Wei Lei and Me and Kitbull PDF

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Wei Lei and Me and Kit-bull comparative essay...

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The personal piece entitled ‘Wei-Lei and Me’, by Aditi Gouvernel, and the short film ‘Kitbull’, directed by Rosanna Sullivan, both explore the theme of prejudice, through characters who experience its effects. Both texts show how easily prejudice can take hold, by showing the behaviour of those who are prejudiced. The authors create sympathy for the suffering characters giving the audience an insight into their agony. The characters from each piece/film provide hope that those who have experience prejudice can overcome the effects. Both ‘Wei-Lei and Me’ and ‘Kitbull’ explore the idea of prejudice, creating sympathy for the victims of prejudice giving the readers insight into their suffering. Gouvernel and Sullivan encourage the readers to look beyond the stereotypes. In Kitbull the dog is seen in two different types of ways; one being a vicious beast and the other being a gentle loving dog. Similar to ‘Wei Lei and Me’, where both Wei Lei and Aditi were bullied because of their cultural background and were seen as an intruder to Australia. In Kitbull the dog is taken by advantage and is used for the owner’s entertainment. The dog’s facial expression and panting show that it graves affection by its owner, but the owner just chains it up, without patting it or acknowledging it. The way that the dog slumps shows that it is already feeling rejected by these actions. After a fight, the man brutally kicks the dog down the stairs, treating it as an object that is considered worthless if it doesn’t fight well. This creates anger in the viewer, when the dog is shown lying injured and whimpering in the rain.

Wei-Lei and Me highlights racial prejudice, unlike Kitbull which shows how stereotypes can impact the way people see others. Barry West rips away Aditi and Wei-Lei’s happy childhood and turns it into a living hell. Both Aditi and Wei-Lei are severely bullied because of their racial background. The kids in the school are prejudice against them and are led to believe that they are intruders of their country and do not deserve to be Australian. Barry and the others kids would prowl at Wei Lei and Aditi, Gouvernel explained one recess how Barry and the other children would maul “Wei Lei the way a cat would maul a toy”. Their ingrained inability to accept anyone from another culture lead to Barry and the other children deliberately hurting Wei-Lei. Barry influences the other kids to see Wei-Lei and Aditi as intruders into their country, and as a result of that they proceed to bully them through racial comments and physical bullying. Gouvernel creates an angry and sympathetic environment as Aditi describes that she felt as though “she carried an infection [the other kids] immune systems couldn’t fight”. This environment is shown similarly in Kitbull when the dog is beaten up covered in bruises. Throughout most of the text Aditi and Wei Lei suffer from relentless bullying until they grow up and go to high school where many of the students realise that they were wrong and that Wei Lei and Aditi are no different them themselves. Gouvernel l demonstrates how easily prejudice can take hold, by showing the behaviour of those who are prejudiced.

Both Gouvernel and Sullivan are challenging prejudice, and showing how cruel and damaging it can be to its victims. The owner of the Pitbull treats the dog poorly and believes the dog is useless unless being used for fighting, making the dog feel worthless and lonely. A similarly cruel attitude is shown in ‘Wei-Lei and Me’, although in this case it is racial prejudice. Barry West, uses cruel words and actions that hurt and isolate the narrator and in turn, Wei-Lei. He refers to having Aditi’s “Indian shit on me” when she tags him, and encourages the other children to isolate her. Likewise, in Kitbull the dog starts off happy and positive truly believing he has been accepted into a good home, the narrator’s friend Wei-Lei

begins his first day of school ‘with a smile of excitement on his face”. However, Barry West, like the dog owner soon makes him “lose his smile at lunchtime” as he and the other children maul “Wei-Lei the way a cat would maul a toy”. Both Governed and Sullivan are challenging prejudice, and showing how cruel and damaging it can be to its victims.

It is without a doubt that the personal piece entitled ‘Wei-Lei and Me’ and the short film ‘Kitbull’ both explore the theme of prejudice. Gouvernel and Sullivan demonstrate how those who experience prejudice are impacted and how easily prejudice can take hold, by showing the behaviour of those who are prejudiced. The authors create sympathy for the suffering characters by giving the audience a view into their pain. Each of the characters provide hope that those impacted from prejudice can overcome the effects. Both Governed and Sullivan challenge prejudice and showcase how harmful it can be to its victims....