Amish Grace

[ILG]

Originally Posted by coadie

I followed this story in The Mennonite Weekly Review before the books came along.
The Amish are sometimes described in error by the "english"

Only Amish and some mennonites understand what I italacized.

I'm not Amish and I understand. But hey, it may have been because I have read a million books on them.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by Margies3

I watched it, ILG. It was interesting. But I was really interested in the fact when I watched it that it didn't seem that everything they showed about these people followed with what I've been taught that the Amish church believes. Boy, is that sentence clear as mud?? sorry. It's been a while since I watched the movie so I can't give you specific examples. sorry.

Much of it was Englishized. But, that's what Hollywood does best!

[missourimary]

I'm not sure it would be possible for someone with no knowledge of the culture to step into the role and not "englishize" it.

When I was reading this the other night I thought about learning to draw faces. We were told that faces are very difficult because we tend to draw parts of our own faces into others'. Then he had us draw each other. My friend and I drew each other. She's Chinese, but her portrait looked very European. Mine ended up looking mildly Oriental. It was hilarious, and the perfect example of what the instructor had just told us. The same is true of learning other languages--if you learn Spanish from an American who wasn't raised speaking the language, you are going to have a pretty strange accent.

I can imagine actors and actresses having the same difficulty with other cultures and time periods. You don't really know people until you've lived among them. And Amish culture is probably further from Hollywood than even Middle Eastern cultures or 1600s American culture, because they never read about it, studied it, or saw anything about it on the news. The only things most of us have seen or heard are "englishized", unless we've actually read a copy of The Budget (and even then most of us are reading it from an English perspective, so our perspective still isn't quite accurate). It was interesting seeing that come out in the movie... almost like looking again at my Chinese friend's portrait of an American.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by missourimary

I'm not sure it would be possible for someone with no knowledge of the culture to step into the role and not "englishize" it.

When I was reading this the other night I thought about learning to draw faces. We were told that faces are very difficult because we tend to draw parts of our own faces into others'. Then he had us draw each other. My friend and I drew each other. She's Chinese, but her portrait looked very European. Mine ended up looking mildly Oriental. It was hilarious, and the perfect example of what the instructor had just told us. The same is true of learning other languages--if you learn Spanish from an American who wasn't raised speaking the language, you are going to have a pretty strange accent.

I can imagine actors and actresses having the same difficulty with other cultures and time periods. You don't really know people until you've lived among them. And Amish culture is probably further from Hollywood than even Middle Eastern cultures or 1600s American culture, because they never read about it, studied it, or saw anything about it on the news. The only things most of us have seen or heard are "englishized", unless we've actually read a copy of The Budget (and even then most of us are reading it from an English perspective, so our perspective still isn't quite accurate). It was interesting seeing that come out in the movie... almost like looking again at my Chinese friend's portrait of an American.

Good explanation!

[whoami]

I didn't watch it, I saw the previews and the actions of the people just didn't seem authentic to me, based on my interactions with some Amish and Old Order Mennonites. I'm sure MissouriMary is right, it would be hard to do a movie like that without making the characters more English than Amish since the actor's are English, but it just didn't interest me because of that.

[Praxeas]

I saw a video on Amish Paradise...is that the same?

[Hoovie]

No. This one is about the school shooting and the aftermath. Trouble in Paradise is a story of a couple families choosing to leave the Amish.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by missourimary

I watched it. It was interesting, and though I could relate to the Amish mother main character (can't remember names) I couldn't get past the fact that the Amish I've known are raised to accept things like this. If she'd been wearing English clothes and had been a modern mother in a town with an Amish community, I could have understood her reactions. But as an Amish woman she seems very out of character, at least the Amish I've been near.

According to at least some articles, I'm not the only one who struggles with the movie portrayal. http://www.suite101.com/content/amis...ragedy-a218691

Aside from that, I could relate from an English perspective--some of her reactions, especially in the group setting and such, dealt with questions and feelings that I was dealing with in my own life at the time.

Calling all the rest of us "English..." you've been around Amish.

[missourimary]

Originally Posted by pelathais

Calling all the rest of us "English..." you've been around Amish.

Not too much. A lot of reading, a little interaction, some observation.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by missourimary

Not too much. A lot of reading, a little interaction, some observation.

Attached is the Walmart near my sister's house. Most of my interactions have been "in traffic." LOL. But those were always friendly.