The Modern Level of Technological Development of Society - Research Paper Example

? RESEARCH PAPER 22 March Visual Arts and Film Studies The modern level of economical, politicaland technological development of society has lead to popularization of the most important and influential factor of people’s awareness such as formation of publicity and openness in mass media. Courageous statements and analysis of crucial aspects of our life have become quite common for the plot of books, articles and films. Yesterday’s concealment and silence regarding various urgent and destructive problems have managed to turn into today’s the most vital considerations under constant discussions. It is no wonder that the issue of racism and colonialism has been covered in cinema numerous times with a further criticism expounded in different literary works. Sundry authors tried to display the problem of racism expressing own attitude to its consequences and influence on political and social sphere of life. Among a long list of such examples, there are Daniel Leab, Donald Bogle, Richard Maynard, Ralph Friar, Lester Friedman and many others who made an attempt to research the rate of veracity in the representation of colonial aspects in cinematography. Despite the fact demonstration of colonised nations contains a high level of distortion and it hardly can be compared to the real events, Stam and Spence (2009) consider that the biggest mistake of all critics is that they tend to forget that films in most cases are invention, fable and fiction. While numerous researchers focus on plot and characters analysing ‘positive images’, it has been found that frequently such images may be accepted as subversive leading to counterproductive effect and spreading racism in spite of their favourable representation and good intentions. The research of Stam and Spence takes into account the effect of sexism and anti-Semitism to provide a study on methodology and analysis on representations of texts. The authors explain the most important definitions such as colonialism, the Third World and racism. Hence, it has been concluded that historically racism evolved from the colonisation process and representatives of racism became those people who suffered from colonisation. Racism by its nature is not only the process of putting standards on values, asserting benefits of some nations and disparaging of other people, but it is a powerful source of scorn, violence, discrimination and crime. The idea to depict colonialism firstly started in literature where subjection of nations was considered as a way to eliminate overall ignorance and tyranny. Glorification of colonialism can be met in the works of Daniel Defoe, Montaigne and even Shakespeare. The depiction of racism in the films that more often occurred in the beginning of twentieth century showed colonised nations from negative sides, which was not an unpredicted action of European film-makers. According to the research of Stam and Spence (2009), the history has been misinterpreted and falsely represented by cinematography that used to put cliches and unfair images on oppressed people. Numerous errors have been made in Hollywood films that misinform their viewers and change the real events. Hence, the representation of safari as a jungle with beasts of prey or the depiction of the period right after the Second World War without the existence of one single black person can be a good example of such blunders. Due to the conclusions of the authors, the most significant error of films is not the picture of changed stereotypes but the lack of oppressed groups as it happened with the exclusion of blacks on the screen. At the same time, the American musicals with the participations of only black actors were made by white film-makers especially for black audience and also could be accepted as racism since there was a total absence of white actors for saving the fabrication of existed stereotypes. Another wrong tendency that can be noticed in the European and American films is the usage of incorrect language when characters were imposed to speak the language of coloniser instead of their native one. For example, linguistic errors can be seen in the film called Latin Lovers where Brazilians instead of Portuguese were forced to speak Spanish. To eliminate such unfair distortions of reality, there were numerous attempts from the Third World’s side to produce own films with a proper representation of colonial process. Such film-makers tried to show the course of history from within oppressed group and provide objectivity of depicted events. Due to the observation of Stam and Spence, it is extremely complicated to show reality on the screen since realism by its nature is rather deconstructive. First of all, it happens because of the fact that most film-makers are prone to depict positive images which characteristics are usually relative and subjective. Major part of European films shows specific stereotypes, recognition of which helps viewers define general prejudices. However, the process of stereotypes’ detection depends on the cultural peculiarities of the viewer. For instance, those things that are common for American conscience may be unacceptable for Europe and vice versa. Misunderstanding of the film’s main theme also may occur due to incorrect translation or different pattern of perception of the audience. Hence, some nations may see the problem of racism depicted in the film while in reality there is absolutely different implication of the film-makers that can be left unrecognised. It has been found by the authors that specific genres have their own tendencies of intentions. For example, comedies are prone to focus more on stereotypes than on positive images (Stam & Spence, 2009, p. 759). Depicting the topic of colonialism, it is especially vital to choose a proper spectator positioning that guides the viewers regarding their preferences and feelings. The shots filmed from the point of hostile and violent group may cause absolutely opposite feelings to these characters including compassion, admiration and even sympathy. Therefore, the spectator positioning can be considered as a powerful tool that changes the perception and emotional explosion of the viewers. The brightest example can be a film Battle of Algiers, where Algerian women are mistakenly accepted as French and due to the effect of sexism, soldiers fail to recognise danger in them, which means that the behaviour of coloniser can be easily predicted by colonised party. Hence, it can be seen how the roles are converted and the group that formerly has condemned identification starts to use it. In this respect, the right positioning and proper cinematographic tools force specific feelings of people encouraging them to sympathise cannibals or other violent groups. With the help of film-maker’s creativity and manipulative actions, the spectator’s views are prone to alter. A powerful tool of influence on viewer’s perception and cultural positioning can be off-screen dialogues and musical background, which help detect emotional experience and moral state of the characters. However, it should be stressed that mentioned feature make the film look both progressive and regressive at the same time (Stam & Spence, 2009, p. 763). There are some cases when due to inappropriate music choice, real musical tendencies and history of specific nations may be disregarded, which once again distorts the reality. Consequently, according to the study, it has been concluded that the filmic perception drastically depends on cultural peculiarities and such characteristics as race and gender. The same film can be accepted and understood differently by various nations. Some notions may be apposite for one group and denied by others. Moreover, sometimes, anti-racist film can be seen as racist one. Therefore, it is imperative to take into account cultural experience and ideological assertions of the audience that help provide spectator’s comprehension and attitude with a specific direction. In this respect, it can be concluded that the study of Stam and Spence has managed to outline necessary tips required for the deconstruction of racist and colonialist images. Reference List Stam, R & Spence, L 2009, “Colonialism, racism, and representation: An introduction”, in L Braudy & C Marshall (eds), Film Theory and Criticism, 7th edn, Oxford University Press, New York, pp. 751-766. Read More