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=Peace 10: 2012 CLASS BLOG=

Matt Schmittle: What I mainly understood in this movie was very little. I understood enough to follow the plot, but that may be how the director wanted it to be. He could have made the movie confusing just to show how crazy and confusing the politics are so that a women cannot even cross the border to her husband. If the movie made sense than viewers could create a easy solution to the problem, but if they do not understand the problem fully they cannot create a solutions to the characters problems. What I did understand in the movie was that the bride was having a arranged marriage in a society where women are second to men. This theme was emphasized by the husband of the sister of the bride not allowing her to college. Her refusal to listen to him showed a strong defiance that could be a possible suggestion to other women in that area. Also, another theme was the religion's tight rules so that the father would not talk to his son who married a russian. Overall I did not like this movie but, despite that, it brought light to many conflicts in that area.

Syrian Bride: The thing I understood best in Syrian Bride was that Syrian women (in Israel) are suppressed and aren't treated the same way as men. Part of it I think is do to their religion, but another part of it is just sexism in general. This is demonstrated when the bride's sister's husband would be embarrassed if his wife went to school and got a better job then him. The fact that a man wouldn't allow his own wife to go to school and do something with her life is sexist in itself. I think this film did a good job of combining important concepts like sexism and the conflict between the Syrians and the Israelis, but frankly I do not think it was as well done (and it was harder to follow) than the movies we watched during the India unit, like Dharm and Earth. In Earth it took me a little while ot understand what was going on but once I did, I felt like it was easy to follow, and not only was it informative, but it was also interesting. This movie for me was pretty hard to follow and frankly not as interesting as the previous movies. -Jamie M-R (and I didn't really know where to write this)

Elena Block 6: I am not really sure if this is where i am supposed to be posting my response, but i don't know where else to put it.

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The “Syrian Bride” is a film that illustrates the divided nations and families in the Middle East. The main character Mona is getting married to a man she has never met. Mona lives in the Golan Heights, which is a region that is not accepted by Syria or other nations. Because of this, Mona’s nationality on her passport is listed as “undefined.” The man Mona is going to marry is a Syrian Druze actor from Damascus. Once Mona crosses the border to Israel she can never return or see her family again. A wedding is supposed to be the happiest day of a woman's life, but this bride proves otherwise. Mona is worried and scared about leaving her family and starting her own life with a stranger. There is also a lot of conflict between her family members. Her father, named Hammed, has a big role in the community and he is forbidden to say goodbye to his daughter. Mona’s brother Hattem is an outcast because he married a Russian women. There are also other relationships between Mona’s sisters that are complicated. This film explains the difficulties of living in these regions, and although very slow and boring to watch, includes a lot of useful information. ===== ... p.s. don't just copy this, do your own work! :)

Maria Rizzo Block 6: The “Syrian Bride” is a film based on the families who are stuck in the Golan Heights. The Golan Heights are a disputed area between Israel and Syria. The Golan Heights were originally part of Syria, but are now occupied by Israel ever since 1981. This is the situation the main character Mona, a girl of Druze decadence, finds herself in when she has an arranged marriage with a Syrian man. Mona is faced with the challenge of passing into Syria from the Golan Heights to join her husband. Crossing the border, while a difficult task, is not the only hardship Mona has to face. Once she leaves the Golan Heights for Syria she can never return to her family. Mona’s challenge of crossing the border is caused by the tension between Israel and Syria surrounding the Golan Heights. Syria considers the Golan Heights are part of their country, while Israel says it is a part of theirs. This consists of a sequence of Mona’s passport being shuffled back and forth between the borders for approval. Mona’s family has other troubles plaguing their household, from outcast brothers to a politically active father. The main point illustrated in the film “Syrian Bride” is the stress on the families of the Golan Heights trying to reach out to other Druze people in Syria.

I didn’t enjoy the film very much. I feel like there were several minor and major plot points that never reached a sound resolution. I found the scene when Mona crossed the border into Syria interesting. I think it helped show the frustration felt by all parties involved in the land disputes. Mona felt desperate. She was so fed up with the situation that she took matters into her own hands. She didn’t wait for the ridiculous laws that were preventing her from moving forward with her life. She crossed the borders and stopped letting disagreements over land ruin her life. As a result of these laws, she will never see her family again either. Just to get married, she has to go through a huge ordeal at the border, almost miss her wedding, and prepare to say goodbye to her family. This scene illustrates how powerless people caught in conflict feel. It is very rare for someone like Mona to gather the strength to overcome these roadblocks. I still felt this scene was confusing because if it was that simple to cross to the other side, she could have done it sooner. Also, others would cross all the time, so it was not a realistic ending. I appreciate the director’s artistic choices, but the film was still hard to follow. - Sonia Kumar Block 1

In order not to copy what others have already said, I am going to focus on just the point of view of the movie. In the NPR interview, the director said he showed the story from the point of view of a woman in order to provide a unique perspective on the issues in the Golan Heights. It would have been very easy to tell the story from the point of view of a man, such as the groom, but as that is prominent voice in the culture of the region. It is amazing that the director can tell the story from Mona’s point of view with having her speak very often. It is very evident that despite the hardships and sadness of leaving her home, Mona realizes that she must in order to move on in her life and continue to be apart of her culture and religion. Although the director made some unconventional choices in “Syrian Bride”, he uses a unique point of view to provide a new angle on a very complex issue. -Chase C, Block 1

Greg Szumel Block 7 I found the film "Syrian Bride" was a thought provoking movie. The complete disconnects shown at the borders were simply ridiculous. I have heard that this region is very tense from the media, but never really understood how or why. This movie helped to answer some of that. The two families were literally hundreds of yards from each other, so close, in fact, that they could yell to each other. All that separated them were two fences. Why couldn't the two countries settle a few people crossing the border? And these people weren't just any people either, no, these people needed to cross so they could be married on their wedding day! Of any group of people to be more helpful to, this group of people was the one. But there was no budging either country. The movie demonstrated best to me how ridiculous and childish some of the conflicts are. Likewise, when Mona crossed the border by walking, it demonstrated how simply the task could've been done.

