One of the objectives of this course is to provide you with opportunities to be more observant in your own everyday environments for activities and artifacts that engage the idea of culture and how it impacts our psychology. Films represent various “realities” to millions of viewers around the world. Part of the beauty of cinema is that we can identify with characters, learn from their mistakes, bask in their glory, or generate counterfactuals about what they should have done. For the critical observer (not a passive consumer) who is knowledgeable about cultural psychology, cinema is full of examples of interesting and self-relevant phenomena which have been theorized and tested empirically. Likewise, cinematic productions are themselves psychological stimuli that can reproduce culture.
More specifically, the objective of this assignment is to get you to use what you have learned about cultural psychology to formulate an analysis of a film that is pertinent to one or more of those topics.
Instructions
Choose a film that is relevant to any of the topics that we have covered so far in the course.
Paper goals
The goal of your paper should be to write a convincing review of the film according to its worthiness as a cultural product. The criterion you should be judging the film on is the degree to which it accurately (or inaccurately) represents the phenomena we have discussed in class up to this point. Your paper should include the following components:
Introduction and thesis (1 paragraph):
Part I: Short synopsis of the film (1 paragraph)
Part II: Social psychological scene analysis (2 -3 paragraphs)
Observe the interactions, situations, etc. in the film and use one of the broad perspectives on culture to explain the psychology of the characters in the film. You will need to define the cultural idea/theory that applies to the film and then explain how the specific scenes match or do not match with the model/theory. You are encouraged to point to a variety of scenes that either fit or do not fit with the cultural perspectives you have learned in this course so far.
Part III: Cultural analysis of the film (around 3-4 paragraphs)
Think through the ideas of mutual constitution and intentionality of everyday worlds (Adams & Markus, 2004) and Consider the merits of this film as a cultural product. Please consider both of the following questions:
How does the film engage the ideas of mutual constitution and the intentionality of everyday worlds (Adams & Markus, 2004)?
In your opinion, what is the impact that this film might have on someone watching it? Do you think that movies have much power regarding how someone thinks about their own culture and the cultures of other groups? Why or why not?
Conclusion/Wrap up (1 paragraph)
Based on Parts II and III explain to me why this film should or should not be considered as a useful cultural product.
