Topic > The role of art and cinema in shaping societies

In 2012 (The Act of Killing) a very controversial documentary was released to the public. The film was about the mass killing of Indonesian communists in (1965-1966). Before, the genocide was ignored by Indonesia and the world, not only but celebrated locally! Although some documents about the role of the Indonesian government, the US and the UK in the genocide were made available to the public, no one actually cared! The documentary created universal recognition of the crimes committed and shed light again on what is forgotten. This sparked debates among Indonesians, and the role of the United States was once again called into question. The film was nominated for the Academy Award and won many of the world's most prestigious film awards, but the greatest effect was to bring this terrifying and forgotten part of history back to life, generating the need to hold the parties accountable responsible for the crimes. have committed and opening a dialogue between psychologists and the public about the complex nature of mass murderers and their psychology. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The act of killing is a clear example of how film and art can be used as proactive tools for positive change. In psychology it is proven that human decisions are largely motivated by emotions. Neuroscientist Damasios' groundbreaking discovery clearly demonstrates this. Antonio Damasios analyzed patients with damaged areas of the brain responsible for coding emotions, who essentially couldn't make simple decisions like what to eat! This finding demonstrated that logic and rationalization usually come after the emotional motive. Art deals with this aspect of human nature. . .Emotions We notice that people can see horrible news on TV every day and are indifferent to it. But when they watch a film about the same event, which is well written and acted, they are moved and no longer remain indifferent, and this will trigger the desire to act and do something about it. The other's life is not just WATCHED on the news, but rather HEARD and experienced. Art mitigates the paralyzing effect of data. Even documentary films are better than news! Because they give you the feeling of involvement and of being part of the event presented. This is why art is a vehicle for social change. Art preserves the collective memory of society, people can plagiarize historical facts, and the most powerful can always manipulate the way history is written and transmitted to subsequent generations. But when it comes to art, art not only provides THE FACT about how people lived, but also what it felt like to be there and experience that particular time and place. Art is not only the collective memory but also the collective consciousness of society, the voice of the voiceless, their expression of how they feel about the moment and the moment. Graffiti and Art Street are a good representative of this. Graffiti, invented in 1968 as a means of expression, defender of personal and political opinions, has democratized art and made it accessible to all. He questioned what art is, how people communicate and how they express political opinions. Street art has gone beyond the boundaries of the expected, it has used ART FOR THE GOOD and for a better future, art as a voice of the voiceless and a way to change the rhetoric and comment on the ironies of the modern world of today. Shepherd Fairy the street The artist made a poster titled (HOPE) with Obama. HOPE has become one of the most famous symbolsof the Obama campaign and was recently used in Barak's official presidential election campaign. And street artist JR's exceptional work on RIO's favelas created in this disenfranchised place has given residents a sense of pride. Another example is the Center for Political Beauty in Berlin, which is aGerman art group that is causing a lot of irritation in the public sphere. They use theater and political poetry to reintroduce sensitive topics such as the Holocaust and immigration and refugee issues to public awareness. Art, as we see from the examples above, creates awareness, gives voice to thoughts and expresses the collective consciousness of the now and the moment. Art fosters the basic human need for self-expression. It is well known that art affects one's fundamental sense of self, but this is also true in relation to society as a whole. People express themselves through art (painting, sculpture, music), this act of expression helps society confirm their identity and increase their sense of self, which is very important when it comes to maintaining integrity , cohesion and unity of the group. For this reason people complain about the politics of the media, which only show the history of the most powerful. And the stories and arts of others are not given the opportunity to be expressed and exchanged with the rest of the world. This leads to one of the negative consequences of globalization which is the marginalization of some cultures, which leads to the freezing of those cultures, and their art, traditions and special way of life are no longer transferred to subsequent generations. From a broader perspective it also leads to the generation of the one-dimensional globalized human being who is the same everywhere, demolishing the beauty of diversity! Cinema shapes identities and conceptions, which is why many criticisms