Dr. Barbara Myerhoff Summary

In studying the Jewish elderly members of the Center, Myerhoff attempted to understand the people there as an isolated society with a distinct culture. Through participant observation, as well as carefully recorded interviews and conversations, Myerhoff aimed to document this culture and understand it as a basis for unity among the Center members. Her immersion in this culture along with her anthropological perspective made her successful in representing the people of the Center. In her book, Number the Days, Myerhoff provides readers with an ethnographic analysis of the existence of a culture. After reading the book, I feel that I have a comprehensive understanding of the Center people. Through her descriptions, based on

The Lowenstein family is only one example of the thousands of Jewish family’s affected during the Nazi Regime. But through their family’s story one is able to understand some of the conditions people were under during that time period. However, the family was no fully Jewish. Max Lowenstein was Jewish but Marie Steinberg was from Estonia, as a result their son Henry was half Jewish but their daughter who was from not born from Marie’s marriage with Max was not Jewish. Nevertheless, the family still received tremendous persecution. His father was a doctor and his mother an artist. But both were very artistic, as Henry Lowenstein mentions in the video. He remembers growing up in an apartment where there were always performers in their home; the place was decorated with art, his parents always went to the theater, and his mother would take him to different museums in Berlin. They were also a family who practiced both Christian and Jewish traditions. His sister, who wasn’t even Jewish knew more Hebrew than him and could recite the bible. They were a very happy and united family until the Nazi’s grew in power and they were forced to break

First, the forms of aging and life course structures depend on the nature of the society in which individuals participate. Second, while social interaction is seen as having the greatest formative influence in the early part of life, such interaction retains crucial importance throughout the life course. Third, that social forces exert regular influences on individuals of all ages at any given point in time” (Theories of Aging. (n.d.)). The movie portrays aging being more about living the rest of life rather than dyeing in them.

Throughout the film, the residents emphasize their relationship with their Jewish culture. For these people, being Jewish is not simply about religiosity – rather, their culture serves to find a community of similar people in their old age. The community center serves as a physical gathering space for the residents to experience shared Jewish rituals, stories, and performances. Although these people may not know each other intimately, they are brought together by their culture, music, and traditions. Additionally, a principal theme of the film regards the elderly people’s experience with aging.

I really enjoyed this documentary because it made me realize just how lucky I am for the life I was given. It changed my perception of happiness in so many ways. It made me realize that I have more than I need to live a happy life. Other people around the world don’t have as nice of a house or even a house at all to live in and are so much happier than I am and that is something that sparked my attention. For example, the man who lives in India, Manoj Singh, he lives in what looks like poverty to me, but to him, he lives well. There are times where his family are only able to eat rice and he has no air conditioning in his home, but he still remains a very happy man. When he mentioned that there are times where his family only eats rice, it instantly made me feel awful because I have all the food in the world around me and I still take it for granted some days. I also take my family for granted at times. For instance, the man from Louisiana, his family and friends are what make him happy the most. He is simply grateful for them while

The protagonist fears, she may be forced to socialise with the inmates ‘smelling of pee’. Additionally expressing her feelings and obsession concerning hygiene. Unearthing Doris‘s neglected period of life, the saddest era of her being. In which recollections of Doris’s past history are triggered by present day objects such as; the wedding photograph of Doris and Wilfred represented to be a strong symbol, of the implication, in which Doris’s endless campaign against dust, has cause the glass to crack. Representing the destructive nature of Doris’s cleaning mania, and the separation of herself and Wilfred. Doris initial reminisces of the past, begin with thoughts like many of the elderly, of the golden days through coloured spectacles, in which the protagonist ruefully looks back upon the era where ‘people were clean and the streets were clean and it was all clean.’ The present for Doris lacks what she values and sees as important, and does not at all appreciate what the present has to offer – that is, a home- help; Zulema, and the prospect of care in an old people’s home. Doris perceives these interferences within her strictly controlled life as an adversary to challenge – if possible – demolish the remaining control the protagonist withholds within her life.

I was truly devastated by the stories that both Henry and Henia Bryer presented. I am able to gain appreciation for the things that appear insignificant in my life. As I picture myself in the shoes of Henry and Henia, I gain a sense of hatred towards the Germans. The images of the pile of naked, bony, and dead bodies within both videos truly impacted me. As I observed these images, I saw a glimpse of the horrendous life that the Jews had while living in the concentration camps.

These teens have similar and different traits. Each of them lived together and became closer. They also had a different thing to study and learn about. The teens were good friends, Jews, lived in the Annex, and are all dead. Their differences were there genders, age, and parent’s favorite. These similarities and differences helps people understand more about the

1. The documentary that I choose was Lost Angels: Skid Row Is My Home. I choose this documentary not only because it is based right here in LA just a city away but also my interest in the mentally ill. The mentally ill take up 2/3rds of skid row. Skid row is not only home to low income residential community but also home to the homeless.

Although most of the material was that in the movie related to something we have learned previously in the course, it still offered new insight to certain aspects. One of the things I liked most about the documentary was as stated before was its ability to incorporate relatively everything we learned in the class. Such as having people from other documentaries, books and articles. Another thing I liked about the documentary was how despite reviewing a lot of material, it also gave real-life accounts of what was going on during that time. Overall the documentary sparked the interest in me to understanding more about how minorities, homosexuals, and hemophiliacs were treated before after and during the AIDS

The documentary Forks Over Knives is one of the most interesting yet informational films I have seen regarding health and society today and I was intrigued since the second I turned it on. It made it so much easier to understand and conceptualize because the film followed patients and documented their success stories; you were forced to believe in its truth. I found it to be inspirational and motivational.

This documentary has a voice which is the most important part of any movie, furthermore, it has it own way of living and breathing and speaking to

Just looking at this as objectively a I can, I think this was a very well done documentary. I enjoyed the frame story of the 740 Park Ave. address to tackle the standard rich-people-getting-their-fingers-in-government story with a little twist.

Overall I thought this was a really good movie. I thought it taught you a lot about diversity, women’s rights, poverty and peace. The movie was a very touching and inspiring movie; there is also a lot of emotion due to what they had to deal with on an everyday basis. To me the movie and their stories really teach you that you should be aware of your surroundings and to be helpful in your

What I really liked about this documentary is that some of the points brought up are things that most people never talk about. For example, it mentioned that the most prescribed medication in the world is Lipitor, which is a diabetes medication. However, since the introduction of Lipitor to the public, the incidence of diabetes has not decreased, in fact the amount of people who suffer from diabetes has actually increased. This just shows that the way we are trying to solve the problem is not working. It seemed so strange to me that we spend so much money on the development of medications, yet the most used form of treatment doesn’t really help those who need it. Treating the symptoms is not a cure it is only a short term fix for a long term problem. Not are the people being cured, they are now going to be spending the rest of their lives dependent on medication, and we are yet to understand the long term effects of long term medication use. This also raises the question, if the medication is not helping what can? The documentary proposed that a complete change in diet was the answer. The documentary used a study that was done with people who had diabetes their whole lives and switched them to a whole foods plant based diet, and their health improved drastically. It was mind blowing