The Godfather

Vito Corleone was the moral center of the film in a few ways. He was the patriarch of the Corleone family and even when he went into retirement, his wisdom and prior knowledge was stilled valued. Many decisions and choices were made with the thought of how the "Don Corleone" would handle. it. I don't necessarily think that the mafia is glorified in this movie. I think that you get a better understanding for why they did what they did. You see their motivation for killing and committing the crime that they commit. You see social darwinism. The mafia families are all trying to survive, and the strongest of those families will survive the longest and thrive the most by showing their strength. That strength isn't necessarily just physical strength. It also includes mental strength and emotionally strength.Vito's death was a big loss. Though he was a criminal, he was also a leader. Someone who had strong beliefs and was stern with those beliefs. He optimized "Organized Crime". Everything he did, he did with good reason. He didn't believe in senseless deaths. He had a hand in politics as well. While the other leaders of the families were ruthless killers. They did what they wanted, when they wanted. Not caring about who they would hurt or effect. All of Vito's decisions were very well thought out. Something that wasn't seen from the other families.

Defiance

Defiance was a great movie! I truly enjoyed it. It had a great story that was portrayed very well by all the actors. Tuvia's quote was quite powerful. When he says "Our revenge is to live", I believe he means that instead of going to kill all of the Germans that they should do everything that they can to survive. Because if they survive, the plans of the Germans have failed and that in itself is a victory. Humanity and revenge is quite prevalent through out the movie. The relationship between them is quite close. One is the natural urge to retaliate, while the other is the ability to not retaliate because you know it's not right to hurt someone just because it was done to you. I think that revenge is very natural, not just for humans. I'm not particularly sure if animals take revenge but I would imagine they do. I don't believe that revenge can be an act of humanity.

Mircale on Ice

I thought that the film Miracle on Ice was a good story. I'm not a huge hockey fan so I didn't relate to it as much as others might have. The US winning the Olympics was meaningful at the time because of the Cold War being at it's peak. The win probably gave Americans hope that the US Government would pull out of the war. Another event in my lifetime that had a similar impact on the conscience of the American public could be when Gabi Douglas won her gold medal.