Week 9 ~ Cinema and television: Cultural literacy and the question of “What’s it for?”

—  'Film operates as a model “for” as well as a model “of” reality in a process that naturalizes film sound and images.' ~ CLIFFORD GEERTZ

Richard Hoggart, one of the founding fathers of Cultural Studies, once asked a question: “What is it for?” For him, the “what” in his question stands for cultural literacy. 

If I were him, I will say the definition of Culturally literacy.  It is the ability to comprehend and value the similarities and variations in the customs, values, and beliefs of one’s own culture the cultures of others.

Unfortunately, this is not at all the case.  His concern was not the definition or the theoretical basis of the two words. He was aware that we understood culture through our daily communication with people and institutions, especially through the potential mode of mediums which are in this case the cinema as well as television.  The actual issue here is with all the knowledge from television and movies that we derive from, what is it for? and the question what happen t0 cultural literacy, what are we going to do about it?

Since I have mentioned the definition of cultural literacy,  I will focus on what is cinema and television studies for.  Cinema or films are cultural artifacts developed by specific cultures, which reflect those cultures, and, in turn, affect them. Film is construed to be an emperial art form, a source of well-known entertainment and a powerful mode in education.  The visual elements of cinema give motion pictures a universal power of communication. Films, not all, have become popular global attractions by utilising dubbing or subtitles that interpret the dialogue into the language of the viewer.

Now is all about television.  This medium can be a powerful entertainment and education tool for us especially to children given the right programming. Nevertheless studies have proved that television can have a very negative influence. From few sources, some studies show television can shorten attention span, distort body image, work in conjunction with other factors to escalate obesity, create anxiety, and increase aggressive and anti-social behaviors if exposure is unmonitored and unlimited. Television violence, swear words, harsh language, and sexually explicit content as well as aggressive marketing are in this case prevalent. 

On representing culture, cinema and television should possess a great knowledge on cultural literacy. This two mediums give viewers knowledge of a specific culture by using the law that compromises this cultural literacy in order for us to see the culture in the mirror of its representation.

According to (Stigler, Gallimore and Hiebert, 2000). 'Understanding other cultures has two notable benefits: 1) it multiplies our access to practices, ideas, and people that can make positive contributions to our own society; and 2) it helps us understand ourselves more deeply. By understanding a range of alternatives, we become aware of our own implicit beliefs – beliefs so deeply imbedded that we routinely take them for granted' 

Reference:

Hartley, J. (1999). Knowledge, television and the “textual tradition”. Uses of Television (pp.55-­‐70). London and New York: Routledge.


Stigler, Gallimore and Hiebert, 2000.