Instructions Not Included

Introduction

This week in class we finished off talking about diversity and inclusion by watching the movie Instructions Not Included. Let me start by saying that it was an amazing movie, and the majority of our class reported some tears at the ending. 

Instructions Not Included

Overall, the film definitely exceeded my expectations. Even from the beginning you get the impression that it's not going to be that good of a movie. Ironically, it turned out to be one of the best movies I've seen in a while. I planned on watching the movie alone, but I ended up watching it twice. Once with my boyfriend, Austin, and another time with my friend Wes. Because I didn't finish the full movie before class on Monday, I had my roommate spoil the ending for me. But, I didn't tell either of them how it ended. Austin almost cried watching the ending, and Wes cried at the court case and at the ending. I definitely would've bawled my eyes out if I hadn't known the ending. The movie had a very sweet message. It showed the audience that just because something is unexpected and you don't want it at the time, it can end up being one of your biggest blessings and change your life for the better. The only part of the movie that left me with some questions was the whole court case. How did Valentin not get deported? He was said to be an illegal immigrant, but dealing with a huge legal case had no effect on that? I had a watched a couple movies in Spanish before this thanks to the Spanish classes I took in high school and the documentaries we've already watched in class. I'm so used to reading subtitles for movies and shows that I don't even realize I'm reading as I watch. I don't know how much was lost in translation of the movie. It still seemed pretty great to me, but nothing can ever really be exact when it comes to translating an entire language. 

Reflection

This week brought up some pretty personal topics for most of the class this week. The movie mainly directed us towards a discussion of custody and parenting. Luckily our conversations never get out of hand, but I think a lot of eyes were opened to how things work in terms of custody. For example the fact that the mother of a child is way more likely to get custody than the father, even if the father could provide a much better life and living conditions for the child. Most of the discussion was appalling, even for me, and my parents have been divorced most of my life. It was very interesting to hear different perspectives on custody from my classmates, especially Emma, who always brings some big stories from her Law Majoring background.