tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post1041301729908648626..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: Thinking cities darklyDan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-37395733264559340442010-12-31T16:00:12.075-05:002010-12-31T16:00:12.075-05:00While cinema is excellent at portraying common fea...While cinema is excellent at portraying common fears and stereotypes of an age, it doesn't really follow that it is an accurate depiction of a society at a given location and time. As an example, consider the numerous movies that came out in the 1980s that portrayed the Japanese as alien economic invaders, or the Soviets as more-or-less human Terminators with no goal other than crushing the U.S.. <br /><br />Films are also not egalitarian enough to make a good ethnography; a given film is a product of a very small group of people, often a writer/director, and as such can really only be understood in terms of presenting their agenda or point of view. Almost from the beginning of cinematography there's been countless films that have portrayed historical and current events distorted by the views of the writer and director. On the one hand we have "Battleship Potempkin", on the other, "Birth of a Nation". It's easy for writing and cinematic tricks to give a view of a local that reflects almost completely the view of the film maker, leaving out any factors that may make reality more complicated or ambiguous. <br /><br />To summarize, films make for lousy depictions of anything other than what the filmmaker is thinking, and trusting films to accurately depict a culture is giving too much authority to a small group.<br /> <br />To be sure, one may be able to use films to illustrate common viewpoints in a society, but one has to bear heavily in mind that they are edited and manipulated portrayals based on the vision of a limited number of people. In short, don't confuse films with reality.Eric Tollehttp://roseembolism.livejournal.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-53199303799325066432010-12-28T13:58:23.340-05:002010-12-28T13:58:23.340-05:00Check this NYT article A Physicist Solves the Cit...Check this NYT article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/magazine/19Urban_West-t.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all" rel="nofollow"> A Physicist Solves the City </a> on urban planning.Yayaverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10567482260999422784noreply@blogger.com