Topic > Representation of Systemic Oppression in Pop Culture: Film Analysis

Modern literature, cinematography, the music industry, graphic novels, or any other major component of pop culture are in one way or another a reflection of the society in which they are created and formed as part of traditional culture. For years, in fact, popular culture has been the tool for expressing and shedding light on the problems and issues predominant in the cultures and societies from which they arise. Race, gender, social inequality, drug problems, sexuality, and other key issues that represent the concerns of society as a whole are often found to be major issues in the plots of various works of pop culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The reasons why social issues are essential parts of modern popular culture may vary, but one thing can be said that people like to watch, read, listen to stories that they can relate to and are familiar with. On the other hand, exposing social issues through novels, films, music, etc. it helps the society to analyze the problem and look at it from a different perspective. Judging problems from an outsider's perspective is crucial when dealing with social problems that are so deeply rooted in society that they are unlikely to be perceived as a problem by members of society itself. Such an approach is especially necessary in the case of systemic oppression because the essence of systemic oppression is that, to some extent, it is a set of behaviors normalized in a given society. It is not perceived as oppressive behavior on the part of a specific person or authority, but rather is a part of the behavior of society in general and in many cases it is not possible to find a specific culprit. The fact that systemic oppression is often a semi-normalized societal behavior makes it especially important to express it in pop culture to demonstrate that institutionalized oppression is such a profound problem for society. In this essay, I would like to discuss how systemic oppression is displayed in two important works of modern popular culture. Both films, Dangerous Minds and Higher Learning, are based on the theme of social inequality and also how such inequalities are the result of systemic oppression that is often difficult to identify, but which is a very evident and essential component of inequality problem. In the case of higher education, the film highlights many issues in society as a whole and the reality of university life in particular. John Singleton, the film's director, is famous for addressing racial inequalities in his films. This film in particular is a kind of projection of society represented by a kind of sanctuary: the university campus of young students in post-racist America, where the laws do not particularly support racial inequality, however, which does not eliminate or make it disappear the systematic oppression all together. The film shows how oppressive behavior is a part of people's mentality that is much more difficult to change than the official laws of the country. The college campus is an ideal place to evaluate society and its attitude towards issues such as racism. Higher Education describes the situation of Columbus University, a fictional campus where freshmen are trying to adapt to the new life of adulthood in a way that people adapt to life in America in general. The combination of the African American Malik, the weak and scared boywhite Remi and the white girl Kristen creates a kind of real-life simulation in which people with different social positions, different stories and different insecurities try to find themselves and at the same time at the same time try to protect themselves from each other. The main problem is how to protect yourself and how to oppress others in the process. Singleton's film offers different angles of discussion and different angles of systemic oppression projected into the mindset of society, even into the mindset of the oppressed members themselves. An African-American boy, Malik has made it his goal to become a successful athlete and, in a way, he believes that's all that's asked of him. At one point, he even asks his deeply conservative black professor to be more lenient with him regarding academic performance. Professor Maurice Phipps may be the only person in this fictional society of the American university, who stands against the oppressive society and its fixed mentality. He rejects Malik's desire to be treated less harshly and to be questioned less in terms of his academic performance. In fact, Phipps makes him set the same standards as everyone else and work to achieve a decent level of academic excellence. While even Malik himself believed that his only aspiration was perfection in sports and did not even consider himself to be academically equal to his peers, Phipps defended this type of mentality and made him equal to other students. Malik's attitude towards his goals and purposes shows that even when official laws cannot be directly blamed, systemic oppression continues to influence people's lives and thinking, as well as how they perceive themselves as part of society. One's role is not the only instance in which systemic oppression reveals its influence on the life of a young black student. Each of the three freshmen students is in some way "adopted" and guided by the older students with similar views and similar social backgrounds. Likewise, Remy, a white boy with puzzled eyes, befriends Nazi skinheads who drive his racist behavior against Malik and ultimately his violent and fatal attack on the students. Remy's racist behavior against Malik did not receive an adequate reaction from the authorities who even helped him escape more than once when he attacked black students. Systemic oppression may not be part of the official rules, but the problem is that it always finds its way into people's minds and influences their behavior. The people who let Remy escape certainly wouldn't do the same if he wasn't a white boy attacking black students. Being very helpful to whites against blacks, even to the point of causing great harm and crime, is in fact a result of systemic oppression, which takes place in society as a whole and not just in the mind of one particular person. It affects how people treat each other and even how they treat themselves, just as was obvious in Malik's case. Another film I will discuss regarding systemic oppression and its influence on social patterns is Dangerous by John N. Smith. You lie. In this case, the film itself is about the oppressed parts of society. The class of so-called "special children" is made up of black and Hispanic students from poor families. The class is in fact a separate society within the school, the marginalized class that is already condemned to follow a life of hardship with insufficient education. Children are already oppressed by the school system and separated with the label of difficulty. The film begins with the new teacher hired for.