MULTICULTURAL
ELEMENTS IN
FILMS.
MADAM LAYLA
TSLB3203 MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE
Films, along with television, video
games, music and the Internet are
regarded as pedagogically inspiring
tools of popular culture in giving
pleasure to its target group
(Kincheloe, 2007). Many other
studies have shown that showing
films that focus on societal
concerns are useful tools in
improving students’ attention
towards them (Blasco, Moreto,
Roncoletta, Levites & Janaudis,
2006).
As Ellen Summerfield states in Crossing
Cultures through Film (1993), “film helps
to create a unique environment for cross-
cultural learning because it speaks to our
WHAT SETS US APART?
emotions as well as our intellect. Learning
about stereotypes, ethnocentrism,
discrimination, and acculturation in the
abstract can be flat and uninspiring. But
if we experience intercultural contact with
our eyes and ears, we begin to understand
it.”
Films can promote awareness, curiosity
and interest in other cultures and
respect for diversity. They enable
students to develop empathy with the
protagonist from whose point of view
the story is told. Hence, films can
help learners to see the world from
somebody else’s point of view and put
themselves into the shoes of people
with whom they have few or no
opportunities to come into personal
contact, for example refugees or
ethnic minorities in their own country
or abroad.
Films are cultural documents and
allow students to explore the
different elements of another
culture such as its products,
for example literature,
folklore, art, music and
artefacts, behavioural patterns,
such as customs, habits, dress,
foods and leisure activities as
well as ideas, such as beliefs,
values, institutions (as
outlined in Cultural
Awareness by Tomalin &
Stempleski, 1993).
In particular, films can be used as a tool to help
students acquire knowledge about the sociocultural
elements mentioned under declarative skills:
· everyday living,e.g.food and drink, meal times,table manners,
public holidays, working hours and practices,
leisure activities
· living conditions
· interpersonal relations
· values, beliefs and attitudes
· body language
· social conventions
· ritual behaviour
Language, symbols, customs, group
traditions, and other fluid,
malleable artifacts of culture
become animated and comprehendible
in the stories of people contending
with the realities of living.
Applying this theoretical
perspective to films, students learn
that there is no one universal truth
or working principle that can be
derived from individual stories, yet
there are many truths to be
discovered when a person is
listening and reflecting
(O'Bannon & Goldenberg, 2008).
This is a key understanding for student
learning to think critically about their
application of knowledge. Films give
students opportunities to examine sources
of meaning to explore ways of thinking
critically about those meanings and
interpretations developed and embedded in
culture.
Most of us watch films for
enjoyment, but movies are
also a great educational
resource for helping
students understand school
material outside of the
classroom environment. Here
are just a few of the
reasons why films are a
great educational resource.
Films are great for visual learners
Every student has their own unique learning
style. Sometimes auditory learning or learning
through reading doesn’t come easily to
students. Movies are great resource for visual
learners because they enable them to understand
concepts without the barriers that hinder
learning.
Films allow students to see life through
different perspectives
Just like books, movies allow students
insight into the lives of different
characters, how their perspective differs
and how they handle certain situations.
Films can show students how different
people, in different parts of the world,
live their lives. This can be particularly
useful in subjects like geography and social
studies.
Films provide a visual aid to understanding
historical events
As students learn about history in the
classroom, it isn’t always easy to fully
realize how a historical situation would have
really felt. For example, an historical drama
like Saving Private Ryan can help students
understand the Second World War, or a movie
like Les Misérables can help students
understand the French Revolution.
Films help students understand concepts
like theme, style, and genre
Students often have difficulty
grasping these concepts when hearing
about them in an English or Art class.
Identifying theme, style and genre in a
movie allows students to grasp these
concepts in a medium that is more
familiar to them.
TUTORIAL TASK
1. Discuss the
multicultural elements
that you can depict in
Crazy Rich Asians.
2. Present during your
tutorial.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news
_article/4834/_PARENT/CC_layout_details/
false
2. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Multicult
uralism-in-Films-PKMTCCDEJDM6S
3. Champoux, J. (1999). Film as a teaching
resource. Journal of Management Inquiry,
8(2), 206-217
