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Showing posts from February, 2021

Writing Is Remembering

 by Tome Loulin For many times around, I did know what to remember not because of the forgetfulness but of the heaviness of the things gone too soon to be properly preserved or remembered. Writing is, of course, not all about remembering things worth remembering but imagining also, maybe, because for most of us, there are many different ways of interpretating an event. Human beings are capable of telling a thing or a story from different angles, increasing the fragility of our already-too-fragile belief of the existing of truth. Writers, who are said to be the truth seekers and a moral vocation, rarely write for their own interests but for the irresistible urge to tell something ineffably important, something absolutely meaningful.   To this point, nothing stops writers from picking up their pens or typing for that 'something' will never be told clearly not because the languages we speak or spoke failed short on this regard but that telling something as a vocation is alwa

Radical Authenticity: Some Reflections on Abdellatif Kechiche and His Films by Tome Loulin

By Tome Loulin The purpose of creating a involved plot is, perhaps, to make people who see the film think deeply, about the complicated themes that often require more serious efforts to be made in order to demonstrate the true depth of a theme. Most of the films of Kechiche involve critical inquiries of cross class experience. In Blue Is the Warmest Color, the emotional span of the whole film is broad, giving audience a different sense of reality. From the first encounter between the two protagonists, to emotional sublimation and cumulation of their relationship and from the later parting of ways to their estrangement and entire separation, the film makes the viewer feel touched and engaged with a sense of being involved in this alternative world deeply.   The whole film focuses on the irreconcilableness between two different social classes—working and middle classes. After watching the film, most of the audience could realize the theme that the ordeal between class struggle and love i

Regarding Learning Remotely

By Tome Loulin The pandemic has pushed universities and k-12 schools in the U.S. and other countries to start remote learning since there was no other better option available for both educators and students to continue gathering for learning purposes. But can remote learning replace in-person courses? Some doubts remain. There are some exploration and discoveries in my own remote-learning practicing. In the US, schools had started to send iPads and laptops to students who lacked those devices for remote learning by directly mailing. According to a report appeared on the New York Times, most Latino and African American families are struggling to follow online courses due to this unprecedented COIVD job crisis making most of those families in a difficult situation. Issues ranging from students' inability to concentrate on screen to food crisis had prevented some disadvantaged students from following up their learning goals. I have been teaching in Rise English for about a year and ha

Some Reflections on Abdellatif Kechiche and His Films

一些回顾——关于Abdellatif Kechiche 文:楼林 (By Tome Loulin) 引人思考的情节设计,目的是使人深思,而深刻的主题,往往需要更严肃的构思,才能展现主题的深刻性。柯西胥的电影取材大多涉及社会阶级这一严肃的主题,在《蓝色是最温暖的颜色》中,整部影片的感情线跨度完整,给观众以别样的真实感。从两位主人公之间的相遇,到感情升华,热恋,再到之后的间隙与隔阂,直到分离,都使观者感同深受。 整个电影围绕不同社会阶级之间的不可调和性来进行阐释,观影后,观众大多能够去接受这样的一个主题——阶级与爱情的磨难是永恒的。这部电影也因为对于性少数群体的感情刻画,使人深思关于性平议题,以及跨阶级之间感情维系的困难性。 电影导演柯西胥说道:社会阶层一直都是他的电影习惯表达的主题。"阿黛尔(电影主角之一)就是属于工人阶层的。而艾玛(电影主角之二)则属于精英人群,她才华横溢。我的两个女主角都有各自的归属。她们相处过程中所遇到的困难就是社会阶层的差异,由于认知不同逐渐显现最终导致分手、决裂。相比阶层的差异难以相互理解,同性的恋情或多或少是普世可以认同并理解的。" 电影的主调是较写实的现实主义叙事,整个框架中带着些温暖也带些伤感,这段感情的结局处,独自行走的小巷里,让观者的感受达到了高潮——深思过去的温存与现今的孤单,像一个粗糙但悲剧性的对照。可能因为人多少能体会到这种爱情的情愫——将要来临而又离去的复杂感受。像孤独的自语,也是悲伤夹杂快乐的独特滋味。 电影台词比较深刻的有:"你可以说,在和你一起这时间里,我是快乐的,也是困惑的,可能悲伤多过快乐,但如果上帝能让我重新选择一次,我想我还是会继续原来的选择,因为……如果没有痛苦,那就没有了回忆。" "如果没有痛苦呢?""那么一切都会被遗忘。" 或许幸福也是这样,淡然。