MOVIES

Answers to the Questions

1.         Deculturalization is one of the most inhumane acts one can partake in. It refers to the stripping away of people’s culture and replacing it with a new culture. Segregation, isolation and forced changed of language are some of the many methods of deculturalization. Inserting one’s own culture in place of someone’s pre-existing culture is the basis of ethnocentrism or the belief in the superiority of one’s own ethnic group. By analyzing this ethnocentrism, one learns the importance of sustaining different cultures in the society. (1994)

            Deculturalization can be seen in the film titled “In the White Man’s Image”. This features the experiment to change acculturates Native Americans into mainstream white culture with the creation of the Carlise School for Indians. In this film, critical eye is cast on the early efforts by Congress to civilize Native Americans through the process of homogenization which required the removal of Native children from their homes and placing them in special Indian school ( 2006. Deculturalization were exhibited when Native American children were forced to stay for years in the said school at a time without returning home and required them to avoid their own language and culture and instead forced them to learn the ways of the white man ( 2006). Culture discrimination as exhibited through the homogenization process and ethnocentrism characterized by the effort of the Congress to rid the culture of the Natives and promoting of their own white culture were demonstrated by this film.

            Another film similar to the first film that tackled deculturalization is the “Rabbit Proof Fence” which tells the story of fourteen year-old mixed-race Aborigine girl who escapes with her sister and cousin from a Western Australian settlement at Moore River. It also tackles the issue of Australia’s ‘stolen generation’ represented by the Aboriginal children who were separated by the State from their parents ( 2006). It presented the issues of deculturalization when children were forcibly removed from their parents for mandatory education and for the State and Church’s aim of re-socialization in the present society ( 2006). In the same way, to advance them into the white society, children were forced to disregard their own culture in place of the new culture imposed by the State and the Church.

            Unchained Memories is another movie, similar to the two films that deal with deculturalization. This depicts the experiences and the lives of slaves during the era of domestic slave trade and slave auction. Hundreds of thousand of slaves throughout the South experienced the humiliation, the fear, the uncertainty and the psychological shock that accompanied the domestic slave trade and even for slaves who did not experience the slave trade, the slave auction cast a painful shadow over their lives ( 2002). Correspondingly, children and their families who suffered from slave trade were alienated from their own culture since they were exposed to the other new culture particularly to the white culture. Moreover, their skin color and their culture as a whole which was very different from the white gave them the inferiority complex from those whites.

            Moreover, the lose of cultural distinctiveness of voluntary immigrants such as the White, Asian, Hispanic and Latino groups under the mainstream compulsory assimilation upon arrival in the United States is another piece similar to the three  films already discussed. Their cultural uniqueness gradually gone since they had to adapt to the culture of the whites to face the discrimination of the Americans for which they lived as well as to be accepted in their society ( 1994). Thus, they had to disregard their own culture and go with the flow of the white culture. Consequently, cultural conflicts arise because of the difference in the values and norms and the culture itself of the immigrants compared to the white, thus, resulting to immigrants’ deculturalization.

2.         Savage Inequalities written by  (1991) described the conditions of several American’s public schools. He found out that there was a wide disparity or difference in the conditions between the schools in the poorest inner-city communities and schools in the wealthier suburban communities ( 1999). It became obvious that many poor children who were not given an equal opportunity from the start begin their young lives with an education that is far inferior to that of the children who grow up in wealthier communities (1999). Being the essential factors to be determined that affects the lives of many children, Kozol stressed the importance in the improvement in education, poverty, homelessness, and hope for the future of young people (Kreider, 1991). Further, he believed that there was a need to do more than merely study the psychological effects of poverty and oppression on children to find solutions to social problems that were being faced ( 2006).

3.         Unequal funding of public schools was one of the issues discussed by (1991).This unequal funding lead to inferior schools and creates a wide disparity between schools in the poorest and wealthiest communities ( 1999). Because of the unequal funding, the rich were given greater knowledge and cultural capital. This ensured their continued affluence. On the contrary, the poor remained segregated in falling public schools. Thus, the poor learned only how to function in a service-sector economy or to be in the growing underclass of unemployed American citizens (1991). The second problem raised was the school overcrowding which forces some classes to be held in bathrooms and the lack of funds that make it impossible to teach science labs and have textbooks for students. Conversely to that situation of the poor, rich academic institutions enjoyed the luxuries of campuses with newly remodeled auditoriums, student lounges, wood-paneled libraries and extensive computer laboratories (1991).

            The third issue raised was the state and local control to education. The author claimed that the business approach to education reiterates mediocrity instead of introducing excellence ( 1991).In addition to the three issues being emphasized, cases of affluence discrimination and inequality in public schools was also discussed. If the majorities living in the area, according to the author, are poor citizens, then the majority of students in academic institutions are also poor. Thus, they became prone to discrimination and inequality simply because they were poor ( 1991).

4.         In her book, Nickel and Dime,  (2006) went undercover as a working poor with a minimum wage. She mentioned that there wasn’t a sufficient underground economy through which the minimum wage workforce can routinely makes ends meet. Further, she (2006) described the ways her co-workers coped up with such situation. To deal with that depressing situation, her co-workers stayed in the motel rooms since they thought that living in an apartment was more expensive. Moreover, instead of providing themselves with refrigerators and microwaves at their own homes, they obtained their foods from convenience stores. ( 2001)

             But, she corrected these actions. She found out, based on her experienced, that living in a motel room was more expensive than living in an apartment since it came to an abrupt end when she can’t pay for her rented room on her salary. On the other hand, the problem in living in an apartment was having the resources for paying the first month’s rent and security deposit required. In the case of buying food in convenience stores she found out that aside from the compensated nutritional value obtained from that food, it was even more expensive than cooking at home. Considering such ways, Ehrenreich pointed out that food prices are relatively stable. On the other hand, rental costs are subject to inflation. ( 2001)

5.          (2006) mentioned several high costs of poverty. Some of these were the costs in buying furniture and appliances though pricey rent-to-own business such as in Wisconsin where a 0 rent-to-own TV set can cost 0 with the interest included; the fact that poor people are less likely to have bank accounts which can be expensive for those with low balances so they tend to cash their paychecks at check-cashing businesses, charging them to for a 0 check; the fact that poorer people pay an average of one percentage point more in mortgage interest and that poor people rely more on expensive and lower quality offerings of small grocery and convenience stores since they have less access to large supermarkets. Other high costs of poverty were the factor that low-income car buyers like the people earning less than , 000 a year pay two percentage points more for a car loan than more affluent buyers do and low-income drivers pay more for car insurance (they pay an average of 0 more a year) to insure the same car and driver risk than wealthier drivers. These costs made the living conditions of poor people more expensive. (2006)

 

 

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