmental Justice Ecocriticism”, talks about conserving the environment for the prosperity of human life. Literature has a unique role to play in environmental conservation. Reed says the use of literature to criticize the environment’s handling helps ensure that the ecosystem is conserved for the prosperity of supporting life adequately. Vandana Shiva in “Earth democracy”, advocates for the reasonable use of natural resources such as air, water, and biodiversity to warrant environmental sustainability. The earth community has a right to enjoy life democracy from natural gifts. Those with some power, for example, political should not take advantage of selling or own natural gifts like water bodies since every living creature has a natural right to sustenance. Shannon Prince insists on the significance of the black race. The black race has been despised for long, and their capabilities downplayed. Shannon believes that African American literature has a unique role in informing the world of the importance of environmental conservation. Tupac, for example, is a legendary rapper whose work still tells to date. Shannon advocates for taking care of the environment because it ensures the sustenance of life and even increases birth rates. She finishes by saying that black is the new green (TEDx, 2017). 

The intersection between environmentalism and social issues is the unfair treatment of poorer communities and/or minority groups that are exposed to harsh environmental conditions in comparison to wealthier classes in society. In the media, I see a lack of information on this particular topic, and to be honest, this topic wasn’t something I had thought about or was aware of until this discussion post. Race and environmental issues are, therefore, intertwined. Most people despise environmental conservation for selfish gain even when they know that environment is crucial for survival. The same way the minority races has been hated as inferior, yet they have unique abilities to help in advocating for environmental conservation. If we really want to examine the world around us we must start the discussion for environmental justice.

I didn’t get caught up in all the hype for the film when it was released and still didn’t get what the big deal was until I had to watch it for this class with my ecocritical lens. To be completely honest I didn’t know much about ecofeminism before reading Legler’s piece. From this, I gathered that ecofeminists are concerned with the “ways representations of nature are linked with representations of gender, class, and sexuality.” James Cameron’s Avatar broke box office records and was an absolute hit when it was released. Avatar is a famous film that is acknowledged because of the environmentalism aspects throughout the film. The movie follows an ex handicapped Marine who has been sent on a mission to aid the process of finding a rock that sells for millions, and that could solve problems on Earth. The rare rock is on another planet where the people of Pandora are living on. The Marine is tasked with going undercover by housing an Avatar body to spy and convince the Na’Vi population to move in exchange to fix his crippled lower half as he is paralyzed from the waist down. Jake, the ex-marine, ends up bonding with the Na’vi’s and falls in love with Neytiri on his quest. To sum up the ending, Jake helps fight with the Na’vi’s when humans try to take over. Throughout the film, we can see that people on earth have destroyed their environment and are seeking to harm the balanced ecological system of another realm. It is a direct portrayal of the relationship between humans and nature. In the movies, women are also given more power, authority, and strength. This ecofeminist film showcases how humans are on a quest to destroy the world of others after disrupting the ecological systems in the earth. The women are in charge of things in the film. Moreover, we can still perceive the interconnectedness of ecology and people’s way of life (Meyer). In addition to giving women influential roles through the film, Cameron centers on themes about environmental conservation, and human actions can destroy the ecological systems. It presents perspectives that demand environmental action that may be lost in the hero-villain view of the movie. It is a presentation of the realities that have harmed our world. In this regard, one of the film’s moving aspects is the ecofeminist presentation of issues, with women being the key players in the movie plot (Pike). Moreover, the environmental woes we face can be conquered, as depicted by the power given to women. It is a battle between good and evil, the sublime harmony of divine nature against the pride, greed, and unchecked ecological exploitation. When we consider the presentation of people, gender, and the environment in the film, we can say that it serves as a cautionary film. It reveals the ills of modern society and how women can be central in the battle to restore the environment.

Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of The Valley of the Wind was made in 1984. Given the current crisis and the world pandemic, it may be even more relevant today than it was then. Princess Nausicaa lives in the Valley of the Wind, an oasis surrounded by a sea of toxic jungles and acidic lakes. The valley is protected by offshore winds from the ocean which blow the toxic spores from the jungle away from the valley. The valley is a pastoral paradise of lush, pure, forests, and thriving farmland. The story takes place 1000 years after the destruction of the world due to the avarice and conflicts of the world’s industrial nations. Throughout the film, Miyozaki portrays the ecocriticism aspects as he challenges the viewers to think about the impacts of greed. One of the central themes we can see in the movie is the perpetual struggle between human development and ecological conservation. Miyozaki illustrates and criticizes the past, where people believed in the power of nature. One of the challenging aspects that the filmmaker communicates is whether our current quest to dominate every aspect of the planet can lead to human extinction. While the movie is created as a fantasy, it depicts the realities in our contemporary world .

