write 1 paragraph For EACH topic.

First Topic:

In the 1999 film, Cradle Will Rock, directed by Tim Robbins, the actor Ruben Blades portrays the Mexican artist Diego Rivera, John Cusack plays the wealthy art patron Nelson Rockefeller, and Susan Sarandon a wealthy Italian woman. The film includes a brief recreation of the controversy surrounding the Rockefeller Center mural, Man at the Crossroads

View this clip from the film.( http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3475088/cradlecombined.mp4 )
In the mural, what do you see that are common themes in Rivera’s art and political views?

If you were in Rockefeller’s position, would you have the mural destroyed? Why or why not?

TOPIC 2: SEE ATTACHMENT
In the year 2000, artist Vincent Valdez painted “Kill the Pachuco Bastard!” dramatizing some of the events of the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943.

1. What do you see happening in the details in this painting?

2. What clues can you see that give evidence for the historical context of the Zoot Suit Riots?