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Transcript

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

In the movie, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, we can see the concept of marriage and ethnocentrism come into play together. It was quite interesting to see how much of an adjustment Toula's fiance had to make to her Greek family in order to become accepted and not face their ethnocentric judging. Her Greek family insisted that she stick to traditional Greek standards and marry a Greek and get married with all of the according standards,an obvious ethnocentrism to the ways that others do their weddings. It's a little strange to see willing her fiance was to be in good standings with the rest of her family; this could be seen as a sort of a bride service seeing as how he essentially worked to get in their good graces and establish a meaningful relationship.

Nanook of the North

In the film about the Nanook of the North, we can see the concept of cultural adaptation. Cultural adaptation can be described as the learned skills that a certain people gain through generations that aid them in surviving within a new culture or area. Cultural adaption is necessary in order to survive some extreme environments, which can be seen in the Nanook people. Specifically we can see instances of this concept in the film when the Nanook people implement created technology as well as ecological knowledge to retrieve their food, design their homes out of, what seems to me, a fairly non-traditional material: ice. Enculturation can also be seen in the film when we see the kids involved in gender-specified activities; the boys go out and hunt and the girls help out with domestic tasks.

Hotel Rwanda

In the movie, Hotel Rwanda, we can see the concept of a Big Man and Colonialism being played out.

The Big man within this movie is Paul Rusesabagina, the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines. He as the big man, is very skilled in the ways that he utilizes his resources to the best of his ability so that he may benefit the others that he is responsible for, and is also quite charming which aids him greatly in a time of crisis. When he makes it known who his friends are he is also able to gain trust among those that it is important to be on the good side of. It is for these reasons that Paul as a big man is able to sustain and protect so many Tutsi refugees for as long as he did. He is even regarded to as an "oasis within a desert". Seeing the way in which Paul acted really truly left me inspired and gave me some insight into what is important when it comes to helping people in a crisis situation.

Miss Representation

Colonialism in Hotel rwanda

In Miss Representation they tackle the concept of feminism and the role in which the media undermines women's roles in society. This documentary does a good job of showing how there is a lack of respect for women intellectuals and how the media only cares about their image. Objectifying women in this way, but also sexually degrades women in their ability to succeed in life but also how they are being empowered. One of the speakers made an interesting claim as to how our minds work when it comes to perceiving women by saying that "we are a nation of teenage boys". Seeing this documentary was really good because it really just opened my eyes further to the real problems that our society has when it comes to ensuring that everyone has actual equality.

The concept of colonialism can be seen in the film when the audience realizes that these problems against two ethnic groups began when the Belgians made clear distinctions between the two based on physical characteristics. This has put both groups at odds with one another making them have a clear disdain for the other which really began the altercations between the two in the first place. Then after the Belgians left Rwanda, they did not leave them with a stable government or society by which they could thrive under so it all fell into shambles. Seeing the effects that colonialism has had in so many areas of Africa really makes me angry because it has been so difficult to this very day to get these states to a place where they are stable and their people are happy and free.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

This film centers around the story of three young girls who are taken away from their home, an aboriginal Australian tribe. In the film we can take note of two anthropological concepts that apply heavily in the case of Molly and her sisters being abducted: traditional ecological knowledge and ethnocentrism.

Gran Torino

Traditional Ecological knowledge

Ethnocentrism

The God's Must Be Crazy

Rabbit-Proof fence produces instances of ecological knowledge specifically within the events that occur after the girls escape the camp that they are taken to after they are abducted. Traditional Ecological Knowledge can be described as the necessary skills attained by a group through interactions with their environment that are learned over several generations in order to survive. Specifically in the film, this can be seen in the way that the girls keep themselves hidden when they are escaping to their home. They are very careful and listen intently to their surroundings, looks towards the sky for directions, coordinate their footsteps so that they would not be followed, as well as know where they can find food and water within their environment. It is really interesting to see this played out--even if it is jst a film-- but I feel as though this knowledge that the girls have is something so profoundly important that I am left in awe but also inspired that societies still maintain the necessities of these skills.

Seeing this concept enacted within the film really makes me think about the multitude of gadgets I use in order to maintain my life everyday. It would be extremely difficult for me to be stripped of all the technologies that help me each and everyday and rely on environmental skills. However, it would be something that I would see myself taking a great interest in later just to know these basic nature-skills so that I may be able to to pass them down to my children; afterall, knowing how to survive in the wilderness is a valuable skill to have.

Ethnocentrism is profoundly encountered within this film. The string of ethnocentric actions that triggered the plot of the movie starts with the way in which the group of white Australian officials assumed that "the native must be helped", that they "cannot let the [natives] go untrained", and that taking away children from their aboriginal families was "the law". Sure they're not the same skin tone or partake in the same activities as those that created these "laws" but that does not mean that they are not happy, safe and better off with their own families on their land. The way in which they separated the children from one another on the basis of physical qualities that they had also shows another form of ethnocentrism. They are making distinctions between one type of people to indicate who they believe are those at the top of their society which hold no significant bearing in actuality. But really, it does not matter what features they have, they're smart regardless and this can be seen within the cleverness that Molly has when they escape.

Watching these girls get taken away from their families and their homes was so hard to see. It really angers me that this has had to happen in the past to families and that so many people accepted this because it was law. Taking young girls away from their families is not law, it is inhumane. If their kids were taken away from them, I'm sure that they would not be happy and they would be completely heartbroken over it also.

In the film, Gran Torino we see two worlds collide; an American veteran of the Vietnam war and a Hmong community. In this film ethnocentrism on both parts are easily seen. Mr. Walt Kowalski, the war veteran does not hide his ethnocentrism towards his Hmong neighbors and we can see this when he calls them, "damn barbarians". On behalf of the Hmong people in the movie, they also undermine his knowledge by saying, "Yeah, but you're an American". Yet it is when they start working together that they take the time to learn about one another's culture and get to appreciate one another for who they are, culture and all. We also see a reversal in the gender roles within the movies; the Hmong men generally were those that were successful in the traditional culture, but here in the U.S. it is "the girls who go to college, and the boys go to jail". While seeing this movie, I felt it was really interesting to see how almost polluted the Hmong culture became after being exposed to the American way of life and this can be seen in the way the Hmong gang acts toward their own kind as well as others of different races; they are very prejudiced towards other elasticities. It is a breath of fresh air seeing Walt and his neighbors get along so well near the end.

In the God's Must Be Crazy, it is really a mock-documentary about the !Kung Bushmen, but it also pokes fun at the way western modern society is in comparison. In this mock-documentary, we see evidence of traditional ecological knowledge in the way that they get their drinking water from leaves and underground plants. It's quite interesting to see this seeing as how if I had not grown up in this society learning these skills that I would have no clue how to get water otherwise.

When we viewed the second documentary about the !Kung Bushmen, however we get a different look at how their lives really are. In this second film we see how the !Kung Bushmen's perception on the people that have come in and imposed on their culture. "We did what our hearts wanted before the white people", they said. Within the film we also see some elements of women's empowerment seeing as how this culture celebrates puberty and just being a woman in general.

Anthropology: Journal Entries

Jasmine Rangel

ANT 200

Dr. Cambell

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