Cry Freedom (1987)

If you have always believed that prejudice only happens against the minority, you are wrong. Cry Freedom (1987) is a historical film which portrays the apartheid system that was enforced through law in South Africa. It supported the idea of racial segregation, in which the Black majority was legally oppressed by the White minority. In this film, Steve Biko, a black activist, disperses the idea of "black consciousness" and successfully influences Donald Woods, who continues Biko's movement against the apartheid system after Biko's death.

Institutional support from the legal system is the major causes of prejudices and racism in this film. Under the system, any people who stand up against the government can be charged or even killed. Biko and Woods are both banned from leaving their defined banning areas as well as disallowed from interacting with more than 1 person at the same time under The Internal Security Act (ISA) because their "Black Consciousness Movement" threatened the power of the White minority. This biased legal system provides much authority to the White minority as the Black activists can simply be murdered with made-up justifications. For example, Biko's real cause of death (beaten up severely by the White authorities) is covered up with the reason of hunger strike. These social inequalities create the prejudice in South Africa. In addition, the twisted beliefs of the Whites promote greater prejudice. This is evident in one of the scenes when one White claims after Biko's death that "I commend the minister for being so democratic that he gives prisoners the democratic right to starve themselves." The just-world phenomenon we have seen in this statement has resulted in prejudice. The strong institutional support has induced the ethnocentrism and conformity among the White community to oppress the Black majority.

This disparity of power induces fear in the Black majority as their underdeveloped residences can be destroyed easily by the Whites using machines. Blacks are underprivileged and are limited with scarce resources, thus threatening their deaths. This is seen in one of the quotes from Biko: "It's a miracle a child survives here at all. People are so desperate for anything they'll beat a kid bloody if they thought he had five Rand ...... a black child, smart or dumb you are born into this. And smart or dumb you die in it." This terror management that makes the Blacks feel vulnerable about their own mortality creates fear and this fear has prevented many voices from the Blacks to be heard. When Biko, with his realization of Black's inferiority that "the only history we read was made by the White man, written by the White man. Television, cars, medicines - all invented by the White man, even football.", he starts the "Black Consciousness Movement" and this makes him the minority influence among the other Blacks who only endure but do nothing to overcome their hardships. His charisma, high self-confidence in his beliefs, and consistency in advocating his idea eventually leads to defection from the majority Black who was initially afraid. Black community becomes more supportive of his idea. They listen to activist speech which is disguised using a football game and some Black students even join protest march to voice against the apartheid system.

Apartheid system has oppressed the Black community for many years. In this film, even the black-colored dogs in the White's mansion have greater freedom than the Black community in South Africa. The story of Biko and Woods tells us that awareness of injustice is leading people nowhere but the actions to stop accepting the prejudice, which is the core concept of "black consciousness", is what makes a sparkle that ignites changes. Stop accepting and make changes today!

Mississippi Burning (1988)

"If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." (Obama's Victory Speech, 2008)

If I were to be a Black during the time of "Mississippi Burning" who were not given even the chance to vote during election, this image of Obama giving victory speech is hard to believe. For many hardships that the Black in Mississippi had gone through before 1964, it is difficult to imagine that United States will have a Black president in the future. Mississippi Burning (1988) is a film based on real-life murders that portrays the racial prejudice in Mississippi in 1964.

The film begins with a drinking fountains scene depicting the segregation of Blacks and Whites. The labels used to separate the different facilities used by the Whites and the "Colored" create a "we-they mindset". Additionally, the better drinking fountain that is used by the Whites encourages the belief that Whites are superior. This simple categorization of races instills ethnocentrism in people, which is seen when one of the White people tells during an interview that "They (Blacks)'re not like us. They don't take baths. They stink, they ...... they're nasty ...... they're just not like white folks." These superiority belief and the "we-they mindset" result in racial prejudice in the movie.

Besides, conformity breeds racial inequality in this movie as well. When Agent Ward enters a restaurant and goes to sit in the area where the Blacks sit, it creates a dead silence in the restaurant. Everyone, including the Blacks, feels shock to see a White approaches the Blacks, which disconfirms with their ingrained belief that Whites and Blacks should be separated. To encourage conformity, fear appeal is used by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK members beat up the Black guy whom Agent Ward approached to warn people about the adverse effects of non-conformity. Moreover, the just world phenomenon which is visible in this movie contributes to the cause of racism in Mississippi as well. During the interview, one of the Whites tells the reporter that "They (Blacks)'re treated about fair. About as good as they oughta be." Conformity and the just world phenomenon has elicited the feeling of indifference towards racism in this movie.

