Personal Reflection #5 (Rouyard A.)

I was quite excited to watch F.A.L.T.U. because I like Bollywood movie. But this one was a little different from the one that I know, I am used to the traditional Indian movie with the traditional dance. 

The first song at the beginning set the tone of the movie. It is a comedy. The movie try to be a comedy but at the same time with a serious meaning. Unfortunately  this attempt is not very successful. The little sounds they keep playing during the entire movie to create a funny mood do not help to take it seriously. The movie takes a long time to arrive at the point that they want to demonstrate: “Children are never useless.It's just that they are use less“. However The music and the songs are really good, I really appreciate them, especially the one during the contest. I think it is my favourite part of the movie.

The very good point about the movie is the way the Indian education system is see. They emphasize the contradiction and the absurdity of the system. Why they let student leave school with very low grade when they perfectly know that they won't be accepted. The movie also shows the anxiety of young Indians when they fail and also the pressure the society and their parents put on them. India is facing a real problem with the increasing number of suicide among students.  Maybe they must change the system, university should not be the only choice. All students are not meant for university. t learn what they really want to do. However India is not the only country facing this issue. All over the world countries should maybe reconsider their education system. 

                                                                                                                                       Rouyard A.

Comments from friends

I watched this movie with two of my friends and I decided to ask them what they have think about it. If both of them find it really difficult to take it seriously, both have also like the idea that 'Children are never useless. It's just that they are use less'. I should say that I have been surprised by their remaks. They went beyond the movie and their impression of the movie and directly talk more about the message of the movie. Below it is their comments. 

Lourdes : 2 out of 5

The music and the dance were good. But the way they make a school from nothing is really unrealistic. The story makes no sense at all. But I like the idea that student must not be rejected because of their grades. Why the system lets student be graduate with a low grade if there is no chance that they get in a university. I  agree with the concept that none is totally useless, because people may have talents that you can’t grade. If they make effort in what they like they could still enjoy life and be very useful for the society..

Kendra: 3 out of 5

It was a good show if you not think about the concept. But when you that to look at the logistics it is not possible or it’s hard to believe or follow the show. You can’t take it as a serious movie. The overall concept where everyone is unique and should have a place despite what the educational system considers what people should have or follow is a good believe to follow. There are things that you can’t graded on in school. Going to university I have learned that you should follow your passion because if you are not happy with what you are doing in school than how do you expect to be happy outside the school.

                                                                                                                                             

Rouyard A.

Personal Reflection #2 (Sartrapai S.)

I think this movie is good for passing time although I wouldn’t select it from the shelf if I have a choice. Comparing to Accepted (2006), this movie has more logic than its counter version. Also F.A.L.T.U has more elaborate detail than the American version. My favorite scenes so far are when Ritesh heard his father talking about useless good. I think this is a perfect metaphor for the theme. The second one is when his father accepted Ritesh choice. It is logical and touching.  However, I still prefer Accepted than this version. The movie has too many songs that I’d call it a musical. And I just feel that sometimes it is not necessary. It is distracting and annoying to some extent. I’d say the idea and logic are great, but production and the little details degrade them. 

       

 Sartrapai S.

Personal Reflection #3 (Surathumrong S.)

I think this movie has reflected several points concerning on society and its perception on education. In many scenes show the reasons why higher education is needed and that everyone should go to the university. One of the examples is from (1:15:00) to (1:16:50) where the students were burning books, which made Google and Baaji Rao to be very frustrated about. 

the future is also gone when one choose to abandon knowledge and education

As he scolding the kids, he said that it were not books that actually burned but rather the kids' future. Google later mentioned that he too one abandoned education, and therefore he has to struggle all of his life. I think in this sense the books symbolized the higher education as a whole, and by going to university can grant one a lot of privilege and opportunity in the society. 

The other example is from 00:27:50 to 00:29:32 when the main characters got look down by Vishnu's father as they were unable to go to the university. Not only their parents were ashamed of them but also threatened them with a kind of future they didn't want. 

The parents are ashamed because their children cannot enter university

From this proves that by entering the university can take one to the higher status in the society (one will be accepted and looked upon by others), and those who cannot enter will  stay at the lower level forever, even though he becomes successful later on in the future. By this I believe university is one of the social values that play a greater role in assuring one's position within a society; it does not really matter if one is smart or the other, as long as he can enter into the university. I believe this trend has overlooked the matter of intelligence, and university is more like a token for one to get in order to get into the higher level of social statuses. 

