My Reflective Blog Post vs. a Published Review

I chose to read an article by The New York Times reviewing the documentary War Dance. The reflective blog entry I posted and this published review are similar and different in many ways. For example, both explained how inspiring the children in the documentary are. In my reflective post, I talked about how strong the children are to be able to overcome the horrifying realities of their pasts. I explained that the children’s love for music gave them a sense of hope. Music plays such a big role in the children’s lives and helps them to forget about the war. The published review expresses this when the author says, “presented in a spirit of hope”. The author of this review clearly believes that this film gives off a sense of hopefulness. Also, both my reflective blog post and this published review talks about the emotional scene when Nancy visits her father’s burial site. One difference is that I believe that most of these kids are sincerely sharing their sad stories publicly for the first time. Other than possibly telling any loved ones or friends they have left, they have held onto these deep dark secrets that are haunting them. For example, when Dominic describes the day he had to kill three innocent farmers to save himself from the rebels, he expressed that this was the first time he has ever told anyone that. However, the published review thinks that these interviews were “rehearsed.” I do not believe this is the case. Overall I enjoyed reading this published review because while I agreed with most of the statements made, I also liked to see a different point of view and opinion. It is clear that my reflective blog post and The New York Times review share similarities and differences.