In addition, institutional support and religion have further supported the idea of prejudice in the movie. It is revealed by Mrs. Pell that racial segregation was taught in school, by twisting the meaning of the verse in Bible: "May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant" (Genesis 9:27 New King James Version). The curse on Canaan is used as the valid reason to oppress the Blacks although the Bible does not give any indication of race. Besides, racial injustice is evident even in the court where one should have found "liberty and justice for all". The judge suspends the sentences on White people who committed crime against the Blacks for the reason that their misbehavior are due to outside influences. This suspension in sentence further increases the disparity in power between the Whites and Blacks, which has led to greater prejudice. Moreover, the police force which is dominated by the Whites further worsens the racism in Mississippi.

The strong institutional supports for Whites and the ingrained prejudicial beliefs lead to the learned helplessness among the Blacks. When Agent Ward tries to persuade a Black victim's mother to encourage his son to press charges against the deputy sheriff who is involved in violence against his son, the mother replies that "He won't talk to no one -- And it won't do no good anyway." The other Black man even tells that "Leave him alone. Maybe then they'll let us alone." This reveals that the Blacks are overwhelmed by fear and they believed that they cannot do anything to overcome racism.

All these social influences and beliefs that breed prejudices are promoted by the presence of KKK. It is only until the appearances of Agent Ward and Agent Anderson, which lead to the prosecution of KKK's members, that silences the prejudice down and brings people together. The ending which portrays a burial ceremony attended by both the Blacks and the Whites shows a great contrast with the image of racial segregation introduced at the beginning of the film. Separation breeds prejudice while connection breeds understanding. This transformation from the separation of races to the connections between races signals the beginning of racial equality.

"Hatred isn't something you're born with. It gets taught." Just like hatred, love is taught. When we are able to love regardless of colors, this brings the peace and harmony for our next generation.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) tells the stories between an old widowed father (Mr. Chu) and his three daughters of different personalities. The title of this film is borrowed from a quote in the Book of Rites: "饮食男女，人之大欲存焉 Eat, Drink, Man, and Woman are human's greatest needs", which stresses Confucius' idea that food and sex are basic human desires.

Audiences are bombarded with delicious-looking feasts throughout the movies, which show the element of food. The portrayal of this element is magnificent as a large number of dishes are always presented in every meal. 

On the other hand, besides the sex scene that Jia Chien (second daughter) engages in with her ex-boyfriend (Raymond), the element of sex has been subtly portrayed. Repression of sex has been seen in Mr. Chu and Jia Jen (the eldest daughter). Mr. Chu has been repressing his desire for sex since the death of his wife sixteen years ago when he was still in the stage of middle adulthood, which average people would maintain a normal sexual life. Thus, it is not surprising to see Jin Rong being pregnant after her marriage with Mr. Chu as Mr. Chu can finally fulfill his need for sex. 

At the same time, Jia Jen makes up a story about her past failure in a relationship to repress her desire for love and sex.  I believe that she lies because she feels responsible towards taking care of his father during his old age. Thus, she pretends to show disinterest towards sex and love by living in the love of God, shutting herself off from the external world by listening to hymns and dressing up conservatively. Moreover, she feels disturbed to see others' romance (e.g. throw away her student's love letter). If she has no interest towards romantic relationship, she would not have been bothered by others' romantic interactions. In the end, she gets married immediately when she finally cannot repress her strong affection towards Ming Dao. 

Jia Ning (the youngest daughter) at her 20s, although appears to be an obedient child, engages in premarital sex and becomes pregnant. This reflects the strong sexual desire during the young adulthood stage she is in. All these sudden marriages and pregnancy have subtly illustrated human's need for sex.

Besides the two elements on food and sex, a major concept in this film is family relationship. The family structure of a single father and three daughters has already posed some common challenges faced in a single father-daughter relationship (e.g. difficulties to deal with daughter's emotions) to Mr. Chu. To make it worse, as a typical Chinese father, Mr. Chu is not very expressive of his love towards his daughters. He shows his affection towards them only through the preparation of great feast every week when the whole family gathers for a meal and his taking care of their welfare (e.g. when he wakes his daughter up every morning and when he washes their undergarments). However, he feels reluctant to show his love in a more direct manner. When Jia Chien replies "Good Morning!" to him with a smile on one morning, he does not reciprocate the love Jia Chien shows but only turns away and leave. This limits the interaction between father and daughters and eventually leads to the exaggerated "surprised announcements" of pregnancy and marriages during meal time.