Julia Rhodes I think the most poignant scene in the movie was when the Syrian families tried contacting the Israeli/Syrian policymakers. This symbolized the relationship the common people have with their government: politicians create complex and convoluted problems but are nowhere to be found when the people are suffering. The entire film did a good job to highlight the helpless, frustrating situation of the common people. Many films/articles/documentaries/etc. in this region focus more on taking a side, or demonizing one group and portraying the other as a victim. I thought "Syrian Bride" was refreshing, because the director didn't blatantly bash Israel. To me, the director was more subtly in his critique of Israel. I was a little bit surprised not to see any mention of Palestine, though. (Maybe there was, and I didn't just catch it) I understand the film takes place in the Golan Heights, but I think some degree of dimension would've been interesting.

I thought the movie "Syrian Bride" was a very different way of portraying issues between conflicting countries than we usually see. Instead of focusing on the problem from the perspective of the Antagonists, the movie focuses on those affected. It concentrates on the issues of a Druze family that is dealing with the animosity between Syria and Israel. I found the ending to be unrealistic and confusing. If that were actually a secured border with checkpoints and guarded gates, there's no way that Mona could have simply walked through to get married. Certain issues were introduced, but never resolved; such as Mona's sister being accepted into school. We never actually find out if she attended. All in all, I think that this was meant to show that the political climate is so strained, that almost anything could happen. It was interesting that the director was Israeli, and portrayed the Israelis in the movie (the police officers) to be harsh and somewhat of a bad guy. I think that by not clearly taking a side in the matter, the director added more depth to the film and made it more realistic. - Olivia Saber

Eliza Durham The Syrian bride, although confusing at times, was an interesting movie because of the subject matter. This movie took on a big issue-the conflict between Syria and Israel- and the complications the occur due to the conflict. This movie focused more on the people aspect of the two countries conflict. It presented the issue in a way that made you feel sorry for the "unidentified" citizens of Damascus because both countries claimed them and both hate each other. The movie took a closer look at how women and smaller religious sects are affect by the separation and division of Damascus. This movie made me realize how little control these people living in the occupied territories had over their lives. While we- in the US- have the freedom to travel and voice political opinions, people in Damascus do not. In this movie they even went as far to not let a father say goodbye to his daughter on hr wedding day-the last time he will ever have the chance to see her because of the laws of Syria and Israel. I thought it was interesting that the filmmaker was Israeli because he has not been affected directly about this issue but still cares how his government and the Syrian government treats people-whether they are citizens of Israel or Syria.

Delaney L. Block 7 I did not get to watch “Syrian Bride”, but from reading other entries it seems that the movie showed the priorities of people in Syria really well. It is crazy to think that religion has priority over family; I can’t imagine living like that. The complete disconnect between borders is also astonishing. People cross the border from the United States into Canada everyday and not being able to do that seems to weird to us because we were not brought up like that. I’m sure it seems somewhat normal to the people living there, and they must think that our culture is so twisted and backwards. The dispute about which country the territory belongs to seems to confusing, and I would like to get the chance to watch the movie so that I can better understand the culture and conflicts going on in Syria and Israel.

Myles McDevitt The Syrian bride, while not entertaining by any means, was a very enlightening film. I learned about how the Syrian's and Israeli's struggles affected the people of the Golan Heights. It ruined their lives, and caused them not to be able to even see family on the other side of the border. I did not understand the ending of this movie or what it intended to achieve. It ended with the bride leaving the demilitarized zone and simply walking over to the other side. This is not only unrealistic but also a very hard to understand ending. It is also confusing that this movie was written and directed by an Israeli director. This feels to me like he doesn't understand the trials and tribulations of the Syrian's and might have attempted to over-exaggerate them. Overall I did not enjoy this film, and so I would not recommend showing it again.

Kevin Roux; Bock 7. I had some trouble watching Syrian Bride. It was not particularly entertaining but it was had to look the actors in face and see their pain. At the start of the movie I had already written it off as some poorly made peace activist documentary. I was wrong. Syrian Bride has some depth to it. It is one of few movies where I really truly felt bad for the people in this situation. The actress playing the "syrian bride" did a fantastic job of showing the gravity of her situation simply through her actions and her facial expression. The most depressing part of the situation for me is the thought that, the reason these people must live like this is because some people think the best way to sole problems is to strap a bomb their chest. This movie made me happier then ever to live in a country were I rights and freedoms. I would definitely recommend showing this movie again so that students can have a image of what it is like to live in a country like Israel.

Eleni Kalaitzoglou, Block 6 - Although i didn’t enjoy the tedious plot in the Syrian bride, I learned how territory really affects the lives of people. The film basically shows how the golan heights between Syria and Israel causes problems between the people in both countries. It has taken 6 months for the bride to prepare and get everything approved for her just so she can cross the border. This creates many issues for her marriage. After thinking about this, I see how territorial issues like this really change people’s lives. She will never again be allowed to see her family, which is a heartbreaking feeling. I also saw how the women were oppressed, and had only small piece of authority. I mostly saw this through the young girls weakness, when her father was yelling at her about seeing the boy. The father dictated the conversation with a tone that scared me just by watching it. I also saw how problematic the people in the country can be. The man that stamped the brides passport was completely ignorant and didn’t put much care into helping her. He didn’t consider the problem at stake, and said it wasn’t his problem. It’s stereotypical for me to say that the people there are ignorant, but I think that’s what the filmmaker wanted to portray.