I am taking a Film and Politics class with Professor Regina Lawrence, wherein we study how film affects our views on politics and how politics affect the business and art of film making.
The genre of film in relations to politics is not one that has been widely studied, and there is little research on the relationship...
This bring to my question: How does film potentially affect our political participation.
We have studied participation patterns in youth, but it is difficult to determine what determines their level of participation. There is a general presumption that younger people view films more often (I love going to the movies!) however youth participation is significantly lower... my grandparents love going to movies both often walk out of the movies (if they don't like the story the 'picture' is taking).
In my film and politics class we are also studying the differences between politically explicit and politically implicit films....
But what does this all mean?
We are trying to figure out in Film and Politics how film affects how we think about politics, but can we tell how film affects how much we participate.
What do yall think? Does film affect participation? Could it potentially inspire more participation? Does the medium then delineate to propaganda?
I personally don't know the answer to these questions... but what's your opinion?
For those of you especially interested in Film and Politics Wag the Dog, will be showing Monday Oct. 5th at 6:00 in the Holliday Forum of the Journalism Building sponsored by the Manship School.
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I think the best thing a film can do is bring light to an issue that is unknown to the majority of Americans. If that film does that maybe people will be inspired to go out and do something. I believe a film can inspire a current generation to not repeat the mistakes of a pass generation(maybe or maybe not)? This ia tough question and that is all for the day.
ReplyDeleteWhen a film is presenting a political message, I feel it can have an affect on the audience that is watching it, but this "affect" might be different for each person. Some might feel the film had no merrit and ignore the issue at hand, or they might feel it brought up a good point or issue and will start participating in fixing the issue.
ReplyDeleteAlso more young people do go to the movies and watch films, but the type of films they might watch might not have a big political message, if any at all. Also if the movie does, the younger generation might not always notice it.
Also some films only show very generic ways of participating in politics, such as voting, but do not show the many other ways to participate in your commuity; helping your congressman, encouraging people to vote, or even just being informed on the political issue in your area.
All in all I think film is a great way to get a message across, but depending on what approach the writer/director takes the film could have no or a major impact on its audience.
I think film can inspire individuals to be politically active. However, I agree that this political activism depends on how the viewer sees the message the film is presenting. Many films are directly trying to influence political activism while others are just hinting at a message to pass to citizens. In my opinion, films are able to relay these political messages to mainstream America because many people watch movies and then discuss them with others. I think film is a good way to shed light on an issue that citizens may not be educated on in everyday life.
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