Final Reflection

Movie Panel Discussion

After viewing the movie panel discussion with Dean Smith, Stefan Hall, and Barry Thornbug, I started wondering about my own movie-going experience. One of the first questions they asked was what was your earliest movie memory? I thought about that and concluded that my first movie memory was going to see Ratatouille in the theatre with my mother. I had originally gone to the theatre with more of my family that day but my father and sister had wanted to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix while my younger self was more interested in Ratatouille. 

Ratatouille

Ratatouille has two main characters who are both coming into leadership roles throughout the movie: Remy and Linguini. Remy is a rat who has always been interested in the culinary arts which caused him to be looked at differently by other rats who just enjoy eating whatever they can find. Linguini, on the other hand, is working as a garbage boy and doesn’t think too highly of himself. After these two characters meet, they discover that Remy can control Linguini’s limbs by pulling on different strands of his hair which allows them to cook for the restaurant. Remy is finally able to work in the culinary arts and Linguini can prove that he can hold a successful job. When these two are eventually found out to be secretly working together, that is when the plot forces them both to grow separately and truly rise as characters. Remy stands up to other rats and displays his love for cooking while Linguini finds the confidence in himself that he didn’t have before. By the end of the movie, both Remy and Linguini find their footing as Remy is now openly one of the head chefs at a restaurant while Linguini takes on a more managerial position. 

Final Thoughts

As we close out this class, I find that all the movies we watched were interesting but I found Office Space the most enjoyable. I think that movie stuck with me the most because I considered how I would feel in that scenario stuck in a cubicle office job with a boss who doesn’t care much for his employees. I realized I wouldn’t be much better than the characters in that movie and that I need a workspace that allows my creativity to flow and a boss that is passionate and has a level of care for their employees. For future semesters, I recommend the movie Social Network because it shows a relatively true story about the creation of facebook and the rise of Mark Zuckerberg as a leader.

The Best Man

 Elections

After watching the Best Man I realized how much even back in the 1960s there was disrespect between candidates for the election. I’ve heard accusations left and right for both candidates for the whole past year but this movie showed that even back then there were candidates trying to dig up anything they could find to get their opponent on the bad side of the people. I understand how important the election is because trillions of lives are affected by whoever becomes president but I do not think I personally believe in trying to use anything I could against my opponent, especially any violent actions. The fact that there have been multiple assassination attempts against the presidential candidates shows the state that we are currently in as a country when deciding for our future.

Politicians 

Politicians have been known to lie, cheat, and steal and I feel like if these people are supposed to be representing our country that they would be more respectful and do their job without needing to negatively affect those around them. These are the people who are supposed to be representing the voice of us as they are deciding on laws and making decisions so to use their own voice to lie, cheat, and steal, it's like using our voice to do those actions. Even if some of these actions are protected by our amendments, the politicians should hold themself to a higher standard than others and be better as people.

Leadership and Truth

There might not be any leaders who can fully go without telling a single lie but like politicians, leaders are supposed to represent their organization so they should hold themself to a higher standard. When a leader takes a negative action, it negatively impacts others so by telling a lie, it becomes hard to trust the entire organization. Subsequently, if a leader is truthful then an organization will seem trustworthy and more people will be inclined to both work for that organization or consume their products. For a longer lasting successful business, a leader should remain truthful, both to their employees and to their consumers.

Other People's Money

Offshoring

I had not seen Other People’s Money before this and I have mixed feelings about it. I can respect the topics that it covers like offshoring and the responsibilities of a leader, its workers and community but on the other hand, seeing Danny Devito go after a woman sexually for a good portion was funny at some points but mostly disturbing. Even though this movie was exaggerated in some of those aspects, it would not surprise me if there were any CEOs or higher officials in organizations who acted similar to his character. 

In another class, we were discussing an AI company that had recently set up locations in parts of Africa for cheaper labor which caused an issue because the company was working with the US government. Due to the partnership with the US government, this meant that they also had to set up locations in the same parts of Africa to protect confidential data. This company came under fire by not only competing companies who recognized their cheap labor but their consumers who did not want to support their actions.

Leader's Responsibility

A leader has a responsibility to both their workers and their community because both will promote their business if they support them. The more effort that a leader puts into their workers, the more likely they are to find workers who put effort into their job. A leader at the same time can not just ignore their fiduciary duty to the shareholders so they must find a way to meet a balance between all of these duties. The best way that a leader can do this is by respecting all parties and having meetings to organize their time to be split between everyone while completing their duties.   