have been raised against it especially regarding the representation of women and people of color. The images consumed by popular culture influence the dominant discourse that circulates about life and others. A long time ago, feminists launched many battles against Hollywood and the film industry, arguing that cinema is one of the social institutions and represents one of the factors that define gender roles and gender expectations. Women in Hollywood are mostly portrayed sexually and used to increase profits by manipulating the feelings and desires of humans. Although women make up 37% of professors, they rarely reach this level of representation in Hollywood. Professional women must fight against public perceptions of them (being unhappy outside of academia, alone, and socially unacceptable). They always have to defend themselves, explain themselves and demonstrate, whenever there is a chance, that they have a family and celebrate family life! Black women have long suffered from cinema's stereotypes and generalizations. They are usually depicted as dependent, angry, loud, materialistic, uncivilized who use cruel words and exaggerated body language, lack self-control, and vulgar. The stereotype famous for the ANGRY BLACK WOMAN or the BLACK BITCH. You can watch the movie (Diaries of a Mad Black Woman) if you are suspicious, or the title alone is enough, I think! Even successful black women were not safe from stereotypes in the media, as they are usually portrayed in films as bitter and ambitious. and narcissistic. These stereotypes have made the lives of black women difficult as they always try to avoid judgment by suppressing their feelings and activating emotionless mode. This repression leads to mental health problems and life distress. And in general blacks as a race suffered from beingdepicted as drug dealers, drug addicts, violent, homeless, subway robbers, and bottoms. They are perceived as athletes but never as academics or intellectuals. They are stupid and their intellectual abilities are questioned. This de emphasized the importance of academia for young black men and motivated them to seek careers in sports and physically demanding jobs. These examples show that art not only shapes society positively but also negatively. Art and cinema have a substantial effect on my region. In Africa: Chinua Achebe the great Nigerian author and writer of the masterpiece Things Fall Apart, the Guardian (the man who gave voice to Africa) called him! They stated: “Achebe accorded the religion, culture and domestic economies of Igbo daily life a level of intimacy and humanity that made their experience universal, courageously pushing the boundaries of perspective.” of writers said it changed the way they see and understand not only Africa but the world. Many African writers were given the chance after Achebe, and more importantly… things fell apart and repaired some of the damage done by European representation of Africans. In the Middle East and North Africa region, Egyptian cinema and art have influenced societies enormously. Egypt not only has the largest population in the MENA region, but also produces the largest amount of films, melodramas, music, television and comedies. It is perceived as the Arab cultural powerhouse. Egyptian films are distributed and watched throughout the MENA region. You can stop anyone randomly on the street and they will tell you about Adil Imam, Ahmed Zaki and Fatin Hmama, they might even recite some of their acting dialogues. Even for Egyptian television, one can never ignore the way Layali AlHelmia, Abbas Alabyad Fe Alyom Alaswad and AlHaj Motwali have influenced our lives and the way we perceive the world. Egypt led the revival of Arabic music in the 19th century and recent Arab pop music in the 1970s. Egyptian arts and cinema made Arabs aware of political and social issues, these issues were discussed and analyzed through films. They represented the Arab and Islamic heritage in images that stick in the mind and are worth thousands of words. And looking at these works of art provoked the Arabs' sense of identity and their love for the country. In Sudan, theater has positively changed the collective consciousness, and when we talk about Sudanese theater we cannot forget AlFadil Saeed, one of the pioneers in this field. AlFadil in the 1950s used his plays to influence the political scene in Sudan. He was an actor, director, producer and writer. Alfadil introduced a new way of artistic expression which is the monologue and, using comedy, irony and sarcasm, he conveyed strong and influential messages to the public. AlFadil toured the whole country, from Halfa to Numili, and used the words and language of lay people, the power of irony and comedy in changing the public atmosphere. Another example of the powerful effect of art in Sudanese society is the negative influence of ALHakamat. The AlHakamat are a group of local women poets, who rhyme poems to encourage men to fight and engage in warfare. They overemphasize the virility, heroism and courage of fighters, speak negatively of men who prefer peace and call them cowardice. Hakamat was one of the main causes supporting the humanitarian crisis and massacre in Darfur. And there are many initiatives aimed at them to help spread the culture of peace in these problematic areas of the country. Since 2015, many university students of medical sciences.