If you have not seen the Disney Pixar movie "UP", I feel bad for you. If you have played the video game and fought a monster that wasn't even in the movie, I feel for you, but that is not what this is about. Every Pixar movie has some meaning or lesson behind all the lines of the script and scenes that were so carefully animated. There is still something inside us that wants to explore the unknown or find new things that have not been seen before. Christopher Columbus in the late 1400's did this type of exploration and helped other to give them the strength to go and explore too. Hence, why Columbus day is still partially celebrated today. In elementary school, we were taught that he found America first, and he persevered through the rough times of trying to get a ship and funding to do his exploration. We were taught that he was a good man who tried and helps the people around him when he first came to land. But no, that is not how it really goes, now that we are older we can now be taught that he really wasn't a good person. People still cannot believe that "Somehow, the 15th-century Italian explorer still got his own national holiday. But more cities and states are scrapping Columbus Day to honor the people who were here first -- and who suffered greatly after Columbus' arrival." (Yan 3-5). But through all the bad, there is still a base argument that Columbus day is still good. If we don't explore, we will only perceive what is in front of us at that time. People thought polio would cripple America, but someone explored medicine and found a way to vaccinate it. Exploration allows us to create new things and learn how things work. Without exploration, where would we be now? Going back to "UP", the message behind the movie is "Adventure is out there!" spoken by Charles Muntz in the movie. When Carl goes on this adventure with Russell, he finds a part of him that he lost long ago, and came back with a lesson that he had forgotten long ago. Exploration in the real world helps us better ourselves. Exploration is a very important day, and I feel that Columbus day should be about exploration, and not Columbus himself. Because when you think of it, when was the last time you tried to do something and it didn't work. Did you give up, or explore new ways to find a solution to your problem?
Sources:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/08/us/columbus-day-vs-indigenous-peoples-day/index.html
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049413/quotes
I like how you connect two different stories; the childhood that made you think of adventure and the story of a guy who was used to be known as a "good man," to come up with the idea that opposes Columbus Day.
ReplyDeleteThis was a very effective way of discussing Columbus day and its pros+cons. The way you connected the movie UP to Christopher Columbus gives an idea as to what happened in history. I think by doing this you were able to discuss both sides of the Columbus argument effectively and leave it off with a good question to think about.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, "Columbus day should be about exploration, and not Columbus himself," I completely agree, yet there are many complications that this one reason will not convince others. People nowadays have many differences with the past, not saying they did not back then, but are much more confident to voice it out now. As people voice out their reasons, exploring their idea, why do you think there are many outlooks as to what Columbus day should actually be, if not another?
ReplyDeleteConnecting Columbus Day with the movie Up made your writing much more relatable for the readers. Also, I like how you tie back to the movie reference at the end and relate your purpose to a much bigger idea.
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