Will Mansour

Two Short Essays

What work of art, music, science, mathematics, literature, or other media has surprised, unsettled, or inspired you, and in what way?

A fugitive, running from his oppressors, fighting to win back his love; Needless killing, deceitfulness, even racism. How can a movie use all these themes complementarily?

Django Unchained does. After my first time watching this movie, I could not stop seeing Django as the epitome of a tough, perseverant, righteous hero. Unable to grasp the scope of his transgressions, I viewed him as the ideal hero. However, removed from emotional bias, I realized how brutally Django acted. Killing a father in front of his son, tormenting slaves, watching quietly as men beat each other to death. Django seemed like a monster. How had my opinion of him changed so quickly? Opening my eyes to the complexity of his actions and the need to understand perspective, I began to understand that I was partially right in both senses. Django acted both righteously and wrongfully, often not striking a harmonious balance between his desire for love and the vengeful consequences of his actions.

This shift in perspective surprised me, as I began to understand the need for absolute comprehension of a situation before judgment. Often, someone’s actions can seem wrong, but they may be doing it for purposes outside of my knowledge. Through a fully enlightened understanding, I am able to judge a situation as it is. Consideration of others’ perspectives became necessary to possess if I was to fully help others through difficult situations and lead them to become a hero in their own sense, working rightfully to reach their goals.

If you could change one thing to better your community, what would it be? Why is it important and how would you contribute to this change?

For over ten years, my mom dedicated her career to serving the underprivileged. Helping those seeking asylum in the U.S., coming from violent countries from all over the world, my mom assisted victims of assault, gang violence, and government persecution in starting a better, more suitable life in her own country. Facing these issues head on, my mom gained a complex appreciation and understanding of the struggles that immigration causes, instilling this understanding in her children.

Often in my highschool community, these issues are seen as distant and unimportant to our lives. Instead, conflicts concerning immigration are transformed into political issues, only relevant when engaging in a debate or choosing a political candidate to support. Few in my community have experienced the struggles of immigration and the hardships that follow, yet many feel encouraged to make their opinion known without fully understanding the subject.

If I could change one thing about my community, it would be to create understanding and consideration of complex issues while realizing that, at the heart of the political debate, there are human lives. Instead of focusing on fulfilling our political agendas, I would like to depoliticize these significant issues that many actually face. I would like my community to experience the situations that my mom experienced to gain a truthful, empirical opinion on seemingly distant issues.