Preview

How is cultural identity either embraced or rejected by the characters in Ivan Sen's film Beneath Clouds?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
882 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How is cultural identity either embraced or rejected by the characters in Ivan Sen's film Beneath Clouds?
How is cultural identity either embraced or rejected by the characters in Ivan Sen's film Beneath Clouds?
Analyse how this is reflected in the journey of Lena and Vaughn.

Cultural identity is the identity of a group, culture, or individual in so much as one is influenced by themselves belonging to a group or culture. Cultural identity is rejected by the characters in Iven Sen’s film Beneath Clouds and Art Spieglman’s Maus. In Beneath Clouds this is demonstrated and reflected in the journey of Lena and Vaughn. Lena, Vaugh and Art experience journeys in search of cultural identity but their search is indeed a search for identity and belonging which is often rejected by the characters themselves. This essay will discuss…

Sen embraces typical stereotypes of cultural identity in Vaughn and Lena but juxtaposes that with the majority of the other characters in the film. These minor characters judge Lena and Vaughn due to their race and class. During their journey, Lena and Vaughn come across people who reject their cultural identity. This is evident in the corn scene when the property owner specifically tells Vaughn, labelled as a “black bastard”, to get off his land when Lena was equally responsible, however but due to her colour which reflects her half-cast identity, she was not held accountable. This is also seen in the tree-cutting scene when the policeman is hostile towards Vaughn and sides with the white boy in their dispute. Displaying the rejection of cultural identity by taking his race into account without judging his actions independently. Lena’s cultural identity is rejected in the opening scene of Beneath Clouds where the road represents a barrier between her and the rest of the community. This is further represented in the close up of the dead butterfly which is being infested with ants, resembling a loss of beauty and freedom due to society classing her by race and rejecting her cultural identity. This is resembled in the ants being

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    An authors values and ideas originate and stem from their personal, historical and cultural context. By comparing the two authors Tim Winton (from an Australian context) and Zohra Saed (Afghani/New York context) we are able to see how similar values are shaped through identity/contex. Winton uses various literary techniques to embed personalised values into his texts such as place, family, and identity in “Big World”, 2005 and “The Turning”, 2005. Zohra Saed has implanted her values of culture, family, memory and identity into “What the Scar Revealed” and “Nomad’s Market: Flushing Queens” (both published in 2003) through poetic techniques. Both authors represent the value of freedom within juxtaposing setting and place, and how these values build your identity.…

    • 1181 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Boyer Dbq Teacher Guide

    • 10751 Words
    • 30 Pages

    arts as a vehicle for separate identity while promoting cross-cultural expression. May provide a prompt for students to…

    • 10751 Words
    • 30 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Identity, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “a group of characteristics, data or information that belongs exactly to one person”. To try and identify oneself is innate, self-analysis is what defines individuals. However, people of the same religion, same ethnicity, or even the same hair color are subject to stereotypes. “The Myth of the Latin Woman” embodies what it is to be a Hispanic woman in America trying to find and embrace her identity while defying stereotypes. Author Judith Ortiz Cofer uses a personal narrative essay to tell the story of the life of a Hispanic girl trying to assimilate herself while still holding on to her culture and traditions. By analyzing the different parts of this essay such as the narration mode, cause and effect model, the descriptive mode, and the language, we can understand better understand the essay.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Looking for Alibrandi is a film that conveys the meaning of identity through the use of a variety of film techniques illustrated by the composers. The Outsiders, a novel by S.E. Hinton also has the meaning of identity hidden away somewhere between its pages, as does the poem The Road Not Taken but between its four stanzas. Poetic and language techniques give us a better idea of the meaning of identity.…

    • 1648 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Movie Crash Essay

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The movie tells stories about racism between whites, blacks, Latinos, Koreans, Iranians, cops and criminals. The different levels of the rich and the poor, the powerful and powerless are also shown in the movie. The lives of the characters crash against each other. The most people feel prejudice and resentment against people of other groups.…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Beneath Clouds Analysis

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The opening scene of Beneath Clouds begins with sombre, uplifting music mirrored with a panning shot of the ethereal clouds. We are then introduced to Lena’s story as the camera zooms down to mundane earth, which juxtaposes with the previous shot of the clouds, highlighting the unwelcoming and harsh landscape. A truck passes through introducing the journey motif and representing the towns’ isolation, nobody bothers to stop at this trash of a town. The visual metaphor of the crushed butterfly being eaten by ants symbolizes Lena’s disempowerment and foreshadows her future if she does not get out of Moree. The photos of her past represent what her family life could have been and are the internal catalyst for her journey to see her father.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One’s identity can ultimately define them as who they are as a person and what they can accomplish in their life. An identity can not only be seen as how others perceive you, but also how you perceive and understand yourself. Identity categories such as race, sexuality, and gender try to conform us to act in a certain way. Culture and society are just two examples of outside factors that try to construct these identity categories upon us. Selections from Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi and the article “The Naked Citadel” by Susan Faludi are two pieces of work that help to demonstrate how outside factors attempt to enforce identity categories upon people. Conforming to and resisting identity categories help an individual to gain an identity…

