2nd Draft FM3 - How do films reflect the way in which we see the world?

How do films reflect the way in which we see the world? I feel this subject is a great one, in that there are a lot of untouched debates that I can talk about. This is a huge benefit to me, simply because I will not be talking about ideas that have already been written, or rewording somebody else’s ideas. This topic has a very good underlining meaning, such that the meaning is one that is more of a personal response when we watch films. We are able to form our own minds; however this topic talks about how films manipulate us to have a response of a certain one that the director has attempted to sway us towards. Therefore we are, to a certain extent, affected hugely on what we see in films. For example, we may watch an educational movie which we have yet seen, and after watching it suddenly have a certain opinion on the topic we have just seen. Therefore, I defiantly agree with the idea that films have a huge effect on the opinions and ideologies we form, and that through watching movies we are influenced hugely to make up a certain personal opinion on a topic. However, this topic talks mainly about the ways films reflect society, and with what I have just talked about, we can say that the reflection of the world is defiantly to an extent seen through films. The base of my question is defiantly one I support, in that films do manipulate us. Therefore I will go on now, to talk about the ways films reflect society via three films about different topics; as well as whether or not our views are solely formed by what we see in films. The three films I will be talking are, ‘American Pie’, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, and ‘The Town’. Hopefully through evaluating the effects and reflections each film has upon us as an audience; I can take my evaluations and interchange them too conclude my ideas as a whole. Teen comedy movies give off the idea of the typical teenager life, these types of films can be helpful for many younger kids growing up for many uncertainties they may have of being a teenager or going to college etc. In general films create a perception and teen comedies are no exception as for a 15 year old it may give them an insight to what college may be like therefore through watching it they have also created perception of real life. However, American Pie also comes with a deep realism which resulted in many issues for teens after watching it. I decided to have a look at previous studies and see what views other people had on this topic, and hopefully see if it is debatable. The article I looked at was 'American Pie ruined my adolescence'. This argument is pretty clear in the title, however it looks deep into the idea that through watching the film teens took what they saw and believed it to be a true reflection of real life, almost as though the film was mirroring society, when in fact this was not the case, American Pie is very over dramatized movie which takes small real life situations and focuses in on them. Therefore the point this argument begins to make is that by watching the film teens almost felt they had a responsibility that they were maybe unaware of before watching the film; the responsibility being they had to lose there virginity before they left high school. This article also talks about how teens seek advice from anyone but their parents because of sheer embarrassment; it also talks about teens gripping onto anything that gave them any form of an insight as to what being a teenager was about. This relates also to how we can be manipulated into believe what we see, we are easily manipulated because as teens we are generally clueless about many aspects of life, therefore when we see one POV of being a teen (the POV the teens in American Pie) we almost accept it straight away. This point is apparent in many films yet it has a difference with american pie, most films that manipulate our beliefs tend to only manipulate them whilst we are watching the film, but as teens after watching American Pie we adopt the ways of life we see into our own. This is the key theme of this article, in that whilst American Pie is a great film it affected many teens- it takes existing anxieties teenagers have and exaggerates their importance. Quotes to back up my points 'If Sherman has sex before I do, i'm gonna be really pissed'. This quote is an example of how sex is perceived as an achievement and that the quicker you lose your virginity it somehow makes you a better person in accordance to the characters in American Pie. 'You realize we're all going to go to college as virgins. They probably have special dorms for people like us'. This is another great example of how the films portrays losing your virginity before college as a necessity, the film manipulates our beliefs through the great realism and how it really does mirror society in some circumstances; further resulting in teens believing what they saw was true and becoming paranoid. 'Separately we are flawed and vulnerable, but together we are the masters of our sexual destiny'. This as again relates to the main point that the film portrays, it almost states that even though they see themselves as flawed teens they still believe they can achieve the ultimate goal which, in a way gives hope to any teens watching it that feel anxious or in the same position as the characters.