FM4 Section A: Urban Stories - Power, Poverty & Conflict
Different Environments/Times
‘La Haine’
‘Projects’ on the outskirts of Paris for ethnic minority groups, who were ‘assimilated’ into French society, with no opportunity for work or progression as they were promised.
‘City Of God’
Favelas’ constructed for the poor on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the result of marginalisation of social groups and an inability of the governrnent to deal with issues of poverty and housing.
‘Once Were Warriors’
Native Maori culture in New Zealand marginalised and treated as second-class citizens due to historical British colonial rule.
‘Chungking Express’
Citizens of Hong Kong in a condition of insecurity due to the return towards Chinese rule in 1997 after a period of independence following historical British colonial rule.
‘La Haine’
‘Projects’ on the outskirts of Paris for ethnic minority groups, who were ‘assimilated’ into French society, with no opportunity for work or progression as they were promised.
‘City Of God’
Favelas’ constructed for the poor on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro, the result of marginalisation of social groups and an inability of the governrnent to deal with issues of poverty and housing.
‘Once Were Warriors’
Native Maori culture in New Zealand marginalised and treated as second-class citizens due to historical British colonial rule.
‘Chungking Express’
Citizens of Hong Kong in a condition of insecurity due to the return towards Chinese rule in 1997 after a period of independence following historical British colonial rule.
Key Words:
Ideology – a person’s or a society’s set of beliefs and values, or overall way of looking at the world.
Culture – The way in which forms of human activity and interaction are socially transmitted/The way of life of a particular human community living in a specific place.
Power – The various forms of control some individuals and groups within society have over other individuals and groups.
Representation – The variety of ways in which individuals and groups are displayed to audiences within the media and other cultural texts.
Relationships of power – found within any social structure where there are differences between groups.
Key Questions:
Key Analysis:
Textual: - consider mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, and the structure of the narrative in detail.
Meaning: - consider how meaning is created to generate audience response in key sequences?
Contextual: a discussion of the social, historical and political contexts of each film?
Compare & Contrast: - discuss the similarities and differences between your chosen films in the key sequences you are discussing.
Power, Poverty and Conflict
Common Issues
Ideology – a person’s or a society’s set of beliefs and values, or overall way of looking at the world.
Culture – The way in which forms of human activity and interaction are socially transmitted/The way of life of a particular human community living in a specific place.
Power – The various forms of control some individuals and groups within society have over other individuals and groups.
Representation – The variety of ways in which individuals and groups are displayed to audiences within the media and other cultural texts.
Relationships of power – found within any social structure where there are differences between groups.
Key Questions:
- Who has the power?
- Who is in a position of subordination to that power?
- What is the nature of that power?
- Is it economic power involving accumulation of wealth and ownership of corporations?
- Is it political power involving the ability to govern and make laws?
- Or is it ideological power controlling over education and the mass media?
Key Analysis:
Textual: - consider mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, sound, and the structure of the narrative in detail.
Meaning: - consider how meaning is created to generate audience response in key sequences?
Contextual: a discussion of the social, historical and political contexts of each film?
Compare & Contrast: - discuss the similarities and differences between your chosen films in the key sequences you are discussing.
Power, Poverty and Conflict
Common Issues
- A culture dominated by a more powerful ideology.
- A portrait of a culture in a particular place at crucial time of development.
- An inability for sustained romantic alliances due to social conditions and upbringing.
- A feeling of social or cultural insignificance.
- A descent into violence, drug use, crime. alcoholism or lethargy.
- Conflicts arising as a result of social and/or cultural environments.
- Societies lacking in identity due to Western Globalisation.