The story centers on the relationship between humans and the environment. The main issues posited in the film require us to be philosophical in the way we deal with issues related to sustainability and environmental conservation. Notably, the representation of nature and human requires humans to strike a balance between protection and consumption of commodities. While the human is trying their best to control the environment, it is apparent that we cannot tame it. Also, as the film represents us, our bodies cannot thrive without our dependence on nature because we get our food, oxygen, and shelter from the environment.

Through ecocritical aspects of the film, we are challenged to protect the natural environment for posterity. It is also essential to note that the representation of the environment in the movie is very complex, and the settings depict the complicated and ever-changing nature of the film. Notably, the film advocates merging philosophical and ecological aspects of life with culture. Through such incentives, people will be able to realize nature’s benefits and live in harmony (Boonpromkul). The relevancy of the film is mindboggling, Nausicaa shows us that we must listen and connect with the environment in order to gain a better understanding of what is at stake and how fragile the planet is. I hope that we all can find a common ground of preserving our plant and resources as a starting point in moving forward.

Okja is one of the most famous ecological films released by Netflix. I found the film to be very interesting to say the least. In the film Okja, we get to see the unbreakable bond between a young girl named Mija and Okja: her genetically modified super pig and best friend. The beginning of the film tells us that Okja, along with 25 other super pigs were bred to serve as a means of helping solve the food crisis in the world. Throughout this film, nature is represented based on selective ignorance and the corporate greed that has caused much harm than good in society. It is a parable of environmentalism that directly addresses the current challenges in the world. It shows the relations between humans and animals, with the super-pig that is considered as a revolution in the food production system. The animal is taken from the girl when Wilcox arrives and hands the giant pig, Okja, into the hands of the Mirando Meat Corporation. This is where the fate of the pig is sealed. We learn that the Miranda Corporation is worse than they’re made out to be. They force Okja to be bred by another pig and while they want to publicly celebrate her for being the best super pig, their ultimate plan for her is to be slaughtered.

In this regard, there are conflicting perspectives about the relationships between men and animals. Corporations are portrayed as enemies of sustainable production. Okja is a special breed of pig that is genetically modified and reveals the bad relationships that affirm the greed of capitalists that is prevalent across the world. Although there are dangers associated with genetically modified foods, the CEO aims to increase the profits of the company and believes that people will eat if Okja’s meat sells cheaply (McCorry).

The strong bond between Mija and Okja reveals that people must care for animals as well as protect nature. Before we consider the mass production of meat to corporate meat objectives, it is necessary to treat animals with care. The mass consumption of meat that is currently being observed resulted from careless consideration of the ecological benefits drawn from animals. It’s the movie’s really bleak way to get their message across that “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism” In this regard, Okja is a film that shows how the needs of society can be met without destroying the environment.

Ecocriticism is described by the Literary Theory and Criticism as “the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation.” Basically ecocriticism centers on the relationship between human life and the physical environment. It advocates for the earth-centered approach to life. The approach calls for collaboration across different disciplines and requires people to assess themselves as well as the surrounding environment (Purdue University). It criticizes the way individuals interact and perceive the environment around them. Usually, the ills or happenings in society are directly related to the trends in the environment. To further understand this we’ll attempt to dissect the Snickers Super Bowl ad. The SinckersFixtheWorld advertisement aims to enhance environmentalism as it promotes snickers. Everything in the snickers ad is related to the preservation of the world. Most of the problems that are mentioned in the advertisement can only be corrected by building a world of snickers. This is a fashion trend that is directly related to environmentalism and ensuring that people are aware of the relationships between the environment and the happenings around them.

The quest and ideas presented throughout the advertisement aim to reinvent the world. The film enhances people’s awareness of their surroundings. Notably, earth-centeredness is depicted by the way the people come together, including children, women, and professionals who are ready to reinvent the world. When the two people fall into the “snickers hole,” it affirms that the world has been reinvented, and the new trend has transformed the people. It depicts the power of coming together in a bid to promote what people believe to be right. The advert represents the working class, families, politics, shopping, manufacturing, market centers, technology, and more. The people laugh after the two people fall in the hole to signify the positivity and awareness achieved through the snicker’s campaigns. The earth is represented as an essential aspect of human life and brings the people together. From an Ecocriticism perspective, the commercial seems to blame the environment for these problems as it shows people from all over gathering around a hole where a Snickers bar is about to be dropped in. The concept behind the commercial is that when the Earth is fed the chocolate bar, everything will be better because “you’re not you when you’re hungry.”

Babel was one of those complex movies that you must pay real close attention to understand it, and even then, you probably have to rewatch it a few times to really understand it. The movie centers on the tower of Babel, where God punishes people because of their pride and arrogance when they are in the quest to build a tower in order to reach heaven. In this film, the directors are showcasing the origin of cultural and linguistic groups. The different races we see in the current world resulted from God punishing the human race because of their rebellion. Throughout the file, we can solve the ills that have befallen the human race because of the happenings at Babel. The inability to communicate and resulted in mistrust and confusion as people grapple with finding solutions to their challenges. The story is based on three main nations and affirms how failing to understand or read the events causes dire consequences. Throughout the film, we see how different cultural perspectives enhance the severity of the situation (Yüksel).