    • 1684 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zuckerberg's Hoodie Essay

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages

    An individual has no direct influence with the creation of his or her identity, however, identity is a factor of life that is constantly being added onto by the means of the environment, society, and life experiences. In the readings, “Why Is Everyone Focused on Zuckerberg’s Hoodie?” by Somini Sengupta, Alice Walker’s “Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain” and “What Goes Through Your Mind: On Nice Parties and Casual Racism” by Nicole Chung ; society, personal barriers, and race had apparent effects on each respective author’s views on identity. Identity is not an exact formula, it is instead a constant battle between oneself and the outside world.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    I Am Legend Analysis

    • 2019 Words
    • 9 Pages

    (The Legend of Disorder)”. The other article I will be using in this essay to examine the “I Am legend” movie is called “Alienating identification: Black identity in The Brother from Another Planet and I Am Legend,” it basically “argues that the film act as a valuable testing ground for theories of identity as the creation of alienating worlds reveals the play of alienation and identification at work in the recent history of race and representation (Alienating Identification)”. Through the anger and hope expressed in Richard Matheson’s movie “I Am Legend,” Matheson uses the element Protagonist and social issues such as skills and classification to demonstrate to his audience (us) how films can be s relatable to the social issues we face in today’s…

    • 2019 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The China Coin

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Individual who possesses a strong and unique personal or cultural identity will intensify their sense of belonging or not belonging. In the novel, the China Coin, by Allan Baillie, explores how personal and cultural identity of the protagonist, Leah Waters, could be changed from alienation of not belonging to acceptance of belonging by experiencing physical and inner journeys. In the beginning of the novel, Leah senses alienation and distanced toward China as she identify herself as an Australian instead of a Chinese. The monologue from Leah’s mind, ‘Couldn’t the woman see? She was not Chinese, not even an ABC – Australian born Chinese. Joan was Chinese, but Dad, David Waters, had been English. Didn’t it show?’ suggested that Leah identify herself that she does not belong as a Chinese. A similar situation is also described in the film Avatar, directed by James Cameron, when the…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    essay

    • 860 Words
    • 3 Pages

    2. Gladys is caught between two cultural context- her Aboriginality, which she is denying and he desire to belong in the white society. Because she doesn’t feel comfortable in her Aboriginality, she is anxious about her identity. Once the flood occurs and she loses the encyclopaedias, she realises the way to make her daughter’s life better is to embrace her Aboriginality and fight for her and her daughter’s rights. Ths once she has worked out which group she truly belongs to, her identity- her self-confidence and her focus – grows stronger. Hence a sense of identity come from belonging…

    • 860 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Characters show racism) In order to represent different aspects of society and to contrast different views, the author uses different characters in order to expose society’s general prejudice. In the novel,…

    • 1148 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Essay B

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages

    An individual desires to belong but there are obstacles and difficulties in achieving this sense of belonging. One of these main barriers is a lack of understanding of belonging. This is portrayed inThe Namesake, by Jhumpa Lahiri, where Ashima’s lack of understanding of culture and place causing isolation and prevents her from belonging in America. Furthermore, understanding yourself and self actualisation leads to belonging as a lack of understanding prevents it. Having a dual identity limits Gogol’s understanding of belonging. Similarly, in Anna Maria Dell’Oso’s Homeland, the conflict between Australian life and Italian cultural heritage creates internal conflict and uncertain identity for the persona and her mother, and a lack of understanding of how to resolve this conflict limits their ability to belong.…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Part of my culture identity is a mixture of my father’s Chinese background and my mother’s more traditional, Norwegian background. Instead of only choosing one to associate myself with, I choose to embrace my cultural diversity and…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity in Art

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Identity is a central concern of contemporary life. Identity plays a large part in societies and individuals lives; however it has not just become a central concern. For the last couple of hundred years identity has been a central concern. This central concern of identity is and has been portrayed, explored and discussed through art. In contemporary art there are multiple different art techniques, styles, codes, conventions and forms of art which explore and express identity. In the classical era of art the privilege of having a self-portrait created by an artist and displaying it in your house defined the identity of those people.…

    • 918 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays