This black and white photo shows a woman standing on a bench facing a body of water. The surveyors are only able to see the woman through a set of bars, separating the woman from the perspective of the photo. Black and white, to the eye, seems like an absence of color which was intentional at this part of the documentary. While this photo is flashed across the screen, the woman narrates that all of her childhood memories of playing with her siblings, playing soccer, and playing violin have been replaced with flashbacks, anger, and therapy. With this woman being robbed of her childhood by her victimization, the absence of color and light/life represent the loss of that innocence and liveliness that usually comes with being a child. The bars can stand to represent many aspects in the life of a survivor. The barriers that many survivors put up in order to protect themselves from future hurt or danger can be looked seen in these bars. The physical, emotional, and mental imprisonment...
Tony Morrison is a complex character in terms of casting, acting, costume, morality, and motivation. The first thing I noticed is that they had an Italian actor playing a Cuban character. While I think Al Pacino is a phenomenal actor, I think this casting choice really could have an impact on the representation, perception, and consumption of Latin America and Latin Americans. I did notice some inconsistencies with his accent, as someone who has studied Spanish linguistics, specifically in the Cuban dialect, which gave away his true identity. In terms of costuming, I found the Hawaiian shirt to be an interesting motif. Tony shows up to the United States in a Hawaiian shirt and that costuming changes to a suit as he grows in power and becomes more established in the United States. We see the Hawaiian shirt again after Tony kills Frank and hires Ernie, one of Frank's old employees. Ernie wears the Hawaiian shirt in the montage as his first outfit working for Tony, that shirt is then ...