Cinema's Impact On Society: Essay On Public Debate.

You should choose one of these questions. It will not require research, but it will require you to choose one or more appropriate media examples and to critically reflect on your own media consumption.

Journal question:

1. "Map your screens: critical reflection on how screens work in cultural and gendered ways in your everyday life."

Screens, Genders, Cultures (Prof. Catherine Driscoll)

Examples: Beyoncé; David Bowie; Disney princesses; Stranger Things.

2. "Consider the claim that popular cinema constitutes an arena for public debate."

      [You may argue for or against this proposition, or consider multiple arguments in relation to it.]

 The Impact of Popular Cinema

1. a) Film and/as the Public Sphere (Prof. Catherine Driscoll)

Examples: D.W. Griffith, Broken Blossoms; Charlie Chaplin, Modern Times

1. b) Film Sex and Ethics (Dr Jessica Kean)

Example: Sam Taylor-Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey

3. "Discuss the following proposition: We learned what the modern family was from television, even when television mocked that family or showed it falling apart, and television is still the media form from which we most clearly learn what “normal life” is supposed to be."

Television and Gender

1. a) Sitcoms and Soap Operas: Gender and Broadcast Television (Paul Kelaita)

Examples: I Love Lucy; Neighbours

1. b) New TV Suppliers and Gender Diversity (Grace Sharkey)

Examples: Orange is the New Black; Transparent

Screens, Genders, Cultures: Examples

Cinema has always been a way of communication of expression to the mass population through the camera. It is often termed as a reflection of life on the screen. Therefore, taking the statement into consideration, it can be concluded that cinema has a significant impact on the operation of the society.  This paper is in support of the statement that cinema constitutes an arena for public debate.

Cinema has always had the impact of stunning the people watching it. It is not just by the acting, cinematography, stories or the montage of editing but by the mystery of the phenomenon of the time that is suspended and the motion that is captured. it has always been a medium to communicate culture, propaganda and leisure. Moreover, it has always been a tool of education. Cinema has a lot of positive impacts on the society (Berger 2015).  It is a depiction of the reality, a method of recreation, it educates the society about the social and political matters. Cinema has the capability to change the system by having an impact on the opinions of people. In addition, cinema is itself an industry and provides work to a mass of people. Besides having a lot of bright sides, cinema has some darks sides too. It shows criminal activities, violence and makes the young population sexually conscious from an early age.

Sometimes, it also promotes a sense of dissatisfaction with life. Furthermore, contemporary cinema of the popular culture is spoiling the dressing sense of the youths. There are several historical examples of the harmful side of this magnificent form of art. For example, there were mass protests when the film "The Birth of a Nation" was released in America since it showed the whites in a bad light (The Hollywood Reporter 2018). Although there have been many examples of films influencing the society like those of Charlie Chaplin. The film "The Great Dictator" is a great example of one such socially influencing film. Sexuality and nudity in cinema became commercialized in the Hollywood, which has often been portrayed in a bad light unlike the French new wave cinema. Nudity and sexuality has always been a form of art over there. Hollywood, on the other hand, has shown the concepts of sexuality in a commercial way which resulted in the perception of obscenity on screen.

Films like "Fifty shades of Grey" can be taken into consideration for explanation of the impact of such obscenity on the society and the public as a whole (Acuna 2018). The film portrayed the act of BDSM in the wrong way along with romanticizing a dominant and abusive relationship. Even though this film was horribly written and directed, it went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year of the release and a mass population watched and got influenced with it. The impact of this film on the public was clarified by the sale of the merchandise of the film. A  sharp increase of the sale of sex toys was also observed (Pough  2015). The film went on to influence people, mostly women of different ages and had a bad impact on them to the extent of them not differentiating between a healthy and an abusive mental and physical relationship.

Therefore, cinema impacts the society in a good and a bad way depending on the type of film that is being made. It also depends on the perception and will of the population as to how they will accept the film. Hence, the impact of films on the society is a greatly debatable topic from which no particular conclusion can be drawn even though the types of impacts can be classified.

References:

Acuna, K. (2018). BY THE NUMBERS: The '50 Shades Of Grey' Phenomenon. [online] Business Insider Australia. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com.au/50-shades-of-grey-by-the-numbers-2013-9?r=US&IR=T#70-million-copies-of-the-fifty-shades-of-grey-series-have-been-sold-so-far-in-the-us-1

Berger, A.A., 2015. Ads, fads, and consumer culture: Advertising's impact on American character and society. Rowman & Littlefield.

Pough, G.D., 2015. Check it while I wreck it: Black womanhood, hip-hop culture, and the public sphere. Northeastern University Press.

The Hollywood Reporter. (2018). 'The Birth of a Nation' at 100: "Important, Innovative and Despicable" (Guest Column). [online] Available at: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/birth-a-nation-at-100-770620