The issues mentioned in this film are partly related to my personal experience; it reminded me the importance of education, and the planning for the future after graduation. Back to the time when I was freshly graduated from high school in 2008, entrance examination was the greatest concern of my life and I had put all of my willpower and effort into doing my best for the examination. By that time everyone surrounded me keep on encouraging me to study hard in order to get into the top universities with no other options.It is not only for the sake of my future, but also for the reputation of my parents, my relative, my school, my friends and my teacher as well. Those who failed the exam will have to live though another one year of studying hard and even greater pressure from the world surrounded them. The most important thing at that time is, in fact, just like in the film at 00:24:00 - to get into the university, not to get any degree. It was a hard time that I'm glad I was getting through safely. 

the most important thing is to be accepted, not the degree or anything

The film also makes me think of the necessities of school, knowledge, and educating institutions and whether we depend our lives on it too much. nevertheless, the film majorly relies on an idealistic idea of going to the university to study just about anything we want to learn, although in reality there are factors to be concerned such as future career path, wages, welfare and so on. I believe there should be more curriculum available for us students to choose, and just like in the film, we should be able to liberally choose to pursue on the educational path that we really want. 

In terms of overall impression, I will give this movie 3 out of 5. The film is overwhelmed with   typical Bollywoood style; there are a lot of dancing, singing, awkward lines and facial expressions, and also the irrationality of the film. However, I also sense that this film has been Americanized by Western ideas getting from the American version of this movie "Accepted" (2006). This is partly because the idea of this movie is based on liberalism, which has been fully portrayed in Accepted. But on the contrary, the idea of giving education based on one's preferences is still lacked in Asian countries due to culture and value. Moreover, I think this film is as if the director has put several music videos altogether; the camera has moved too often into almost every degrees possible; and the lighting and sound was still a little bit amateurish compare to other movies in the same genre. 

Surathumrong S.

Personal reflection #4 (Charoenrach S.)

I think the idea of students starting their own college is really interesting and cool sometimes at college I feel like a lot what I'm learning will be useless and kind of pointless but if I could decide what I want to learn and plan out my own classes like they did in the movie I might get a lot less random classes that I have to take. I also feel like the pressure to receive good grades and always be number 1 is too much on student not everybody can be number 1 and they're has to be a place for the middle people to be able to go. It was an interesting movie but I don't think i will work so well in real life.

CHAROENRACH. S

Members' Personal Reflection #1 (Athiprayoon W.)

As for me, I personally like the whole idea behind the movie. What struck me most while watching are the quotes from two scenes.The first one from the principal saying that 'children is never useless, they are just used less.' and the second one is the conversation between the dad and his worker in the junk shop. Both seem to have the same core idea, Faltu means useless, but the children will never be used less if we know their worth and fix it or made it to be ready to use. Here is the point where I found what the father has said very inspiring. Besides, I absolutely support the idea of building the school for alternative education that encourage the students to pursue their dream and learn what they are interested in. Studying only for exam can be useless in the future if we don't even know what we really are capable of doing. As a result, our potential is also used less because of the different purpose of education---one for exam and one for life. 

It's Faltu (Useless)!

Yes! What's useless for others...I know the true worth of those things

But we made it fit to use.. 

Technically speaking, this is the first Bollywood movie I have ever watched. The movie is a enjoyable adaptation version of the Hollywood movies that is instructive in some degree with the representation of some the Indian sociocultural context in the scene of the students are being punished is where the subject of parents and gratitude are being brought up. This is the lesson that we can find only in Asian movie. Despite the fact that music is the significant characteristic of Bollywood movies, it doesn't mean that it have to turn all music scenes into music video by using too many camera movement. And that is the part where I don't like about the film. Moreover, the selection of the music in movie are also closely related to what the movie are trying to say. In other words, music is a tool for story-telling which can be observed in the following video.  

                          

My favorite scene is from the scene where FALTU students decided to go for the competition. At this scene, I found myself learning a lot from the 4 minutes show by FALTU. It shows the message about problems in education system such as focusing on grade rather than true potential of the child and the selective process of higher education based on percentage. All of which can  cause the high amount of pressure on children that can be harmful to their future. This scene has presented the the idea of education that FALTU seems to promote which is the opportunity to find yourself and to know your potential so a to break free from the system. Education system create a world apart which made the concept of no child left behind became just an ideal that far reach, because of the process of selection by score that legitimate the admission opportunity. At this point, opportunity is what is lack. Therefore, what we need now is power and support from communities and government to fulfill what is lack. 

Education is suppose to be for all---for all who willing to learn.

Athiprayoon W.

 Credits: - Photos from Movie F.A.L.T.U
               - Video from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLSMxghIPFs