Of all the art forms we saw portraying New York City, I really have to say that I particularly enjoyed the movie Moonstruck, directed by Jewison. I really found this movie to be the most accurate of New York in all the implications it leaves. First off, every single character in the movie has some sort of weird or quirky personality. No one is just “normal.” Loretta, the main character, is an Italian superstitious thirty seven year old widow. Her boyfriend is a lackluster guy by the name of Jonny whose voice can bore the room to sleep. Jonny’s brother, Ronny, has an entire personality of his own and also happens to lack a hand for having cut it off a few years ago with the meat slicer.

Now not only are all the characters in the movie odd, but all the events to have taken and do take place are also just as weird. First of all, Jonny proposes to Loretta, only to leave the very same day to see his dying mother for an unknown amount of time. Secondly, Loretta accepts his proposal, a proposal from a man she does not even love, and much less like. Then there’s the really tiny minuscule fact that Loretta meets Jonny’s angry loner brother Ronny, falls in love with him, and sleeps with him the very same day she meets him. C’mon people, where else would this happen but in New York City?

Now along with all the weirdness that goes on in this film, the directors make sure that audience does not for one second get to miss all that New York has to offer. First is the loud rambunctious Italian family from Brooklyn. Seriously, where else in the United States could they live? Only in New York City of course, the state with the largest population of Italian-Americans. Then theres the ultra fancy date Ronny insists on. Sure, he could just take Loretta out to the nearby Olive Garden. But why make you’re life so simple when you can just take the subway up to the Lincoln Center and sit down to watch La Bohème at the Metropolitan Opera House?

Now as accurate as this film may have been, it was also my favorite. I really enjoyed watching every second of it, seeing the drama unfold, laughing at the ample amounts of ridiculous scenes and people. I really hope Professor Healey, that this is one movie you force your students to watch year after year.

The more money people get, the easier it becomes to make corrupt decisions. As any politicians and people of high authority face this problem, many artists as well are forced to come to choose between making music for passion or making music for lots of money and fame.

Many times I think people believe that any mainstream artists are complete cap and don’t consider them to be artists. You can take into account Beyoncé, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Just Timberlake, and the list goes on. As opposed to artists, these people are seen as entertainers, which in reality they ultimately are. Most can’t sing, nor play an instrument, nor even write a lyric to their own song, however, they do tend to make millions off of their auto-tuned, “co-written,” pop hit wonder songs.

Then however, there are the less prominent, yet still well known and published under big producers that use the fame and big names to get their message across. In this category you can imagine Rage Against the Machine, Tupac, or the less popular bands and artists that play every year at warped tour. Of course they make a pretty decent living selling millions of albums and playing live concerts year after year, however, they promote strong messages directed at the audience, normally having something to do with government oppression, the subservient role created by capitalism, or real life struggles such as self-harm, depression, death, drugs, despair, and suicide. I’ve had many friends through tough situations who could really relate and used to cry because those songs said what they couldn’t.

Although it normally isn’t a good idea to mix money and anything (religion, art, politics, you name it), sometimes it is necessary to get certain and powerful messages out that Jay-Z just really can’t deliver rapping like a 21 year old at the age of 45.

New York City, otherwise known as the Big Apple, is the background for some of the most famous movies of all time, quite a few of which we had to see for this class. I remember the fist day of class reading through the syllabus and seeing movies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s and thinking to myself “Well… this is going to blow.”

However, after watching the first movie Wall Street by Oliver Stone and answering 21 questions in class I was more than surpised, my focus was captured. This movie was not only interesting, but really made me question and debate my life.

I had seen it with a friend, and the first question that came up between us mid-movie was, “If you were in Bud’s position, what would you have done? Would you have played dirty knowing you’d be rich and not get caught?” My friend couldn’t empathize more with Bud, because he agreed he’d do the same. I instead said that  I’d rather not have to live my life looking over my shoulder.

However, from that question, arose many more questions as well as observations. I hadn’t noticed how closely the poor and rich in NYC live, and in all my years here, I have no idea why. There was Greko, a mega rich stock broker who made himself rich at others’ expense. Then there was Bud’s father, the hard working union leader looking out for the airplane employees. In between the two was Bud, the man from a middle class family striving to become the elite.

I found it mind blowing how Stone was able to hand pick what made and didn’t make someone rich. According to the movie, to succeed and be profitable on Wall Street, one must live in Manhattan, because of course that’s where all the rich live. Yet only a borough away was Bud’s working class family’s residence in Queens.

Oliver also cast New York City as THE place to achieve the American Dream. Only there could Bud leave the working class and join the rich. Wall Street really made me take a look at New York City and it’s nature of it. It mad emergency think not only of NYC but of myself and it must have been one of my favorite movies of the semester.