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Who are we without our identities?
Not having one is a very frightening prospect. You can’t function in the world without one and even when we do examine the identities that we do have, how we shape them in many ways determines how our lives will evolve.
One such movie, both brilliant and poignant, that focuses on the subject at hand is A Borrowed Identity.
A Borrowed Identity is a 2014 Israeli drama film directed by Eran Riklis. It is based on Sayed Kashua‘s book Dancing Arabs (2002).
It tells the story of Eyad, an Israeli-Palestinian teenager from Tira.
Eyad (Tawfeek Barhom) is a gifted Palestinian teenager who is accepted into an elite Israeli school. His father (Ali Suliman) drives to Jerusalem and drops the 16 year old Eyad at the new school. Before entering the school, Eyads Father tells him that the Palestinian people once longed to defeat their Jewish enemies, but will now settle for being able to live side by side with dignity. In school, he struggles to adapt, his Israeli peers refer to him as “Iyad” and is looked down upon by the others. Things change once he meets Naomi (Daniel Kitsis), he helps her with her chemistry schoolwork and the two start to meet at a cafe.
Here is the brief analysis of the film by the great movie reviewer’s group at rogerebert.com. “The complex interrelated identities of Jewish and Palestinian Israelis—two peoples divided by a shared culture, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde’s reputed quip—is movingly explored in “A Borrowed Identity,” a sharply mounted drama about a young Arab who finds reasons to “pass” as Jewish.
“A Borrowed Identity” commendably avoids polemics in order to provide a textured portrait of a young man going through a set of personal transitions against the background of ongoing cultural flux that reflects a larger, collective identity crisis. Its evocation of the historical period feels carefully honed and resonant.”
Well stated.
Yes, transitions, transitions.
When it comes to our identities, especially as we see them through our own personal optics, life is one huge and often painful transition.
When you grow up the children of famous parents, coming to terms with your identity can be very challenging and influencing people to see you for who you are and, not for who your parents are, can be next to impossible.
Simply stated, you are not a clone of your famous parent.
You are uniquely you.
One show that presents that youthful identity crisis addressed very well is Lifetime’s Growing Up Supermodel.
The series premiered on August 16, 2017, and follows the careers of daughters and sons of famous models or actors. The premise of the show was greenlit because many of the current top models of the fashion industry are children of famous people with large social media followings.
As we can see, having a famous name is a double-edged sword, creating expectations and burdens at the same time it generates opportunities.
The young cast includes celebrity daughters Cambrie and Faith Schroder, Atiana De La Hoya (daughter of actress/model Shanna Moakler and boxer Oscar De La Hoya), Arissa Le Brock (daughter of supermodel/actress Kelly Le Brock and actor Steven Seagal), Cairo Peele (daughter of supermodel Beverly Peele), Jake Moritt (son of actress Krista Allen), and Janis Ostojic (son of internationally acclaimed model JD Ostojic).
Given our love that sometimes borders on obsession with plus size women, the gorgeous girl that really caught our eye and stood out to us was Arissa Le Brock.
A self-described model, singer and animal lover, in our opinion, at times Arissa stole the show.
“I think every person has their own identity and beauty. Everyone being different is what is really beautiful. If we were all the same, it would be boring.”… Tila Tequila
Being the only gorgeous plus size model in a crowd in a sensuous way can allow you to really stand out.
Part of the attraction was her expressing the pain about her challenging relationship with her father, the famous action super star, Steven Seagal.
Posing at a sensuous size 14, Arissa loves her body and feels very powerful. We absolutely love her body too!
She’s been modeling since high school, walking the runway for the prom-dress brand Mac Duggal and posing for plus-size retailer Ashley Stewart.
Very impressive. Now that is what we call creating and carving out an identity for yourself.
Following in her father’s footsteps, Arissa has been studying jujitsu for about a year and trains up to six times a week.
Despite her star-studded heritage, our shapely princess is adamant about carving out an identity of her own.
In an interview with the New York Post she shared, “People think that just because your parents are famous, everything just gets handed to you,” she said. “I’ve had to work hard to get everything I’ve gotten. I’m proud of being an independent and self-sufficient woman, and I want to show everyone that I can do this on my own.”
We’re certain that she can. Watching her evolve during the show convinced us that she absolutely can.
Growing up, Arissa’s family had no television and instead, learned to track animals and befriended local cowboys and fishermen. Her mother, Kelly Le Brock, who once lived next to Gracie Mansion in New York and grew up in a boarding school from age 5-15 before modeling by 16, loved her life on a secluded farm.
“In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity.”… Erik Erikson
Give Kelly credit. She has raised a daughter who is developing and carving out her own identity that kept us glued to the show.
We also love that Arissa is not trying to go on one crash diet after another and on the other hand is not a bump on the log but continually works out.
Her photo shoots ranged from elegant to energetically aggressive.
At the informative site wonderwall.com Arissa shared her life philosophy, “As I reached puberty, I started to get ‘those’ curves,” she said. “Having a supportive mother, I was proud to be a vivacious, curvy woman, as she taught me that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When I didn’t always feel that way, I would remind myself of my mother’s words.”
Now that is a unique and confident self-image that we all can identify with.
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Opening Photo fciwomenswrestling.com, femcompetitor.com article, Lifetime Movies photo credit via Nicki Swift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Borrowed_Identity
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-borrowed-identity-2015
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growing_Up_Supermodel
https://nypost.com/2017/08/19/this-sexy-model-is-the-woman-in-reds-daughter/
https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/identity
