Documentary

Title: Dunkirk
Director: Christopher Nolan
Synapsis:
There are three settings in the movie. The film starts at “the mole,” which is at Dunkirk beach and is a story of one week.
The mole itself is a makeshift pier and the last hope of any British soldiers to get off the beach as they were trapped in France with
Germans surrounding them from all sides. The British fleet and air force are nowhere to be seen as they are being saved for a defense
against a potential invasion of Britain. It is revealed that 400,000 men sat on the beach of Dunkirk, sitting and getting picked off by
German bombers one attack after the other. The film then cuts to “the sea,” which is talking about the story of a civilian sailor, his
son, and his son’s friend taking off from the docks of Britain in hopes of saving as many of their countrymen as possible. The last
setting is “the air,” which describes the story of a 3-plane-squadron of British fighters, with two fighters being shot down by enemy
fighters and only 1 of the downed pilots surviving. The last flying pilot carries on with his mission to alleviate aerial stress at
Dunkirk, even though he will not have enough fuel to get back to England. Throughout the event, German bombers attacked
mercilessly and often targetted medical, oil, and other non-hostile ships. The first soldier that the father comes across is an unnamed
soldier, who is visibly shell-shocked and accidentally hurts and kills the son’s friend. One ship after another being sunk near the
mole, the admiral is aching for his fellow countrymen until he sees countless civilian vessels on the horizon coming to the British
soldiers’ aid. However, soldiers betrayed each other while surviving because all wanted to live. The three settings tie in together at
the final scene of the film. The pilot is out of fuel, gliding above the beach, and lost the ability to turn. One last German bomber
comes into view and is about to bomb the destroyer loading in British soldiers. The father knew he had to do something and directed
the boat’s sail to block the bomber’s path and force him into the sight of the gliding British fighter, who fires and saves the destroyer.
Soldiers all cheered the pilot, but the pilot had no choice but to glide into enemy territory, getting captured. Originally, Winston
Churchill wanted to save at least 30,000 soldiers, but 330,000 soldiers were saved due to the hundreds of civilian ships, and the
soldiers were welcomed back for surviving instead of shamed for losing. All events in the movie was inspired by first hand accounts.
Opinion:
This film truly captures the brutality of war and undos the romanticism of war that has come over the centuries. The film
German leaflets that were dropped on
never even revealed most of the surviving character’s names, showing the absence of “plot armor” in a real war. There isn’t a main British and French troops waiting on The Mole
Dunkirk to incite fear
character, just survivors. With the shell-shocked soldier, the film was also able to illustrate the effect war can have on soldiers which
promotes respecting and caring for veterans. The biggest picture that the film displays is to never give up. Even when the situation is
dire, the surviving character did not accept their fate and carried on the struggle, as said in Winston Churchill’s famous speech on
Dunkirk. Although my life is incomparable compared to what the soldiers and civilians had to endure during each and every battle
for World War 2, I see Dunkirk in my own life. Although sometimes I get beaten by my challenges, I never lose hope. And I know
that if I just survive and carry on the struggle, I will able to face future challenges. I also know that like the civilian ships in the film,
my family is always there for me, even when I do not expect them to be.
“Home”, said the admiral when he saw the countless civilian ships
 Podcast
Episode: The Censoring of Peng Shuai
Producer: The Daily(New York Times)

Synapsis:
A famous Chinese woman tennis player named Peng Shuai went missing after posting on Weibo(Chinese Twitter) about her
relationship with Zhang Gaoli. She compares herself to an egg hitting a rock in her post, but she is speaking out. Zhang Gaoli is a
high-ranking Chinese official, and Weibo deleted her social media post within minutes. However, western users saved the post, and the news
quickly spread. The sexual assault greatly affected her mental health. In the early 2000s, Peng established herself as a global player. In 2013,
she made it to the US Open semifinals. She became a superstar and an asset to modernizing China. In a way, she helped to bring tennis to
China. Immediately following her post, sightings of her in public disappeared. The Women’s Tennis Association(WTA) attempted to reach
out to her and the leader of WTA, Steve Simon, speaks out despite potential losses due to China’s significant role in views and sponsorships.
Steven Simon threatened China with cutting ties. China initially does not make a move. Many Tennis players like Serena Williams and
Naomi Osaka spoke out and stood with Peng Shuai on Twitter. China started to scramble because it might lose its host position for Winter
Olympics. China responded with an email that began with “This is Peng Shuai…” and terrified many people. China released other
seemingly scripted videos, so Thomas Bach (head of the International Olympic Committee) met with her over a video call, and he claims she
says she is fine. Still, no public investigation is made. Steven Simon is not satisfied and decides to take action against China’s nonreaction to
a severe problem. WTA is now suspended in China until the case is taken seriously because WTA was founded based on equality for women.
NBA once had a “slip up” when a Houston Rocket executive Tweeted a pro-Hong Kong statement and lost 300 million dollars. It seems that
WTA is taking such a firm stance because other opportunities arose when China couldn’t host games due to covid.
Review:
Having lived in China and being oppressed by its current government due to the one child policy, my heart goes out to Peng Shuai
and all parties that are brave enough to stand by her. She made it very clear in her original statement that she knew the risks but she could
not live with herself if she bottled it in. Sexual assault is the lowest of crimes and should be take extremely seriously. I think that the fact that
China is not even allowing a public investigation truly shows how much government officials can get away with in a totalitarian country. I
think the whole situation also showed how much China is willing to do to preserve face. Even though Peng was such an important person in
the development of sports in China and popularized tennis. China was willing to snap her away in the blink of an eye. I also think that the
world seriously needs to be harder on China and all other countries that refuse to take human rights seriously. Countries should not be
allowing sexual assaults go unanswered. However, this is evidently not the case because many companies are willing to do all things,
including ignoring disgusting government behavior if it meant more money for them. I respect the WTA greatly for not selling their dignity.