this is a comment on "xanga.com/readallabout" blog for Nov. 30

The thing that I get most out of reading this piece is the fact that everything in the life of a Navajo is motion oriented. What really stuck out for me is how in the Navajo language, everything is spoken as if it "moves into" something else (i.e. "move into safety"). This is very evident in the examples given of their filmmaking. Motion seems to be the most important thing. It doesn't matter what the ending of the film is, what counts most is how you get there. In other words, how the story travels or moves from beginning to end. There is also the "journey" factor. In almost every film they make, the human subject of the film is always going on a journey. Just like the person whose blog I am commenting on, I find it very interesting how a cameraman can hold a camera so still while filming movement. And the fact that the Navajo filmmaker can master such fluid motion in their films at a level that even Hollywood professionals find difficult, is just amazing.

I also found especially interesting how structured the Navajo lifestyle is. Everything has to equal out. This was pointed out in the part of this reading when it was mentioned that if there are three male students, there must be three females as well. It is also worth pointing out how concerned the Navajo are with the origin of things, which is partly evident in the way they make their film subjects go on their aforementioned journeys. Furthermore, the Navajo seem to feel that their mere existence might affect the world negatively, as portrayed in Al's film about how he sees himself as an "intruder."

Putting all of this together, I find it very interesting that the Navajo lifestyle seems to be very obssessive compulsive. They are very concerned with order, as evidenced in the one film in which the filmmaker had to start on one side of the lake and work his way around, and worried about the effect that their existence will have on the world. More evidence of this is how all things must be even. Since this is how their lives are led, this is also how their films are made.