One of my hobbies is watching foreign films. Not necessarily films which are awarded best film at the Cannes Film Festival, but whatever films are popular in a certain country. Foreign movies can provide insight about other cultures in an entertaining way and help break down old stereotypes. Of course, there are other ways of achieving the same goal such as reading books and actually traveling. But many people are often hesitant about reading because they find books about other cultures uninteresting. Movies are better at captivating the audience via a good script or actors, and while traveling would be an even better option than movies, it is also more expensive.
As a child, I traveled a lot. But because I was a child, I was limited in my ability to explore, so I often watched television. When I watched movies or television in the countries I traveled to, I was limited in terms of language. I could only watch shows in whatever language the channels decided to broadcast in, which was most often not my native language, Bengali. So growing up, watching movies in other languages was normal for me. Now, I watch movies in almost any language as long as I can find English subtitles for the film. In the long run, my childish habit of watching so many films made me a more open-minded person.
A while back, I had the opportunity to watch an Egyptian comedy called "Zaki Shan." The film was about a boy who is lazy, but who is very good at talking his way out of difficult situations. He ends up talking his way into getting a bodyguard position, which involves protecting a beautiful girl. When I first began watching the film, I was surprised at how liberal the film was. For example, the dress style and lifestyle of the characters were very Western, which surprised me. I had this misconception that all Middle Eastern countries were fairly conservative, but that really depends upon the culture and country. The level of religious conservatism varies significantly from country to country in the Middle East, but I had made the mistake of clumping all the varied cultures which exist in the Middle East together. I am glad that the movie was able to correct my misconception.
This experience made me realize that in the West, we have so many of these kinds of misconceptions about other countries, and films as a medium can break them down. When Hollywood films represent different people of different ethnicities, such characters are often presented as the villain or "other," or perhaps portrayed stereotypically. On the contrary, foreign films are more successful at providing an accurate portrayal of the countries in which they're made. For example, scholar Rob Burns in an article titled, "The Politics of Cultural Representation: Turkish German Encounters" argues that German films such as "Berlin and Berlin" attempted to break down prominent stereotypes about Turkish Germans in the country. Similarly, contemporary films from the Middle East can help break down stereotypes associated with Middle Eastern cultures which came about because of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Watching foreign films is also a great way to hone one's ability to speak a different language. For example, if you are studying Arabic, then watching an Arabic movie is a way to learn more Arabic words and to practice what you already know in an entertaining way which keeps your attention. Even if the movie is in a completely unfamiliar language, then watching it is an easy way to pick up some new words. Of course, learning a language does not necessarily equate with being more culturally aware, but it does introduce a person to the first aspect of a country's culture: its language. Language shapes and often identifies a culture. Though I am not Indian, thanks to watching Indian films for years, I have managed to learn not only a lot of vocabulary, but also sentences in Hindi. These movies were my introduction to Indian culture.
As a representation of the culture of a society, films are often an interesting alternative to reading sometimes dull books about a culture's history and social norms. Films are a more effective way of communicating cultural ideas as they are visual representations which can bring images to storytelling. Yes, the Discovery Channel or a news program also offers something similar, but movies are a more comprehensive way to get a point across that feels less like a lecture. Personally, not only have foreign films dispeled my own misconceptions about certain cultures, but they have also made me less ignorant about the world in which I live.
Fariha Kabir's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at f.kabir@cavalierdaily.com.
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