Mad About Movies - Summer 2014.1: 21

[DavidC]

CARS, INTO THE WILD and 21 are each versions of a "coming of age" drama: a story in which the protagonist gains life experience and makes the transition from child to adult in at least one essential way.

Thinking of the three movies with this in mind, identify one way in which the progonist in 21, Ben, "grows up."

What is one important life lesson that he learns?

Write two or three sentences describing a scene from each movie that shows his changes.

[Murad100]

( Murad Ahmed )

Hello,

He had learned that life is not easy and there are many risks, but don't give up anytime.

He was kind of shy and fearful,yet when Micky told him to go back because of his loss, he became brave and adventurous and he wanted to lead the team so he thought that he is intelligent enough to done everything without any help.

[Eugenia]

Hi!

In the beginning of the movie the main character - Ben is very smart student with no experience. He values his friends and mother, he studies hard, he has a job with tiny wages and he has just applied for Harvard Medical School. The problem is his life lack of adventures and unforgettable moments and he doesn't have enough money to pay for his education. And that's why Ben hadn't been able to resist the temptation to gain easy money. Though, from the very beginning, Ben just wanted to win $300,000, then he became obsessed with the casino, and after that he has been in troubles...

The scene which shows the changes is the scene when Ben decided to tell the truth about Las Vegas to his best friend. When Ben lost everything he had possessed before, he finally understood that the most important things in his life are his friends and love! This movie taught us such trivial, but still significant values.

[Hiroki83]

Hi folks! This is Hiroki.

In my opinion, All of heroes of these stories were perfect already at the beginnings. They had wealthy lives because of their great talents and abilities. Ben is also the same with them. He was triggered his great capability of his math skill by the life in Las Vegas. Like every heroes, he also became arrogant. He lost himself because of giddy life of gambling. This is the enemy of him. He needed take over himself. At the end, he could find the way to path to find the virtue of life that is what is need or not because of the sustainability of relationships with people who share his life.

See you on monday!

[Terry1991]

Hi everyone !

In my opinion the most important he learnt is how much he had already been rich at the begining of the movie. He was like frustrated first beacause he had the sensation to miss something cool in his life. Especially when he was in the bar with his friends because he says "we suck. He resists to the tentation but he finnaly tries to enroll with the team and test this new way of life, it's very exicting for him even though he is very clumsy in that new situation.
At the end he was about to loose every thing was important for him, he loose his money but it was not the worst, he thinks first at his friends, his core beliefs (when he lies to his mother) and his girlfriend. But he actually had or almost had these things before his adventure. For me it's the most important thing he learnt in the movie. We can may be make a parrallism with the huge amount of money he made : what it's show how much you're rich in life it's people you love and not the money.

We can also see this in Cars, when he decides to loose the race for his new core beliefs and the admiration of people he met during his trip because it was more important than the money he could had made with his new contract. The same for into the wild : he abandonned every materials things to live as he had always wanted to live. When he let his car and he burst his money are sepcially strong moments to show this point.

See you tomorrow