Respond to these two peer movie reviews  1. Marley and Me is the…

briannaheidemanRespond to these two peer movie reviews  1. Marley and Me is the…Respond to these two peer movie reviews 1. Marley and Me is the movie I chose. The film is about a young, married couple getting their first dog together, creating their first family dynamic. Marley is a yellow labrador retriever, and he is a very rambunctious to say the least. As marley ages and the family grows with children, he begins to calm down. As the movie progresses, the owners seem to appreciate Marley and all he has to offer more and more. Towards the end, as an older dog, Marley had a health complication that was fixed the first time, but was unsolvable the second time. The owner was given the choice to keep Marley alive for a short, painful time or to euthanize him and set him free of the pain. The owner decided to euthanize him so he would pain free. Many aspects of death were portrayed in this movie. Marley’s entire life expectancy was presented to the audience, the good, the bad, and the ugly. His family’s denial, greif, and acceptance of Marley’s death was also shown in this film. Finally, Marley’s celebration of life was shown, which was a nice reminder how death is normal, and the death itself should not be the focus, the person/animal who died should be.The death in this movie was similar to the text provided, the denial stage with still trying to hold on to what little hope there was left, the grief stage where the memories flow in and the tears flow out, and the acceptance of him being in a better place and still being with them in their hearts. I’m not sure if this could be used as an educational tool, because it does not show an abundance of the stages of how the family members react, but I think it is a good learning tool for anyone (pet owners especially) to watch and mentally prepare for what is bound to happen. 2. Movie: Bridge to Terabithia Bridge to Terabithia focuses on the friendship made by Jess Aarons and Leslie Burke. Jess lives in an isolated home as his parents have many children and financial issues. He struggles in school because of his image. He loves to draw and is quite the artist, but he gets made fun of frequently. Leslie moves next door to Jess and after a little time they become best friends. They build a fantasyland in the woods which they like to call Terabithia. As they battle monsters in the woods they also handle issues in school. They take on school bullies, make new friends, and talk about real issues they are facing. They spend most of their time using their vivid imaginations until Leslie suddenly passes away. Jess is heartbroken after hearing what happened to his friend. The audience is now walking through his grief with him. The movie then shows how he goes through all the stages of grief: denial, rage, fear, and sadness. It is clear that at first, Jess struggles with moving forward without Leslie. He struggles in school, gets into fights, and fights with his siblings. I found this important to visually witness because children can experience grief much differently than adults. Often times, death is considered to be an inappropriate conversation for children. Bridge to Terabithia disagrees and gives a different perspective to death for children. Death is inevitable and it is important to children to become somewhat comfortable with the issue of death. Children can relate to the characters in this movie and they are able to experience the process of death with them. After watching the Bridge to Terabithia, I am reminded of the touching movie I once saw many years ago. I have not seen this movie since I was a child because I remember being so emotional the first time. Watching it as an adult reminded me of sadness but I also saw a great lesson for children. Death in this movie is used to show children the emotions that can come alongside death. The movie establishes relatable characters to bond with the audience, which gives a genuine reaction to the tragedy that occurs. In a textbook, it is hard to feel what emotions flow through a person when death occurs. This movie makes the audience feel the emotions of Jess and the community, after Leslie passes. The movie displays what it could look like, feel like, and how it could affect a person’s life. A lesson is more likely to be learned when you can visually see it rather than reading about it. Leslie and Jess both encouraged each other to use their imagination and step out of their comfort zones. They helped each other become better people. Although Leslie passed, Jess continues to honor her by keeping his imagination alive. Leslie brought out the best in Jess and as she passed, he struggled with keeping that alive. Jess and Leslie were each others true best friends and quite possibly their only friend. It is shown many times that the two were being bullied and could be considered outcast of their school. They dressed differently and thought differently than their school mates. This is what made their bond so strong, they had each other for the good and the bad times. The death of Leslie does not stop Jess from continuing to make connections, in fact he continues to live his life for her. She wouldn’t have wanted him to close off his imagination or emotions because of her death, she would have wanted him to live as though she was there. Social SciencePsychology