The Intouchables

Movies and entertainment outlets speak volumes about the current state of a nation’s culture. Cinematic creations in the United States allow small voices to be heard and controversial issues to be addressed. However, a repetitive and monumental issue continues to be addressed, yet continues to persist in our 21st century culture, racial inequalities. Since the inception of the United States, black men and women alike have been disenfranchised at the hands of the “white man” in America. Instead of continuing the conversation today, the issue is continually silenced referencing the successes and achievements of the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Nonetheless, an unfortunate reality looms upon this great land; racially based systems and structures continue to exist in 2015 the in United States. This paper synthesizes three films focused on racial inequalities in different time periods. Separate but Equal (1991), Selma (2015), and Crash (2005) illustrate how influential the Civil War amendments are, while serving as an uncanny reminder of how the racial prejudices during the 20th century continue to exist in our great nation today. Needless to say our nation has made great strides, but still has a long way to go.

Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache use their film The Intouchables (2011) to manipulate their audience in relation to a contrast between a stereotypical black and white social class. The directors cast Omar Sy as Driss, who is of Senegalese descent, since he is in stark contrast to his employer Phillipe who is a white French aristocrat. This film is based on a true story and the individual who was originally Philippe’s caretaker was Abdel Sellou and was of Arabic ethnicity. Omar Sy is of Senegalese descent and therefore has darker skin than Abdel, making the racial differences between him and Phillipe more prominent and observable. This contrasting theme is present throughout the film, and is particularly evident in three scenes that crystallise the directors’ key idea of the contrast between two different social classes. The scenes include ‘the paragliding’, ‘Driss’s interview’, and the introduction of Phillipe and ‘Driss’s house scenes’. Toledano and Nakache uses film techniques such as mise-en-scène, lighting, sound track, dialogue, musical score, camera techniques and angles throughout these scenes to manipulate the audience in relation to the black and white contrasting social class

This movie Directed by Paul Haggis who also directed Academy Award Winning "Million Dollar Baby" and had also won an Academy Award for this movie as well puts a twisted story in this film. This movie is trying to symbolize what goes on in the world today in regards to racism and stereotypes. He tries to make a point on how societies view themselves and others in the world based on there ethnicities. This movie intertwines several different people's lives, all different races, with different types of beliefs. Such ethnicities include Caucasians, African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Middle Eastern. This movie includes conflicts on both sides of the picture from cops and criminals as well

Documentarians often want to get as close to their subject matter as possible. Some documentarians have an insider perspective which ignites a spark to create a piece that illuminates a specific topic or area of study. There are also documentarians that have no affiliation with said subject matter, but want to explore the topic in question. Finally, there are documentarians that have a foot in both worlds. Insider/outsider is a theory in which a documentarian can be close to a subject, but also possess characteristics or traits that make them distant from the topic in question (Coles, 1998). Such is the case with the directors of both Stranger with a Camera and The House I Live In. Due to their own location, both Eugene Jarecki and Elizabeth Barret exhibit characteristics that make them fall into the insider/outsider roles as directors. Robert Coles defines location by stating, “We notice what we notice because of who we are” (Coles, 1998, p. 7). Included in this is, a person’s education, race, class, and gender. Both directors realize they are outsiders and utilize a lens into a world in which they are not otherwise a part of. Jarecki’s lens comes in the form of Nanny Jeter, his family’s nanny from when he was a child. Barret’s lens for her documentary is the community that she shared with Ison. The two directors enter into a world that they are not a part of because of their location, but forge a connection to the subject matter through means of a lens.

This movie is a great example of social groups, leadership, culture, norms, society, nature and nurture, and social lives. This movie represents how the American culture chooses our social class in society. Some sociologists believed that lifestyle choices are an important influence on our social class position (Giddens, 209). Our class position is the way we dress, where we eat, where we sleep, and how we relax (Giddens,

Using the language of the moving image, which includes cinematography, editing, sound, music and mise-en-scene, this essay will investigate the ideology of Racism in film. OxfordDictionaries.com describes racism as “Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.” When we, the audience think of racism in film, we traditionally think of movies for adults and often overlook the sinister aspect of racism in children’s films. I have chosen to contrast a recent R-rated film with a G-rated Disney movie from the 1990s. Disney films, even up until the 1990s have persistently reinforced the image of blacks or latino and asian races as being below whites. The

Certain stereotypes have stood the test of time, no matter how many strides for racial equality have been made. Sandra Bullock’s character made the statement about the relationship between white and black people: “If a white woman sees two black men walking

     This film presents an individual that chooses not to conform to modern society, and the consequences of that choice. The main character

This film got it right because I am sure that many people can relate to this film. Many us have probably gone

First off if you haven't seen this movie yet it is absolutely captivating. I really enjoyed it. I saw it for the first time before I was even enrolled and even then I found myself frustrated with the injustice in the movie. Dr. Bennet Omalu a man who lives in America but is originally from Nigeria, faces serve racism and suppression due to the color of his skin and his accent.

I enjoyed this film because it has a real story behind it and is something I

Michèle Lamont wrote the article “Who Counts as Them?” which talks about racism in France and the United States. In this article, Lamont talks about how racism can be seen through the same hole in both countries. The main purpose of the article is to explain that both the United States (US) and France claim to be non racist and to be leaders for other countries, yet France and the US are both high on the racism charts. Lamont did her research with interview surveys with people both from France and the US. Lamont had strong points that I agree with and have seen, but there were several things that I may not agree with. A conclusion being inaccurate means that the conclusion has not considered all aspects and is not looking at the bigger picture. I argue that Michèle Lamont’s conclusion that racism is more about self worth than color is inaccurate because the conclusion was based off of the examples which are from only one view, and the questions she asked which were not well connected to the main idea.

The movie “The Visitor” is about a sullen, lonely widower, Professor Walter Vale, who has been teaching economics in college for 20 years. His life takes a new turn when he is assigned to deliver a conference paper held in New York and unexpectedly finds an illegal immigrant couple living in his New York apartment. Before he met Tarek, Mouna, and Zainab, Walter can be described as a reserved, cold, disinterested, and dispassionate person. His cold and withdrawn attitude and unpassionate life is irrevocably changed by their attitude toward life. He finds a passion and purpose; moves on from his past, becomes open to new experiences and people and is worldlier about his surroundings.

The crowd fell silent as the winner was announced for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. “What is this film that just won?” many might have asked themselves while others wondered, “Really, how can this be?” The votes were split; at least this is the idea of John P. McCarthy. The film Departures received many different reactions. Most seem to believe that the film was deserving of the Academy Award while some have contrasting opinions. While both Philip Kennicott and John McCarthy agree that Departures contains a traditional plot line and a slightly humorous twist, Kennicott’s review is more developed, identifying some of the underlying points of the film while McCarthy’s review was rather vague and judgmental.

The film “The Intouchables” directed by Oliver Nakache and Eric Toledano incorporate a range of genres such as drama, art house, comedy, special interest and international. This interesting contrast of art house and comedy created an emotionally stimulating effect. This movie is about a very wealthy quadriplegic called Philippe, living in a mansion in Paris. Philippe requires a live-in carer due to his condition. The rude African, Driss cuts the line of the candidates to be Philippe’s career and brings a document, as he is uninterested in the job, he only wants to get his signature for the unemployment benefit. However, to his surprise, he receives a trial period to gain experience of helping Philippe and being his carer. Due to this leap of faith on Philippe’s behalf to hire Driss, an incredible friendship is formed. This film is suitable for all ages, despite the R rating as everyone can take