Office Space

 "Quiet Quitting"

I had already seen the movie Office Space before watching it as a part of this class but it had been a couple years so I didn’t remember everything. I found that “quiet quitting” was both very prevalent in the movie but also in today's society. “Why should I have to put in more effort if I’m not going to get anymore more out of it”. With bosses that couldn’t care less about you, a job that doesn’t pay great, and a hard time paying off any kind of rent or bills, it can be hard to care about what you’re doing at work. 

 Gen Z in the Workforce

As someone who is part of Gen Z, I have heard my fair share about what my generation acts like as part of the workforce. I’ve been told that we’re lazy, we don’t care about our work, we take shortcuts, and that we basically should not be taken seriously. It saddens me to know that this is where my generation is being placed because this bias will fall onto me whenever I go out into the workforce. In the couple of jobs I have worked outside of university, I have not personally experienced these biases but most of these have been part-time small jobs while I am on break.I fully expect when I leave university and try to find a full time job that I will have to fight against these biases and prove why we do have a driving work force.  

After reading upon what Gen Z wants from a job, I can agree with the list that is also what I am looking for in a job. I am someone who needs to be challenged or at least feel like I am developing my skills and that I am contributing. I am going into a creative field that currently has had issues with job security in the past couple years so I am worried about entering the workforce. 

Wag The Dog

 Funny, and Yet Not Funny

I did not expect to enjoy Wag the Dog when I first started watching it but it became more enjoyable but also worrying as it went on. After reading the review: Funny, and Yet Not Funny, it seems they came to a similar conclusion. The movie does a good job of making fun of what happens in reality with presidential sex scandals and songs made just for propaganda but it also serves as a cautionary tale for what our leaders can do when left unchecked.

Could Our Leaders Really Do That?

I believe that we have seen leaders go far in trying to win votes and hold onto power but I do not know if any leaders could currently go as far as this movie. We have specialized technology now that is able to recognize what is fake and what is not as well as access to communication between countries all over the world using the internet. Faking a war doesn’t seem possible in this current era but that might be my own misguided thoughts or optimistic thoughts to hope that isn’t still possible.

What About Our Leaders Morals?

If we feel like leadership has crossed ethical and moral lines, we have a right to stand up against it. By standing up against it, I don’t mean that we should literally go and attack these leaders but we can call them out. We have the freedom in this country to speak our minds and as long as that speech stays non threatening and diplomatic then it can be used to speak out against leaders who have crossed ethical and moral lines.I worry that I currently do not know what exactly is happening between our country and Ukraine. I am not someone who keeps up with the news as much as I should but I have heard and seen some of the current information. What worries me most is what was shown in this movie, which is that we don’t know if what we’re seeing and reading is the truth. I would like to hope that the news that I do read speaks the truth but with so much bias towards everyone other than ourselves, it is hard to tell.

Devil Wears Prada

Female Leader Bias

After watching Devil Wears Prada, I can understand where Andrea is coming from when she states that Miranda would be given praise as a leader if she were a man. There is a definite bias from society where female leaders have not been seen as strong as male leaders and when they are strong leaders, they are seen as heartless. Take a recent example with Hillary Clinton and now Kamala Harris running for president, whether or not you supported either of them, they received hate for just being a woman. Many people have stated that being the president is a role better suited for a man because a woman might be too emotional or weak, etc.

Demanding vs Overbearing

When looking at the events of this movie, there is definitely a distinction that can be made between demanding and overbearing, especially for how Miranda acted. Demanding would be closer to ordering someone to do something while overbearing would be going out of your way to force someone to do something that is unpleasant. I believe Miranda Priestly could be seen as both an inspiring leader and a cruel tyrant depending on the perspective of who is looking at her. Throughout the movie she asks unbelievable tasks of her employees, especially our main character, and could definitely be seen as overbearing. While there is also a human element to her character and she seems to run the business in a way that keeps it at the top, it can’t be forgotten how she treated her employees.

Leader and Follower Dynamic

This movie showed Andy’s growth as a follower throughout the movie, originally starting as someone who thought she didn’t need to make as much of an effort to becoming the trusted assistant who went on the business trip with the CEO. Nigel and Emily both fulfill similar roles as being big followers of the leader since before the movie started and providing support to Andy as she continued her own growth as a follower. Miranda had a big personality that was very demanding and not very supporting so her followers needed to fulfill orders without expecting much reward for their efforts. Followers were scared to lash out against her and when Andy attempted to, it wasn’t met with much of a response.