Matt Raimondo, Blog #2

Though we are all still young, we have each been asked questions about our origins since our earliest social interactions.  When people ask “where are you from?”, your answer provides the questioner with many small facets of who you really are.  Your answer can show an allegiance to a particular state, country or city while also allowing you to indicate where you would like to be associated.  For example, one who says, “I was born in ____, but raised in ____” may show a personal preference to be associated with a different geographical location than the area where the individual was born.  However, this can only really be applied when looking at this question from a geographical context.  One must look a little deeper in order to answer the question “where are you from?” without solely using a geographic association. 

I think that it helps to reshape the question “Where are you from?” to “What makes you, you?”.  This allows us to ignore geographic constraints when answering this question, and allows for a more thorough and insightful response.  When I answer this reshaped question in this new context, I don’t really think much about the location of my origins as opposed to my mental and spiritual composition.  I think of traditional family values, hard-working parents and strong ties to faith.  I see my own personal adversities while also understanding how these adversities became my triumphs.  I believe that this approach alone has allowed me to paint a significantly better picture of myself both to me and others; I no longer feel explicitly tied to one region.  Last week’s in-class exercise did achieve that feeling in my opinion.  Yes, we did divide up according to regional or ancestral origins, but when asked personally about our roots, each of us had a unique story to tell; after that discussion, I realized that it wasn’t about the region itself, it was about the people in those regions that made them special. 

We have just started the film Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, yet I can already see that the documentary isn’t just about the city of LA.  Of course, the riots occurred in the city, but the story lies with the people that lived in LA during the time of the riots.  I think that Smith is trying to show us this by portraying each character in his/her own unique personality.  I could be completely wrong, but I am excited to see where the film plays out, and what insights we can learn from such a historical event.