Monday 13 May 2013

How can literature or films can make us more aware of social inequality



In class last week we watched the movie "the blind side". I am going to use the story in "the blind side" and the story in a book i have read called "the hunger games" to illustrate my views on how literature or films can make us more aware of social inequality. 

Many places in the world there are social inequality. Most places in the world there are differences between poor or rich, but they are not always visible if you don´t take a closer look. Social inequality can also appear in different ways, such as the government having all the wealth while people are struggling, or by having some areas where all the rich or more wealthy people live, and areas where all the poor or less wealthy people live. 

I think films can be great sources to get knowledge about differences and social inequality. If they are made in a good way, they can manage to show these differences without it being the main theme. By watching films who shows the social inequality we can more easily see the main differences between peoples way of living. We can also be reminded that things are not always as we believe, like when you see people in films who lives in a wealthy area and has no idea that there is another less wealthy side of that area or city. I think the films can make people more aware of the social inequalities by showing people that there is another side of your area which you have never been to. Many of the wealthy people have never been to that other side of their area, and some people may not even dare to approach that other side. 

In another way, films can also help us see injustice being committed by government when it´s hard for us to discover in our daily life's  The government actually don´t need to be doing anything wrong if the commit injustice, but they may commit injustice by not reacting or not focusing at social inequalities and problems. By not caring about cities or places being divided and having such strong division lines between wealthy and not wealthy, the government can be practicing almost as much injustice as taken all the wealth to themselves. 
The film called "the blind side" is mainly about a family who takes care of a boy called Michael Oher. Michael has always been living in a very poor part of their area, and has lived in many foster homes because his mother has not managed to take care of him because of her drug addiction. Therefore, Michael has never been able to focus on school work, or any other important things for a child or teenager. The family, which consists of Leigh Ann and Sean Tuhoy and their two kids, a boy and a girl. Michael gets to live with them, and after a while Leigh Ann and Sean becomes his legal guardian. He gets to go to school and they also discover that he is really good at american football. Among other things he also gets a private tutor which helps him with getting better at school so he can go to college and play football. 
The blind side is a very touching story about a poor boy which gets his whole life changed in a positive way by just someone caring about him. The film also shows in a very good way how big the differences between to places in the same area can be. For instance when Michael takes Leigh Ann to a shop near where he used to live, it´s a huge difference from where Leigh Ann and her family lives in their wealth. 

"The Hunger Games" is a quite different story than the blind side, though it has some of the same message. The hunger games shows our society in another time far in the future, where all that remains after a brutal war is a country called "Panem". Panem is divided into 12 (later 13) districts with the capital "Capitol". All the twelve districts lives in very poor conditions and are struggling just to get enough food to survive, while the people in Capitol lives in great wealth. As a punishment for the rebellion years a go, each district has to send one boy and one girl to the hunger games each year. The rules are simple; the contestants has to survive, and the one that remains in the end is crowned as the winner and can go back home. In "the Hunger games" we meet Katniss who is 16, and lives with her sister Primrose, and her mother. Her father died in a mine accident. Her sister Primrose are chosen to compete in the hunger games, but Katniss volunteers to take her place. The story is mainly about how Katniss manage to survive the Hunger games, but at the same time the message below is how unfair the system and government are. 

"The hunger games" shows a different way of social inequality than "the blind side". In this story, social inequality is illustrated by the government system being unfair and committing great injustice. I think the film is good at showing how social inequality can be practiced at its worst. 

To make a conclusion, I think both films are showing how social inequality can be practiced in different ways. Films like this are necessary to make people aware of the injustice being committed I think. 

4 comments:

  1. I agree, they both show social inequality although the Hunger Games is a fantasy book. I like the movies made from true stories because they really make you think about what is going on all over the world today!

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  2. I agree also that the movies show social in equality although the Hunger Games is a fantasy book you can relate to the real world because of the social injustice. However, the Blind Side is based on a true story the movies not only shows social inequality but Racial.

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