There were two themes in our discussion tonight: support for our dreams (Questions 6, 7, 8 and 10) and racism (Question 1). We decided that there are at least three types of support that we can receive, all of which helps us achieve our dreams. There's the physical support that helps us accomplish the necessary tasks we need to do. There's the emotional support that comes when somebody tells us that what we did made a difference for them, thus giving meaning to our efforts. And then there's the support of someone who believes in US, who genuinely feels that we are capable of reaching our goals. All three kinds of support help, and it's hard to go against the wishes of our family or friends (Question 2) if we don't have some substantive support coming from somewhere.
We also talked about bigotry and racism, and how several of us grew up in a very bigoted nation/family/society. Our society at large seems in general to be less bigoted now, especially considering that there is a black man running for president. However, if we take the time to look, we sometimes still notice some racially-charged assumptions lurking beneath the surface of our consciousness. In addition, we have noticed an increase in bigotry in the last five to seven years towards Middle-Eastern people, not only in the culture in general, but also those emotions sometimes sneaking up in our own thoughts and feelings. So even though we've made some gains, personally and culturally, there are also some ways in which we've not done as well as we'd like.
(This video was reviewed by Bob McGarey)
Feel free to come and share your own personal insights sometime; the Saturday Night Video and Discussions here in Austin, Texas are a lot of fun and fascinating. (They're free, too.) Here are the questions the group came up with, based on the personal growth themes in the movie: