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Effect of media and films on society
Effect of media and films on society
The importance of cinema for society
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Carlos Albino Prof. David Parkison English 221 14 October 2014 Searching for Signs of Race in the United States Films are made to both entertain and educate, offering sources not only of joy but also knowledge and information. It is widely assumed that films, Hollywood movies in particular, mainly provide visual pleasure and happiness, as well as inviting them to make affective investments into the plot of a film. However, more than just a visual aesthetics, films, a major element of societal multicultural education, can be perceived from an educational point of view as acting as a functional educational tool, exercising enormous power to influence the ways mass audiences think, talk, feel, behave and desire. In this sense films hold the power …show more content…
The film being set in east Los Angeles, the majority of the students are of latino decent. In particular the student Angel Guzman is portrayed as an almost caricature of the typical "cholo" character. The way of life of the students portrayed in the film is one of constant danger from gangs or the police. In a way this is not far from the truth, but the film uses this stereotype and exaggerates to create drama in the film. The film uses many tropes of the "ghetto" life to advance the plot, for example students are forced to sell drugs on the street to support their family, that depend on them. Mr. Escalante is portrayed as the savior character of these kids coming into their live through education, and eventually leading them into college. Having struggled in his own life he relates to the students and works himself into the ground for their success. Mendendez uses the stereotypical portrayal of school used in films, as former teacher and educator Robert Bulman states, "These portrayals always seem to involve ineffective and mean teachers and/or apathetic students. Both are stereotypes and, as a teacher and teacher educator, I know they are wrong."(Bulma …show more content…
The film has two main overarching themes running throughout, the first being family, and second being perseverance through odds against you. Menendez uses the reality or the stereotype of the dysfunctional home as a driving force to create tension throughout the film. All the students in Escalantes class in the beginning of the film have issues outside of school, and most are related to problems in the homes of the students. Over the course of the film Escalante becomes a sort of father figure to his students, and the class divided at first become a close knit family towards the end of film. The issue I find with the portrayal of the students not having their life together just because of their poverty is one I share with Jesus Treviño when he says, "Significantly, the underlying social issues affecting Latino life in the United States have seldom been addressed in Hollywood films, and hardly ever have Latinos been portrayed as people in control of their lives, capable of standing up for their rights, or having an interest in their own future" (Treviño 16). Another issue I find with Menendez using the dysfunctional home trope, even though it's based on reality is that for me by using this trope he is creating an image to the audience that relates poverty, and poor neighborhoods with the lack of family or the lack of community. Having lived in these
In his essay, “It’s Just a Movie: A Teaching Essay for Introductory Media Classes”, Greg M. Smith argues that analyzing a film does not ruin, but enhances a movie-viewing experience; he supports his argument with supporting evidence. He addresses the careful planning required for movies. Messages are not meant to be telegrams. Audiences read into movies to understand basic plotlines. Viewers should examine works rather than society’s explanations. Each piece contributes to Smith’s argument, movies are worth scrutinizing.
Their style and actions were deemed inappropriate because it did not adhere to the school standard of conduct. Thus, they were left on their own, without support or comprehension from the school staff. Because of this belief held by the school personnel, las chicas would be placed on a vocational tracking system. Once placed on this track, las chicas were essentially denied any chance of escaping their current socio-economic class. Las chicas and other hard-living girls were often told that college courses would be too difficult for them. Many of las chicas actually had high grades in their classes, but the grades didn’t matter because the courses they took wouldn’t qualify them for a four-year college. For many, the prospect of college dwindled, and with it, any hope for escaping their class in the future. They would head either to community college or straight to work in low-wage jobs. They were systematically excluded from any chance of improving their
Through the first half of the movie, all the students were prone to dropping out. Where some wanted to inherit their family’s restaurant or auto shop or others just believed they couldn't do it because they were Mexican-American. This belief was drilled into their heads at a young age where once they got out of highschool, they would immediately start working. Mr. Escalante saw potential in his students and worked hard to make them realise they needed to challenge racial stereotypes and do things at their best ability. We learned that we should be able to struggle to achieve more without regards to our ethnicities. This film made us think how people these days are still being held back from their full potential because of race and how there are still people who hold stereotypes in this modern
Growing up as a Latina in a small conservative town was not always an easy thing. I often faced presumptions that I would not graduate high school or amount to much in life because of my background. I knew that I would have to work twice as hard to accomplish my goals and prove to myself and my peers that the stereotypes made of Latinos and our success were nothing more than thoughts by people ignorant to our abilities and strengths. I was always determined to achieve my goals, even when others doubted or implied that I couldn’t.
