Cross-culturalism in film Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cross-culturalism in film - Essay Example A great deal of what society expects is framed within the messaging portrayed through media and film, such as in Hollywood's version of Joy Luck Club. Hollywood has a continued tendency to only feature idealized images of thin, young, blonde, and mostly obedient to someone images of the female and is mostly blamed for unhealthy attitudes, but scientific theories have indicated that the process of shaping female identity, like any other concept of belonging or 'right' social thought, is a reciprocal process (Yglesias, 2005). Even though films portray the idealized concept of what a woman should be, it is up to women in the 'real' world to define what they really are in order to help change the images they see in film to more accurately reflect reality. However, an examination of a film that focuses on women and female identity, such as Joy Luck Club, illustrates that issues of female identity are much bigger in reality than they are shown on screen. This is made even more complex when women must consider issues such as tradition and self-fulfillment as they transition between two different cultures, as they do in the American-made film Joy Luck Club. An important concept to understand in such a study of cross-cultural female identity in film is the idea of the sociological imagination. This term is used to discuss the process through which people internally determine their place within society and helps shape how we will behave in different situations (Mills, 2000). As we play this cyclical game of determining our place in society and determining how we should behave in relation to that idea, whether we decide to act according to what is expected of us or completely against it, will play a significant role in how we create our own identity. When we internally link our personal experience with what we understand of cultural expectations, we begin to classify ourselves and others into different social groups according to those beliefs. This sociological imaginatio n builds upon three observable aspects of being which include class, race and gender (Mills, 2000). Race and gender are pretty self-explanatory, but class may need a bit more definition. According to Mills (2000), the person's profession, their income level, their education, and several other elements considered desirable by a given culture can factor into the concept of class. Within the Western European and American cultures, for example, class is given to people who have a high level of education, dress in expensive clothing, and who have a career conducted from within a private office are considered to have more class than people who don't dress well or who have trouble articulating their thoughts. Since it doesn't necessarily follow that people who dress well and speak clearly make more money or have more power than people who dress poorly and struggle to make their ideas clear, class is considered to be a highly flexible and imprecise measure. The idea of class plays a signifi cant role in the forming of female identity, though, as can be seen in Joy Luck Club. On a micro-level, the many female characters in the film can be

Cleveland Apollo Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cleveland Apollo - Assignment Example This rampant concern about the ethical acquisition of antiquities has been the outcome of the widespread demands being made by the varied governments for the return of antiquities acquired by museums and collectors through unethical and illegal means and procedures, and the associated high profile trials. In that context the Cleveland Museum of Art’s acquisition of the statue of Apollo attributed to Praxiteles has attracted much controversy owing to the intriguing nature of its acquisition (Litt, 2010). Keeping in mind the existent ethics and international laws pertaining to the acquisitions of antiquities, it will certainly be apt to say that for the time the Cleveland Museum of Art must desist from displaying this statue of Apollo. The Cleveland Museum of Art acquired the controversial statue in 2004. Since then this statue has attracted much controversy. The museum is believed to have paid approximately $5 million to acquire this statue from Phoenix Ancient Art. This statut e is noted to be seen on an estate in Germany in the 30s and was noted to have stayed there before it was purchased by a Dutch antique collector in 1994 (Litt, 2010). After that the statute remained unseen for quite some time till it was traced to the Phoenix Ancient Art in 2002 (Cultural Heritage Resource, 2013). ... Thereby, the much plausible premise that ensues from the statement made by the Phoenix Ancient Art is that the firm was well aware of the statute’s past ownership history till it acquired it in 2002. This brings the acquisition of the Apollo statute by the Cleveland Museum of Art in direct confrontation with the established authorities and bodies of specialty, which have promulgated well specified ethical guidelines and ethical codes pertaining to the acquisition of antiquities. It will be academically quite insightful to delve into the guidelines published by these bodies of concern. The things is that any ethical museum or organization needs to stick to the guidelines ensuing from the UNESCO Convention aimed at prohibiting the unethical and illegal import and export of the cultural antiquities. As per the 1970 UNESCO Convention, the cultural antiquities need to be acquired in consonance with the international laws and the domestic laws imminent on the sale and purchase of su ch works of art (UNESCO, 2012)). Thereby, in a legal context this Convention debars the import of any antiquity into the United States of America that did not get out of the jurisdiction of its country of origin at a time that was not prior to the date when the restrictions were imposed, or any artifact that is not accompanied by an export license issued by its country of origin (Archaeological Institute of America (a), 2013). Now when one takes the UNESCO guidelines into consideration it does need to be mentioned that as per EC Regulation 3911/92, the export of any cultural antiquity that was traced in the jurisdiction of any EU member state in 1994 needs to be accompanied by an export license (Cultural Heritage Resource, 2013). This stands to be