Public and private spaces - Essay Example

However, this also meant that some people who were unaware on the streets took him literally. In fact, it was not shocking that one of the captured individual has sued him. In one instance, Borat, using a voice heavy with accent, greets a man and introduces himself, to which the man runs off, scared and, apparently, showing that he is xenophobic (Stowe & Stump, 2007: p55). While Borat did not obtain his consent to put him in the film or trailer, he could claim that he was investigating the manner in which Americans behave towards foreigners, which is guaranteed under freedom of the press.

Since the reaction by the man is newsworthy, as well as in public interest, Borat is able to exploit the First Amendment to the benefit of his film. This part is especially shocking due to the total disgust on the man’s face at being approached by a foreign man who is shabbily dressed. The film, while embarrassing to those captured showing the worst in them, is socially responsible, at least compared to what really happens in the real world. The freedom of speech is also humiliated in some ways; for example, the designer Jean Paul Gaultier in his Brooklyn Museum exhibition.

The exhibition is shocking to say the least and sometimes seems like a scene one would expect to see in a strip club or, at best, in the bedroom. Latching onto the notion of the First Amendment, the designer decided to exhibit articles of clothing that border on the subversive, especially when it comes to his depictions of sex. In fact, the infamous Madonna cone bra seems mild compared to some of the revealing clothing on show (Murphy, 2013: p1). The brochure accompanying the exhibition claims that humans have an intimate relationship with what they wear and that clothes are with us in private and public (Murphy, 2013: p1).

While this is a logical view, what he goes on to exhibit blurs the line between what should be shown in public and what he should show in private exhibitions. In seeking to bring what people normally associate with intimacy and privacy into a public exhibition, Jean Paul Gaultier exploits and humiliates the freedoms under the First Amendment. While he does have protection under the first amendment, what the exhibition stands for should be a private affair not a public one in a public institution.

At some point, it almost seems that, instead of exploring the theme of sex, which is not a bad thing in itself, he is moving towards an exhibition of how prostitution looks like. Social responsibility is totally lacking in this exhibition. Finally, there are also some instances in which the freedom of speech is celebrated, such as in the film “The Yes Men Fix the World”. In this film, the filmmakers make mock advertisements and press releases. A particularly striking one, which was quite hilarious and revealing, was the one about the US Chamber of Commerce.

They were the subject of a mock press conference captured in the film, which claimed that they had altered their stance on the legislation regarding global warming and climate change (Russell & Cohn, 2013: p32). In addition, they also posted what seemed like the media center page on the website run by the Chamber of Commerc