Week 9 - Cinema and Television

Name your favorite television and film. Explain how the film or television could shape a person's identity.

My most favorite television animation series is Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) and most favorite movie is Thor. This television series and movie have in common on the main character who has the motivation to be the best and respected by other, trying to be the best by went through a lot of obstacles or challenges. In other word, the film or television not only just to entertain audience but to deliver a messages to the audience, in which this messages are the knowledge and this knowledge is known as Cultural Literacy. Schirato and Yell (2000), stated that "cultural literacy can be defined as a knowledge of meaning systems and an ability to negotiate those systems within different cultural contexts. It is virtually impossible to describe and analyze what is happening in any communication context or practice without using the concept of cultural literacy."

Television Series

Movie

The film or television could shape person's identity by the cultural literacy and also the emotion audience (he/she) have towards the television series or movie. Currie (1997) stated, “By imagining ourselves in the situation of a character with destructive, immoral desires, and thereby coming to have, in imagination, the desires of the character…”.

Another way where film and/or television able to shapes a person identity is by the influence of the characters in the movie or television series. According to Fildes (2008), they are the constructed worlds that can fascinate us with alternatives to our own society. Therefore, people learned and influenced by watching television or movie which shapes their identity from just by watching them.

In conclusion, the film or television could shape a person's identity due to the audience have the cultural literacy to understand the television series or movie. It's also could shape a person's identity by the influence from the television and movie, where a person copy the behavior or identity of the characters and apply it to their life.

References:

Currie, G. (1997). Image and Mind: Film, Philosophy and Cognitive Science. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fildes, A. (2008). I Watch, Therefore I Think: Teaching Philosophy Through Cinema and Television. Journal of Screen Education, (49), pp. 88-93.

Shirato, T. & Yell, S. (2000). Communication and Cultural Literacy: An Introduction (2^nd edition.). Australia: Allen & Unwin.