“Private Lives, Public Spaces” were a series of short films taken from around the world of a family’s life but out in a space not at home, showcase their life out of the house. I particularly liked the fact that these short films were before the social media outbreak, but it eerily forecasted the need to record our life events no matter how small. Thought, I like to believe that these were recorded for the nostalgia and for it to be seen by close family members; unlike today what we choose to put up in social media can be seen by whomever.
My first film, I believe it to be Ted Kennedy Presidential Campaign 1980 from the Roy family. It was a series of speeches Ted Kennedy did for his campaign run. Though it was a silent film, anyone could tell he was passionate from the looks on his eyes and his hand gestures. However, he lost to Jimmy Carter by a landslide. I couldn’t help but think politics said a lot about our social identities. What we judge to be right or wrong, what we like and dislike, could be controlled by our political views. Howard makes a point “intersectionality suggests that politically motivated identity work generates attention to intersecting identities.” Our political views already identify people in one light, however how we choose to pursue these views and how we apply these views towards others around us furthers our political identities.
My second film was one I caught before leaving the exhibit but stuck onto me. It was a film on Hong Kong and later Japan, it seemed to be a travel film. It made me reminisce about the time I was there. They went through the great landmarks like the Big Buddha and the streets of Hong Kong were enough to marvel at. But while the touristy landmarks were captured, lifestyles of the locals could be since too. This refers back to Ethnic Identities, its relation to to majority culture. Often times Asians were the minority in the U.S., I thought it would be refreshing applying this theme of Ethnic Identities, where the film was a foreigner exploring the “minorities” lifestyle. But I also thought many immigrants had to adapt to new surroundings when they moved, they had to make it work. Looking back at the film, the locals had the power to do as they please, but they had the materials to do so but also because they were surrounded by people who culturally understands them.
The last film is the Martin Family. It was a clip of a mother dressing the baby and the father comes in to play with the baby. When I saw the film, I thought it would be just a moment of the relationship of an infant and mother. I didn’t really see a point to the film other than nostalgia. But when the father came in to play the baby, I was scared for the baby as the father was swinging the baby by the legs. But thinking about this more I thought about the paternal roles on childcare. The father to be the breadwinner, the fun one, the easy-going one. The mother to be the caring, nurturing housewife. That's far from the reality but I wonder why that’s is the image of how a family should be.
The exhibit explores concepts of social identities in the form of home movies. But I don’t think the exhibit does well enough to show the reality. But I’m more curious as to why the artist chose to use home movies from the times they showed. Did they accurately show the emotions and notions of the decades? I wouldn’t know.
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