Blog 7

In the film Chocolat Vianna opens a chocolate shop in the countryside in France. The film shows how she guys from being a nobody to a valued citizen of the town. Chocolate has always been apart of her culture as we learn that she comes from a background of mayan descent. Vianna can be classified as a Shaman who's duty is to provide spiritual healing.We discover this because she shown using the chocolate for healing and medical purposes. Mayans used this as a spiritual practice. She connects with her heritage through the use of chocolate. Another way we discover that Vianna has Mayan descent is through her habits. She has a tendency to wander around like her ancestors used to. Vianna is able to diagnose her customers issues and then be able to prescribe them the correct cure for their issues. Vianna also helps people without prescribing chocolate as a treatment. She begins teaching Josephine and gives Josephine back her dignity.

Blog 6

In the film "Whats Cooking" the Avila's put the  stuffing put inside the turkey and the Nguyen's covered half the turkey with spice and sauce traditional to where they are from.  The Nguyen's have spring rolls that they hand roll, the William's have a non-traditions,  and the Avila's have hand made tortillas and tamales as their side dishes. Each family took the American holiday and made the feast their own tradition by putting their own twist to it.The film "What's Cooking?" shows a range of cultural  through out the movie. There is a Vietnamese, Hispanic, Jewish, and African-American family all in one neighborhood. The movie shows scenes how different cultures celebrate the American holiday Thanksgiving. Each family explores  how they fuse their cultural and ethnic identity in America. The beginning of the movie starts with a scene of a white family sitting around a dinner table with the main course on the table; a turkey. The scene then changes to a bus full of people from all different backgrounds, showing a difference between what is typically expected from the opening shot. Each family throughout the movie, even  though they come from different backgrounds, have a turkey that is supposed to sit at the center of the table.