Unit 2 Individual Project:ethnocentrism

Running head: ETHNOCENTRISM

ETHNOCENTRISM

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Unit 2 Individual Project

· Select a movie or TV show that effectively communicates the cultural, values and norms of a society that is different from your own culture. Ideally, this movie or TV show would be a foreign film with subtitles. The movie or TV show you select should provide you with a glimpse of what life is like in another culture. The process of watching this movie or TV show should provide you with a unique, cultural experience.

· Watch the movie/TV show that you selected, and use your reactions as part of your response to the following topic: Define ethnocentrism and how it affects individuals, societies, and multinational corporations.

Your paper should provide a comprehensive overview of the concept of ethnocentrism. You should use your cultural experience of watching the selected movie or TV show to discuss the effect of ethnocentrism on individuals, societies, and multinational corporations. Please feel free to use any personal experiences you may have had visiting different countries around the world as part of this paper; however, do not let your personal experiences with other cultures be the focal point of this paper. The focal point of the paper is your cultural experience watching the selected movie or TV show and your comprehensive overview of the concept of ethnocentrism. Please note that this paper is not intended to be a summary of the movie or TV show. Your paper should focus on the cultural observations that you are able to make based on this experience. Your response should be 2–3 pages.

ETHNOCENTRISM

Ethnocentrism is a thing that the society has lived with for years and will still remain with it for as long as life exists. Different people view themselves superior than others-viewing their language, religion, ethnicity, customs and behavior as the most suitable. It is the ethnic subdivisions that exist between people that make the different ethnic groups have different cultural identities that are unique from each other. The development of ethnocentrism has led to divisions in societies which are a setback to national integration and appreciating the different cultures there exists in ones country or the world at large. (Guilfoyle, 1991). 

Some movie makers have also found themselves in deep critics for generation of movies that show some cultures and races as superior. Danny Boyle’s ‘Slum dog millionaire’ is an Indian movie that has won awards.

The movie is set in Mumbai. Jamal and Salim are brothers and are Muslims. Hinduism is the main religion in India. Fundamentalists or conservative religions have a tendency of believing that their religion is more important than any other religion that exists in that society and anyone defying participation in their religion is punishable. Often the Hindu has been in war with the Muslims in India resulting into loss of lives and property. In the film, Salim and Jamal loss their mother due to the fighting between the Hindu and the Muslims, leaving them to loiter in the streets.

During their life, they learned English which is an internal language of choice. Jamal’s teacher at one point hit him for the inability to answer a question in a book they were reading ‘The Three Musketeers’. Caste is another problem in India and teachers from the Brahmin caste are viewed as superior to other teachers. Disrespecting them could see one get severe punishment.

The low in the society are associated with certain jobs as seen in the movie. Jamal was a tea server in one of the multinational call centre. This was a job for the low in the society. This portrays how caste system is playing a role in ethnocentrism in India. Later, Jamal joined A television game ‘show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’. The Host of the show at one moment asked him of the kind of job he does. On revelation, the audience broke to laughter. On correct answering of the questions, the Host became suspicious of him and wondered how an ordinary tea server had such knowledge. Being ethnocentric, the host called the police for investigations to be done on Jamal. He was arrested and tortured through electrocution. He confessed how he had managed to acquire that knowledge.

In the call center, people are prohibited to speak other languages. This shows an element of ethnocentrism in this centre. The center is made to suit the people from western countries. Speaking of another language or some sense of foreign assent would be viewed by the customers at the center as one as being incompetent. In the movie, Jamal was asked by a call rep in the center to substitute him even though Jamal had no experience in the section. An English lady called and became suspicious and had to ask where Jamal came from. Jamal responded by giving a name of a remote place in England.

Indians tend to see Hollywood movie stars as superior than the Indians movie stars. The same thing happened to Jamal when he was a young boy. This led them to call their movie industry bollywood. In one occasion in the movie, a bollywood star makes a landing in a helicopter. During the landing, Jamal was in the public toilet. These toilets were make-shift outfits and human waste fell on a trash dump.

While in the toilet, someone locked him inside the toilet. For him to have an autograph of the bollywood star, he went through the hole at the base of the toilet and human waste covered him allover. He ran to the star with that filthy smell and to his joy the star signed it for him and handed it back to him.

Ethnocentrism has divided most communities in the world. Everyone should take an initiative to accept the cultures, races and sexual orientations of all people as equal. This will help people cord and no rifts will exists thus a peaceful world will exist.

References

Guilfoyle, A. M. (1991). Ethnocentrisms, individualism, and social identity in intergroup causal attributions in an Australian context.

http://barbradozier.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/ethnocentrism-in-slumdog-millionaire