Film Is The Tool And Ethnography

Movies have the ability to transport people to different times and places and distract them from ordinary everyday reality. They allow for a range of emotions to be experienced. At their core, movies examine the human condition. There are plenty of deeper truths woven into screenplays and plenty of lessons to be learned, even when an individual is solely seeking entertainment.

Although the best reasons for “going to the movies” are to be entertained and eat popcorn, understanding a film is actually quite complex. Movies are not only a reflection of life, they also have the capability of shaping our norms, values, attitudes, and perception of life. Through the media of film, one can find stories of practically anything imaginable and some things unimaginable. Movie-makers use their art to entertain, to promote political agendas, to educate, and to present life as it is, was, or could be. They can present truth, truth as they interpret it, or simply ignore truth altogether. A movie can be a work of fiction, non-fiction, or anything in-between. A film is an artist’s interpretation. What one takes away from a film depends upon how one interprets what has been seen and heard. Understanding film is indeed difficult.

However, Native American filmmakers have been faced with several challenges in their attempts to compete for limited resources while struggling to overcome common stereotypes, that present Indian Americans as unintelligent people who belong in the past and not in the present or future (Singer). It is the special attention that has recently been given to Native American’s own film making that is intended to reverse the devastating effects of previous discrimination and colonization of the Indians. This kind of filmmaking has been popularly referred to as indigenous media production (Singer). It has been considered to be a way for tribal people to think about and reflect on the white man’s most seductive and reductive development for conception and fair representation, which is available

In a recent discussion of the media, an issue has been whether Hollywood writers and directors have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters. On the one hand, some argue that the Hollywood writers and directors should not have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters because they make movies that their audiences enjoy, connect, and relate to. The audiences cannot make a purchase if they do not feel interested in; therefore, it is the audiences’ personal responsibility. On the other hand, however, others argue that the Hollywood writers and directors should have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic characters. According to the article “Asian Women in Film: No Joy, No Luck” by Jessica Hagedorn, the author discusses the stereotypical portrayals of Asian women in the movie. By analyzing movies, she shows that the women are seen being as victims in so many ways, such as sexual and physical because of their gender. The reason is the Hollywood filmmakers and directors create their films in that way through stereotypes. It is true since the media plays role in the society. Therefore, the Hollywood writers and directors should have a social responsibility to avoid stereotyping ethnic character because their products have a significant influence on children, adults, and colored actors.

These items are not anthropological per se, but a context can be provided for them, that is, their anthropological significance can be pointed out” (Ruby 1975, 104). Basically, Ruby is saying that anthropologists can use ethnographic films to study cultural behavior, such as, customs, values, ceremonies, rituals, and even more. The way one’s culture is represented in a film can be portrayed with biases due to motion picture production codes, if an anthropology is not involved. According to Ruby, “the ethics and politics of ethnographic film have been a topic of considerable debate for the past several decades […due to the fact that viewers] began to question the neutrality of science and the objectivity of photographic images” (Ruby 2000, 137). Considering this as an anthropology is significantly important because you are expected to understand your viewers, which are college

It is known that one of the industries that reflect a multitude of human stereotypes is in the cinema. Although this may be true, to some people it is not completely obvious; especially if the stereotyped individual in the film is different from the person watching. The 2009 remake of the movie Fame has numerous moments that represent mediated stereotypes between different races. Using examples from Ramirez-Berg in his piece, “Stereotypes in Film”, the stereotypes I recognized were much more clear. Additionally, cinematic devices such as scripting, costuming, and sound effects played a role when discussing oppressed populations (Ramirez Berg).

Media, including movies has been an outlet for many directors and screenwriters to express both their opinions and to illustrate the social temperature in which they lived while injecting their own views into their work. Media 'fossils' like The Lost Boys directed by Joel Schumacher not only provide a thrilling tale for viewers, but also critiques, comments, and upholds different social norms in an amusing manner as an outlet for often controversial subjects such as peer pressure amongst young people. The Lost Boys may be a gory film, but to ignore the film's social context would be to ignore the complexity of the movie itself. Many young people today as well as in the eighties were under a siege of pressure from their peers to conform to the group's expectations. When the older brother Michael first goes into David and his friends' tomb, he is blatantly pressured into drinking and performing dangerous acts that he wouldn't normally do.

Many documentary makers include their individual cultural assumptions and discourses to distort the truth and position the target audience to react in a desired manner. This

“Film is incredibly democratic and accessible, it’s probably the best option if you actually want to change the world, not just re-decorate it”(Banksy). The main idea of this essay is how can films change people’s perceptions. There are three main subtopics that will be discussed and thouroughly analyzed which are emotions, racism, and documentaries, how these categories can affect people. Film is the most effective way of changing people's perspectives.

I want to examine how a movie(s) shapes the thoughts of a society. More specifically, the matter of immigration portrayal in movies bears the brunt of societal indifferences or acceptance depending on the approach and the motive behind the politics of the presentation. The documentary, Well-Founded Fear, speaks about the legal processes that people have to go through to get asylum in the US. And Sin Nombre is a movie about two young people trying to find their way as recent immigrants. Both stories on the topic of immigration accidentally coincide and present to the movie audience and the world some real struggles surrounding the issue of immigrants and their acceptance in the receiving country. And then there is Inch’ Allah Dimanche by Yamina, the other comparison, taking a different direction and delivering a different message on the topic of immigration..

Films and movies hold much than we can guess, they reveal a lot of vices and rots that are happening in society. Others give a history of a particular society, its beliefs, culture and their standard of living in the society. Films are used to disclose the social responsibilities in a given season and customs, moral values, societal worries and other cultural practices.

Films have the power to both influence and reflect society. The stereotypes prevalent throughout American culture are reflected in most films. While the United States is becoming an increasingly diverse country, this diversity is not portrayed within American cinema. Minority figures often occupy

But in what I want to do, most likely out of a broken taste set and unhealthy affection for the self-defined idea of the ‘unconventional’ I find myself asking above all and completely out of bias: What is a film saying, what is it doing with what it is saying, and does it make sense?

Hess and Zimmermann mention that conventional categories have blurred and there’s demands for new political and aesthetic responses in transnational cinema (John Hess 2006). These transnational films I believe would be growing significantly in the film industry as a part of film history.

Identifying the Narrative and Genre Characteristics in a Film Film is undoubtly the reflective illusion of life and its complexities brought to a facade of psychological reality for its audience. It is an art form which plays with mans very definition of semiotic meanings, codes, signs, signifiers, connotations and popular ideologies to create a mental association with its audience and transport the spectator through the door way of a cinematic recreation of the “real world” This is more commonly known as verisimilitude. Arguably no genre exploits and infact questions the social norms, moralities and issues of common social attitudes of its audience to the extent of ‘Noir’ and its conventional