The Power of Individuality (and losing it).

Yesterday, I watched Reel Bad Arabs after class. And that, as with discussions in the tutorials and the readings, got me thinking.

How do I picture 'Other' races?

In Reel Bad Arabs, as you may have seen in the extract they showed in tutorials, it was discussed how Arabs are always portrayed in mass (or negatively – but for this blog I am focusing on the mass idea). Individuality is lost through mass portrayal of people. It is like looking down from a high building or a plane, seeing these bodies moving around, and you think 'wow'. So small, so insignificant.

When something is looked at through mass, you lose individuality. If I was on the street looking at those people, instead of high above, I could look at their faces, wonder what they were doing at that particular time. They would be human, people – rather than just a mass of bodies who I don’t feel any sort of connection to.

Individuality is pretty precious. It makes us all who we are. It is our experiences, our quirks, our 'faults' that create our individuality, and thus create us. A name is just a name, a label just a label - but individuality is key for us to be human.

And then I thought about 'Other' races. I set out a list, and I was surprised and shocked as I generally pictured all in mass. There were only a few exceptions of cultures where I didn’t. All of my 'viewings' of these 'Other' races are like clips from a movie - I cannot see faces, I cannot see individuality. They are just moving bodies, just like when you are in that tall building.

I have not travelled much yet. So all I have to go on is what the media gives me. And the media gives me zilch in the way of portrayal of “Other” races in a humanising state. While white characters fill our screens, I never see sit-coms featuring 'Other' families/friends. Think about it - ever seen a Chinese or Egyptian show? There is that one Japanese show I can think of, that Wipe Out type show they used to play on C4 (I think?) - but none of those show any depth to anyone played on the small screen. With ‘black’ American sit-coms – all I can think of for the moment is Everyone Hates Chris, which is a pretty stereotypical show.

How can this sectioning be allowed? Why do we allow so much American and British television on our popular screens, rather than all the other cultures? As Sue was discussing in lecture - while one may say "Its fine – it’s just a movie", is it really fine if ALL the movies are like that? If ALL the news coverage is like that? If ALL of our perceptions of certain cultures are lack individuality.

You would never want to hurt individuals. If you are walking on the street, you see people for as people, as individuals. Up high or pictures or in shots of mass people, you cannot see this individuality. And this is dangerous.