Documentary

Makers Documentary

barbara smith, Documentary, International women's day, Makers Documentary, sheryl sandberg Leave a comment

Here is an interesting documentary that I recently came across apparently just in time for International Women’s Day (sorry I have other things on my mind and that particular day slipped my memory recently). The documentary is entitled “Makers”:

The tag-line for the trailer peaked my interest which read “Women got fed up with bad sex and being secretaries.” I watched the trailer hoped to be at least the bit intrigued to at least want to watch the documentary itself. Alas, this trailer failed. It is particularly interesting because

  1. the tag-line introducing the trailer
  2. the women introduced in much of the first half of the video are all white*

*(Oh but except Barbara Smith… she appears to be the one women of color before the trailer appears to enter the 21st century).

I find this tag-line particularly confusing since it was mostly white women in the first half and then one black woman, who is also a lesbian, and not to say that black women or lesbians weren’t/aren’t sexual beings. However, with the messages being sent by the other women (“you had to get married and have children”) suggest that, at the time, were limited to heterosexual marriages due to the fact that the images of relationships/marriages portrayed in this trailer were mostly white/heterosexual relationships/marriages. So, I guess only white women were fed up with bad sex and since racialized/Indigenous women still don’t have equal opportunities in employment, again, it was pre-dominantly white women who are fed up with being secretaries.

Yes I am bit skeptical about this documentary even if it does appear prima facie to include women from other backgrounds. I mean, there is the inclusion of Facebook COO’s Sheryl Sandberg. Yes, the “unofficial figurehead of women in business.” (globe and mail, 2013). However, she does not represent just any women in business; rather, only women in business who disclose their plans for future families to their employers or perhaps who intend to apply to companies, who she casually suggested, should be asking about female employees’ future baby-making plans. We all know how important it is to know when that baby making business happens!

So hey, thank god white women got tired of bad sex and being secretaries because we would have never made it this far today where another white woman in the C-suite is telling companies that they should directly ask women about their family/baby-making plans! Yay for progress!

Bad Sugar: Water Rights and Diabetes in Arizona

Bad Sugar, Documentary, James Fortier, Turtle Island Productions Leave a comment

Here is a short clip of the film “Bad Sugar” that I had the opportunity to watch tonight. The University of Western Ontario Indigenous Health and Well-Being Initiative was able to bring in the filmmaker who is also an Ojibwe/Metis. His name is James Fortier.

This documentary is unique in a sense that it talks about the “social determinants of health.” Things like poverty, low income, unemployment, education and how it may contribute to “bad health.”

It also uses the word “Genocide” where apparently I learned tonight that in the USA this term is not allowed to describe the historic relationships between the Indigenous people and white new-comers. Just another fine example of how history is told through the eyes of the non-Natives/white people.

I could not find a full clip of this film but I urge anyone who is able to have to opportunity to see it, to go and see it.

Diabetes is not just an issue here in Canada for Indigenous peoples, but all over North America aka “Turtle Island.”

Check out the documentary’s website HERE.

Check out the filmmaker’s website HERE.

Documentary: Aboriginal Today

Aurora Finkle, Documentary, Life on the Reserve, Reel Injun, Sacred Dollars, Third World Canada Leave a comment

Today, I decided to write a post about some of the documentaries that are being made, have been made, and some that I have seen. I believe that this is one positive way to make the rest of the world, not just Canada, aware of the living conditions that Aboriginals live in and some of the positive work that Aboriginals are doing today. This is also why I started this blog: to help rid of the old stereotypes and to try to write about my experiences as a young Aboriginal female today… whether the experiences are positive or negative. I want people to become aware of the situations that Aboriginals still face today, even though many still believe that Aboriginals receive “too much” help or should not receive any “help” at all. I beg to differ–this “help” isn’t to make Aboriginals and their living conditions “better” than the rest of Canada but the assistance and programs and work being done to better the lives of Aboriginals today, is to put them on a more equal footing. We need to work together to help make everyone’s lives here on Planet Earth more enjoyable not just for one group of people, but for everyone part of the Human Race.

Here is a list of the posts that feature the trailers of documentaries worth watching:

Documentary: Life on The Reserve

Documentary, Life on the Reserve Leave a comment

Check out the website of this documentary titled Life On The Reserve.

I recently wrote a post on how someone said to me living on a reserve is just like living on any other community. It is not. This is a real documentary people. These stories are real. This is not made up. Read my post on the short story I created titled My Hometown. Like I say in the story, I was lucky. It shouldn’t have to be like this for anyone in Canada. PERIOD.