Group Question: How does our mind perceive self interest in visual information?
Foreword:
The world consists of diverse cultures and each culture is represented by its people in various forms. One form being visual media. Stereotyping and segregation exists largely in the art of storytelling. This article and research seeks to discover why the brain finds it difficult to process culture that is expressed visually. For example, Most Americans finds it difficult to relate to and is very alienated from any film that is not of American culture or that is not made with the American standard of filmmaking.
Research during the Pan African Film Festival showed an interesting dichotomy. Caucasians fidgeted during the screening of the African film Somewhere in Africa. African Americans sat still most of the time and of course, the Africans stayed glued to their sits throughout. This reaction of the brain has created an situation that makes it tough for foreign films to thrive in the mainstream industry. The age range for this theory/research is 16-55. The same argument can be made for dramatic films vrs the sci-fi, action and horror films, regardless of origin. Insights:
My first research led me to the works of neurologists David Urion and Frances Jenson. They have an article on the teen brain. Adolescents are very easily influenced by their environment. And in these current times of computers, video games and much more libertarianism, the youth are gradually losing touch with the larger world. The research refers to them as impulsive, thus, a faster drive and lack of tolerance to what is not within what they are familiar with. Horror, Violent, Sci-Fi and sex themes seem to have a more universal appeal than the social, hero’s journey human dramas. http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/09/the-teen-brain.html
The central theme of our group is how the brain perceives self interest in visual information. Some insights discovered discuss attention span, Language and interest. Culture is primarily language based. The world has diverse accents and people understand accents differently. A person loses interest in an art form if its language is not effective for communication. This could be identified as one of the reasons why it is difficult for foreign films to be consumed by the West. A large percentage of the west does not speak English as a first language. It is most often a second language. Culture is better portrayed in its original language and when the culture is translated into English, the accepted world language, it loses authenticity. Certain stories are better told in their original tongue and that now creates the issue of language barrier. Watching the film becomes a job. And as other insights have proven; we live in a fast, computer based age, and people do not want to make a job of entertainment. http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v6sp12009/prathoomthin.htm
Another research conducted by Nick Nauert from the University of Chicago explains that people from a Western culture tend to find it difficult assimilating or perceiving other cultures and going as far as relating to them. This lack of open mindedness is based on a the western culture and upbringing of individualism. Families are nuclear, there are couples who choose not to have children, the extended family remains extended and people are encouraged to live independently. scientists have discovered that the Chinese, who are of a culture that encourages a collectivist attitude are more in tune with other cultures and thus may be able to watch and film from Haiti without any form of alienation or confusion or disinterest. http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/07/13/culture-influences-perception/1011.html
Works Cited
Debra Bradley Ruder "The Teen Brain" Havard Magazine Social Science. September -October 2008 Issue.
Url: http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/09/the-teen-brain.html
Sasiwimol Prathoomthin. "Learners Perception of Culture through Movies" Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching 2009, Vol. 6, Suppl. 1, pp. 291–301 Centre for Language Studies National University of Singapore.
url: http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v6sp12009/prathoomthin.htm
Nauert PhD, R. (2007). Culture Influences Perception. Psych Central. Retrieved on March 19, 2012,
Url http://psychcentral.com/news/2007/07/13/culture-influences-perception/1011.html
The Crayon , "Perception" Vol. 2, No. 5 (Aug. 1, 1855), p. 63
URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.library.artcenter.edu/stable/25527112
Victor Turner "Body, Brain and Culture" Performing Arts Journal , Vol. 10, No. 2 (1986), pp. 26-34
Published by: Performing Arts Journal, Inc.
URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.library.artcenter.edu/stable/3245611