The events in the film start when a shepherd acquires a rifle leaves the rifle with the children, one of his sons shoots an American woman accidentally. In the eyes of Americans, this is interpreted as an act of terrorism, which is immediately reported in the global news. The events in the story show how people have difficulty when expressing themselves and their identities. Much of the meanings about the issues happening are usually lost when trying to translate what the other person in saying or communicating based on their cultural identity (Yüksel).

In this regard, the film can be interpreted as an illustration of the confusion and mistrust existing between various nations of the world. Many issues in the globe are complicated by the lack of trust and proper understanding. People have stereotypes that criminalize or impose false images on other cultures or people without understanding what they are experiencing or trying to communicate. The movie itself was a lot to unpack but I tired my best, I enjoyed the work of Dr. Muberra Yuksel, he described the relation of the movie and the existence of cultural differences and how it relates to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel. I had an idea that the title of the movie was correlated with the biblical story, but this article increased my understanding of the story. I am more informed after watching the movie and reading these articles, I have a deeper understanding that although people of different cultures, languages and localities may or may not directly interact in person, everyone is affected by the everyday occurrences of others, regardless of the intentions.

When this movie came out it was a big freakin’ deal you HAD to go see it! And go see it I did, I’m all into the Marvel universe so I was pretty excited to see the next installment of Marvel comic superhero movies. The film was awesome in how it ties into all the others but was also a great film on it’s own. I must admit though that the biggest reason I wanted to see it was for more than the film itself. Number one: one of my favorite artist’s is Sacramento’s own Mozzy and I got word that he was supposed to feature a few songs on the Black Panther soundtrack and I just had to hear. He wasn’t too well known yet so to get his work featured in this movie was dope and would help catapult his career. Number two: I’m a huge Ryan Coogler fan, for those who don’t know he’s the director of Black Panther. He’s an Oakland Native and attended Sac State and I have ties to both Sac and Oakland so I was super excited and proud to see his rising success. He previously worked with Michael B. Jordan on his directorial debut film Fruitvale Station, for those who don’t know it’s about the events leading to the death of Oscar Grant, young man who was killed in 2009 by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale district station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in Oakland. Great movie highly recommend it, you won’t regret it. Watching Black Panther for the first time I did it for pure entertainment value, this time around with a critical race theory lens I saw things I missed and seen things completely different.

Black Panther takes place in a hidden advanced African nation, Wakanda. The movie introduces and follows T’Challa (Black Panther) who, after the death of his father, the King of Wakanda, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced kingdom to succeed to the throne and take his rightful place as king. We are then introduced to Killmonger Black Panther’s enemy, he challenges T’Challa’s mettle as king and later dethrone’s him and proceeds to excuse my french, fuck shit up. It ends up like all other Marvel movies where the superhero saves the day and all order is restored. Now equipped with the proper critical race theory tools I see the movie way differently, a way everyone should experience it.

From the readings, I have learned the movie ‘Black Panther’ was a special moment for African Americans as it displayed the racial group in a light they typically aren’t shown in. In the article, “Why ’Black Panther’ Is a Defining Moment for Black America,” Jamie Broadnax of Black Girl Nerds made the claim the characters “are rulers of a kingdom, inventors and creators of advanced technology. We’re not dealing with black pain, and black suffering, and black poverty.” Even the African American women are positively displayed as ”uniformly independent, strong, courageous, brilliant, inventive, resourceful, and ethically determined” as said in the “‘Black Panther’ Is Not the Movie We Deserve”. The ‘Black Panther’ was a successful movie in the way it showed black power and was even favorable at the box office. Just as there’s a need for more racial diversity in the creation of media, we also need more in areas of critiquing the work. “Why Cultural Critics of Color Matter” makes the claim more cultural representation needs to be made in the critics as it is unfair for the work of colored people to be criticized mainly by white people. The readings all argue other races need to have better representation in the media on both sides of the creation and the critiquing to balance out the number of white people in the industry. Black Panther was a movie our society needed, although it was a step in the right direction we have a long way to go.