Instead of loving and caring for her baby, and forgetting about Danny, she became worse than him. Rodriguez presents many aspects of the minority class that live in the United States, specifically the South Bronx. Even though the cases presented in Rodriguez’s short stories are difficult to mellow with, they are a reality that is constant in many lives. Everyday someone goes through life suffering, due to lack of responsibility, lack of knowledge, submission to another entity or just lack of wanting to have a better life. People that go through these situations are people who have not finished studying, so they have fewer opportunities in life.
The movie “Walkout” is about the school system in East Los Angeles in the late 1960’s. During this time Mexican Americans were treated unfairly and were seen as second class citizens. The story goes through the different aspects that Mexican American/ Chicano students had to put up with within their own schools. They wanted and deserved equal education, but were constantly shut down by the city. This movie contains the four characteristics of Mexican American Art, which is what gives this movies such a strong and meaningful message.
Lehman, Peter and Luhr, William. Thinking About Movies: Watching, Questioning, Enjoying. 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003.
One could easily dismiss movies as superficial, unnecessarily violent spectacles, although such a viewpoint is distressingly pessimistic and myopic. In a given year, several films are released which have long-lasting effects on large numbers of individuals. These pictures speak
Society tends to associate propaganda films with issues such as Nazi Germany and their film messages for their country; however, it is also possible for small independent companies, groups of like-minded people and individuals to use the media of film to incorporate messages for our society (The Independent, 2010). These messages are often in relation to changes that individuals should make in order to improve the standards by which they live their lives and changes to everyday habits that will benefit the individual, the individual’s family, a group of individuals or even a single person (Barnhisel and Turner, 2010).
The film begins with a new teacher, Jaime Escalante, arriving to Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. On his first day he comes to find out that the computer science class he thought he was going to teach doesn't exist, because the school has no computers. In turn he is assigned to take over the general algebra class. From the beginning the film portrays the school as one on its downfall, and with students that are facing poverty. The class he receives is full of students who, according to other teachers at the school, are unintelligent and incapable of learning much of the material. Students cannot be expected to learn material when the teachers themselves do not believe in the stude...
Film and literature are two media forms that are so closely related, that we often forget there is a distinction between them. We often just view the movie as an extension of the book because most movies are based on novels or short stories. Because we are accustomed to this sequence of production, first the novel, then the motion picture, we often find ourselves making value judgments about a movie, based upon our feelings on the novel. It is this overlapping of the creative processes that prevents us from seeing movies as distinct and separate art forms from the novels they are based on.
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
These kids have grown up their whole lives being told that because they are Hispanic they are not as good as white people, and that there is essentially no place for them in the work force. A teacher, Mr. Blessington, challenges them to become greater than what is expected of them, and his snarly cocky attitude causes the message to go over their head. They are not used to someone telling them that they can do whatever they put their mind to, instead of them seeing Mr. Blessington telling them that they were “going to go to jail” or “end up hooking” as a challenge to do better, they see is as yet another Caucasian telling them that they are worthless. Mr.Tapia is a teacher who does try to teach his students that they are greater than what is expected of them, but unfortunately the message means nothing to them, especially a young Sapo who seems to have a very similar fate to the character in “Hardrock returns to prison”. In “Hardrock returns to prison” we are faced with a hard criminal who is known for his ‘no bullshit’ attitude. Society feared him because he was such a tyrant. Instead of someone taking the time to understand why he is so torn up on the inside, they saw him as a threat and gave him a lobotomy instead. Society is scared of things that they cannot understand. Instead of valuing HardRock’s no bullshit attitude they used it against him. Someone that was once a powerful
Every student comes from a different environment. These are two stereotypical examples of graduate students of two very different universities. The reason these students appear so different is because they are a direct output of their specific environment. If the Hispanic mother grew up in the same environment as the white male student and graduated from Thomas Aquinas College, or if the white male student grew up in a poor illiterate family would they have different lives? Every university has different focuses and goals, and the goals a university sets affect the students’ ideals and beliefs. These ideals and beliefs in due course shape and mold the future of society.
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.