Waste Land Documentary

In my Gifted and Talented class, we recently watched a movie called Waste Land. It is a documentary of these people who are "pickers" in a place not too far from the glorious city of Rio.

- I can honestly say that I have never seen another film like this one, and it was actually very interesting. It is so hard to believe that people all the way across the globe are in situations like the ones shown in the movie. It makes me appreciate my life just that much more. The thing about us is that we don't realize what we have and we always want more. However, instead of looking at those who have more than us, we should look at those who have so much less and be greatful.

-In the beginning of the film, I was somewhat confused. I did not understand why all of these people were wandering around and fishing things out of the garbage. Then when they explained how they pick out the recyclable materials, it all made sense. However, it was hard to take in that so many people did this for a living. My opinion did change throughout the movie because I realized how hard their lives were but how seriously they took their jobs as pickers.

-Vik Muniz clearly made a large contribution to the pickers of Jardim Gramacho. He had the idea of making these paintings where recyclable materials would be a large part of the picture. He helped these people realize that there is a world outside of the garbage that they live in. He completely changed their perspective on modern art. Vik Muniz asked one of the pickers what they thought of modern art before this project and he said that he thought it was crap but now he thinks it's amazing. Vik also helped these people realize that they are beautiful and that they should be proud of who they are and where they're from. Also, that they can become whatever they want if they try hard enough. His own story is very inspiring; he grew up poor and now he is so successful.

-This movie did make me think about how much garbage I produce in a day. However, I feel like there is no way I can reduce this amount! I recycle whenever something is recyclable. However, I could probably switch from water bottles to a reusable one. Also, I could switch from paper lunch bags to a reusable lunch bag.

-There are many areas of people in poverty that wouldn't mind getting Vik Muniz's help. There are several places right in the United States that could use help from Vik to realize that there is more to the world than the place that they live in and that they can accomplish whatever they want as long as they make an attempt to and try hard enough.