Another relationship barrier is seen between Jia Jen and Jia Chien. Jia Jen takes up the role of a mother when their mother dies and this shuts Jia Chien off from her. The turning point of their relationship occurs when they wash the dishes together. When Jia Jen admits in tears that she broke the plate, this signals that she has stepped away from the powerful mother figure she held and takes back her role as a sister.  

The final issue on family relationship I would like to address is the empty nest experienced by Mr. Chu. I like the contradiction between the magnificent feast and the reduction of family members around the dining table throughout the movie, which illustrates the tension of empty nest experience has on the family. Mr. Chu's gradual deterioration of the sense of taste plays a symbolic representation for the empty nest syndrome. To be able to taste, one has to bear the consequences of tasting bitterness, sour and saltiness besides sweetness. The negative feelings ("bitterness") resulted from the empty nest experience may have led to Mr. Chu’s dysfunctional taste buds. Towards the end of the film when "sweetness" finally comes into his life (Jia Chien shows her love towards him and takes up the responsibility to have family gathering), he gains back his sense of taste, which shows that his dysfunction is psychological in nature.

Lastly, the various techniques Ang Lee used in the film interest me. The exaggerated portrayals of the feast and the family interaction around the dining table highlight the importance of these elements in the movie. In addition, the subtleties Ang Lee introduced in the film actually hint audience about the progress of the plot. At the beginning of the film, we see Mr. Chu answers a call and teaches the way to cook a fish. On the same day during Jin Rong's visit to their house, Jin Rong's daughter reveals that her mother messed up a fish dish. This hints the close relationship between Mr. Chu and Jin Rong. Moreover, the facial similarity between Mr. Chu’s wife (which is shown on the dead portrait at the beginning of movie) and Jia Chien shows that they are alike in personalities.

Eat, Drink, Man, and Woman, which represents the basic needs and relationships, are common and normal for people. However, it is the complexities and uniqueness of eat, drink, man and woman to every one of us which make our lives significant.

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Dance is an expression of creativity. This movie with a juxtaposed title "Strictly Ballroom" portrays the idea of artistic repression by showcasing a ballroom dancer (Scott Hastings) who is prohibited from dancing his own steps in a ballroom dancing competition. This movie is filmed using the red curtain cinema technique, which has a recognizable plot. Scott's non-conventional steps against the Australian Dancing Federation depict the Bible's story "David and Goliath" while transformation of Fran throughout the movie showcases the idea of Ugly Duckling.

The movie begins with the portrayal of Scott's mother (Shirley Hastings)'s disappointment towards his son's performance during a ballroom dancing competition (Pan-Pacific Grand Prix). The competitive ballroom environment and Shirley's exaggerated expression of Scott's loss in the competition have illustrated a high extrinsically-motivated society. Most of the dancers see winning Pan-Pacific Grand Prix Dancing Championship as their only reasons to dance, including Liz Holt (Scott's partner). Liz leaves Scott for Ken (Scott's rival) when she realizes that Scott is going to dance his own way with no intention to win the competition. This extrinsically-motivated society is in great contrast with Fran's family. For them, dancing is an enjoyable self-expression and it is rewarding in itself. Ya Ya (Fran's grandmother) tells Scott to listen to the rhythm, suggesting that dance is to be lived instead of competitive. In addition, Fran believes that dance should be authentic as she says: "dance from the heart".

The extrinsically-motivated society allows fear to be misused as manipulation. From the evolutionary perspective, survival fear should be functional. However, the fear induced in this movie has created obedience. Shirley is afraid of losing the license to teach dances, thus obeying Barry Fife (president of the Australian Dancing Federation) to have Scott paired up with the dancers that Barry wants. At the same time, Barry himself is consumed by his fear of losing his authority. "If you can't dance a step, you can't teach it, and if you can't teach it - we might as well all pack up and go home" shows that his reason of prohibiting new steps is to protect his own power as the Federation president. With the introduction of new steps and no standardization of steps, he cannot make profit out of his business such as selling his dance video "Dance to Win". On the other hand, Fran stands firm with her belief that "a life lived in fear is a life half-lived". She is courageous enough to volunteer as Scott's dancing partner although she comes from a Spanish family who is looked down by the Anglo-Australian society. Furthermore, Scott's awareness of his own fear leads to his determination to dance the non-conventional way, which makes him different from the other dancers who conform to the norm. 

Extrinsic motivation coupled with fear breeds a society that conforms, complies, and obeys, which lacks creativity and remains "strictly ballroom". On the other hand, if we "dance" the non-conventional way, we can live life to its fullest. Vivir con miedo, es como vivir a medias!

p.s. Here's a video on how fear can shape us and how awareness of fear itself can be an "anti-virus program" against fear. Enjoy!