Purdue Owl’s essay summarizes Critical Race Theory and its importance in analyzing the world. Bell and Stefancic’s say, “Our social world, with its rules, practices, and assignments of prestige and power, is not fixed; rather, we construct with it words, stories and silence. But we need not acquiesce in arrangements that are unfair and one-sided. By writing and speaking against them, we may hope to contribute to a better, fairer world.” I think this is a great statement saying that change is inevitable and welcomed. It forces anyone who is angered or complacent to not solidify their position. It means that we are always learning and always changing. Recognizing and responding to racism is what CRT promotes. Racism is a problem and to resolve it, the roots must be exposed. Critical race theory can be used to study different forms of media in order to observe how its representation of races and cultures interact with our society at large. Those who use this approach take into account white privilege, microaggressions, as well as other prejudices and how they play into keeping institutionalized racism in place. Factors such as microaggressions, white privilege, institutionalized racism, social construct, and intersectionality play a role in racism, according to the CRT essay. It also takes intersectionality into consideration and emphasizes the importance of well-portrayed representation in media/sharing of one’s stories.

Derrick Bell’s “Who’s Afraid of Critical Race Theory” was a great informative piece about a look into the struggles of black people throughout history. Harris’ grandmother’s struggles to pass as a white woman in order to bring food home to the family shows how racism probably got far as it did. Sometimes, racism is ignored because calling it out would result in someone possibly losing their job. This causes racism to slowly become the norm.

As seen in the TMZ video of Travis Turner, sometimes what someone may think is coming off as appreciation or relatable is actually just coming off as insulting imitation. I think this is what happened in Turner’s incident.  I feel like the clip we watched was a failed attempt at trying to not appear racist. Travis Turner, the voice actor, first said that “If they want they can say whatever ” when asked if he is concerned about the black community’s reaction to him voicing a black character. He then goes on to explain that he relates because he has lived in hotels and has made music with Snoop Dogg, which means he relates to the “urban” community.

If we apply the CRT on Travis’ interview, we can easily pinpoint out all the ignorant comments made, and can also see the consequences of his actions. As a white man, he takes up the space that could have very easily been given to a black person. To him, the character is only that. A fictional character. However, black people and other minority groups exist and are not merely fictional characters for one’s amusement. And to have media representation that is already rarely given be played by someone who only knows the surface level of your culture beyond insulting. Part of CRT is holding people accountable for the things they say and do.

What’s brackin’ folks! My name is Carlos Godinez and I was born and raised in Sacramento, CA. Spent a lot of my childhood between Sac and the Bay trying to stay out of trouble. My main source of distractions or outlets were music and sports, specifically basketball. I refer to it as my first love. Basketball with along side with music really gave me an escape from reality and whatever hardships I was enduring. With that being said those two were my main source of influence on me and life. I have too many songs that I like so I can’t pick a favorite but I bump anything that’s Mozzy, Lil Wayne, and J Cole. With school and work I don’t really have time for TV. Fun fact about me I have no social media, well as far as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat or Twitter goes, I just don’t see the need for it, if I need to contact you i’ll call or text you. I was never a big reader of those things called books but I want to make an effort and a mini goal of reading at least reading one new book a month. Honestly these past couple days have been really hard for me as I’ve been mourning the tragic death of my childhood hero, role model, icon, the reason I picked up a basketball and fell in love with the game, Kobe Bryant. He along side his daughter Gianna and 7 other passengers passed in a tragic helicopter accident yesterday morning leaving the world shocked and heartbroken. I didn’t personally know the man but I lost the person I looked up to, the person who I tried to emulate my game after and it feels like I lost a family member. His legacy and contribution to not only the game of basketball but the people he touched will live on forever, may you rest in peace Kobe.

After exploring cultural criticism and other theories on Purdue’s OWL I think the theory I connect to the most is Marxist Criticism, I believe we are all creatures and products of our environments and I think this quote sums it up. “Marxism attempts to reveal the ways in which our socioeconomic system is the ultimate source of our experience” (Tyson 277). Growing up where I grew up I experienced this and seen those that experienced similar struggles.

Critical Race Theory is another that I have personally encountered and one that I truly would like to learn more. I believe it goes hand in hand with Marxist theory, “these advantages can include both obvious and subtle differences in access to power, social status, experiences of prejudice, educational opportunities, and much more” (Purdue’s OWL) Being Mexican American living in White America I have been affected by systemic racism affected by cultural perceptions of race as described in Purdue’s OWL. I have dealt with “microaggressions” and just flat out racial remarks aimed towards me. Just because I’ve experienced it I still would like to learn more and better understand the theory. There was honestly like 4 other theories that I didn’t know too much about and I want to know, so hopefully throughout the course of this class that becomes possible, i’ll leave it at that.

I can see how the Peloton ad is sexist in the sense that any other workout equipment gifted from a man to a woman could be sexist. It gives the message that the woman needs to change herself for her man. I also think their slogan of “the gift that gives back” is the most incriminating because it implies that the woman will gift the man her “new and improved” body, all thanks to your handy new Peloton. in all honestly the Ryan Reynolds vodka ad confused me. Was that the backlash? Or was there separate backlash for that ad? I guess that would take a little more digging and reading reviews. Either way I found Ryan Reynolds ad to be a better sell of his product than Peloton’s was.