A Semester in Review

Wow... we're done.

That feels so weird to say.

Thinking back on this semester, I have to say this is one of the most enriching classes I've taken in college so far. I've been thinking critically about film since middle school; I wasn't good at it until much later but I digress. This class has opened my eyes to so many possibilities on what I can think of about the films that I see. I am noticing so many new things about the films that I watch that I would've never noticed before.

The most outwardly obvious example I can think of is Laura Mulvey's concept of the male gaze, which to my untrained eye was perfectly innocuous. Now that I understand what it is and how ubiquitous it is, I can't help but notice it everywhere. I'm now thinking of the future of theory and how someone like me can be involved in it or at least follow it to see where it goes.

This feeling of finality is always so strange to go through every semester but with this class, it feels different. I think it had to do with the size of the class. Even with NCC being a relatively small school, this class is much smaller than any other traditional class that I've been a part of. This seems to have grown a sense of community in the class, and that only made the experience feel more personal and enlightening. 

Fairly late into the class, we experienced a sense of togetherness watching Swiss Army Man that we eventually all looked into, and that sense of togetherness was not lost on any of us, I imagine, but especially not me. It's made me realize further than I previously had what a beautiful and unique art form film is, and it's made me even more fascinated by what is to come in my future as a filmmaker, film analyst, and film enjoyer.

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