"As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able to remake ourselves." Mahatma Gandhi
Good
I stayed with my friend’s family in their beautiful house. My bed was incredibly comfortable, and I ate way too many of the white chocolate macadamia cookies my friend’s mom bought for my stay. So delicious! We went to the Fox Theater, where Gone with the Wind premiered, the Aquarium, and Coca-Cola world. I befriended a street performer who lectured me for an hour about the meaning of life. He was a professional drummer who chose to play out in the streets, where he said he learned lots of invaluable life lessons. Bringing “beats to the street” was his way of paying it forward.
Bad
I wanted to ride the public transportation, Marta, but never got the chance. Everyone told me, don’t ride Marta; it’s slow, inefficient, and caters to lower class African Americans. So of course this made me curious. As a red head, I am probably as white as humans can get, so I wonder how people would have reacted to me on the bus/subway. The separation among races in Atlanta was wild: Asians in Lenox mall, blacks on Marta lightrail, and whites in Buckhead. I wish there was a way to speed up the integration process, because I love interacting with people who are nothing like me. Hopefully this project encourages other people to do so.
Crazy
Who doesn’t want to explore crack houses in Atlanta? I stayed in a wealthy, well-groomed suburb of Atlanta, but my documentary is not about what’s easy and obvious for me to film. It’s about all aspects of America. I Google searched “places too dangerous to walk” and read a couple of entries. There seemed to be an intersection and a park that people said not to even drive down. I explored the neighboring areas and it was completely run-down. Deserted crack houses with overgrown lawns littered the pot-holed streets. I started to get a little on edge when I saw three separate forensic units investigating who knows what. I decided to leave the area, but my GPS decided to take me on the scenic route through a huge graveyard. I was in a funk for about an hour afterwards. It makes me so sad that some American people live like that…
Lame
The dogs in the house would not stop licking my toes. I’m not sure what that was about. Other than that, they were very cute.
Quote
The drastically separated neighborhoods in Atlanta made me wish America lived up to its name: the melting pot. As a country of immigrants, America struggles to find a uniform identity, unlike many European countries with traditions, language, food, dance, music, etc. specific to their country. Granted, it takes time to form an identity. America is young, and in the very beginning process in my opinion. People complain all the time about health care reform, the economy, and environmental issues, but if we really cared we wouldn’t be complaining. We would make mindful decisions to change our lifestyles based on these larger constructs that (unfortunately) do control parts of our lives. There is not only one superman/superwoman in the world. Everyone can be powerful in their own unique way.
Explore Atlanta now
Fox Theater
Varsity Fast Food
Dangerous areas
Aquarium
Coca-Cola World
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