Mahmoud Torabi Aghdam; Ali Asghar Fahimifar; Shahab Esfandyari; AmirHasan Nedai
Abstract
Representing racial, ethnic, cultural, and geographical “Others” is considered a focal strategy of a number of American media and entertainment productions. Accordingly, the primary goal of this article is to explain the “Othering” mechanisms in the first three seasons of the ...
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Representing racial, ethnic, cultural, and geographical “Others” is considered a focal strategy of a number of American media and entertainment productions. Accordingly, the primary goal of this article is to explain the “Othering” mechanisms in the first three seasons of the popular television series Westworld (2016–present), with a focus on the values of the American Dream. In its theoretical literature and analyses, the study drew on the Western philosophical concept of “the Other” and on cultural studies. To understand how the construct of the Others functions in the show, the study used John Fiske’s semiotics and three-level model, along with Roland Barthes’ Symbolic Code. The research found that the presence and absence of two American Other groups—Black and Native Americans—and one non-American Other group—East Asian people—in relation to white people, i.e., “the Self,” in the series carry significant implications. Westworld’s semiotic mechanisms represent white people as the dominant group, East Asian people and Native Americans as subaltern groups, and Black people as being close to whites. By doing so, they normalize a power hierarchy topped by the white race to reproduce for a future world the myth of the “superior white;” a myth that portrays the core elements of the American Dream, including individualism, liberty, and freedom of choice, as being exclusive to white people. The myth also downgrades the essential element of equality by stereotyping and delegitimizing the Others to ensure that whites will be the only group to develop plans and make decisions for the world of the future.
jalal nasiri hanis; nader shayganfar; ahmad alasti
Abstract
Metafilms are kind of films which their subject matters are the nature of cinema and film-making. Film-makers of this Sub-Genre have a critical view to the production of meaning and highlight the fictional and artificiality of the film. They confront the current illusion in the conventional and ...
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Metafilms are kind of films which their subject matters are the nature of cinema and film-making. Film-makers of this Sub-Genre have a critical view to the production of meaning and highlight the fictional and artificiality of the film. They confront the current illusion in the conventional and realistic films. Conflict between characters in cinematic works, as a principle, reflects the importance of study, regarding "self" and "the other" in these works. The relationship between "self" and "the other" has been characterized as the "subject" and the "object" in most part of the philosophy's history. In Sartre's viewpoint, human turns into an "object" in the "gaze" of "the other" and loses his freedom. Unlike him, Levinas thinks that assuming "the other" as an "object" is applying violence against "the other. By analyzing characters' relationship in Kiarostami's works, we can answer the question that how is the relationship between "self "and "the other" in his films and metafilms? In considering the films of “Where is the friend’s home”, “Taste of Cherry" and meta-films of "Close-up","The wind will carry us" and “Through the olive trees", descriptive-analytic with Critical discourse analysis of Fairclough were used. By doing so, we can represent structural differences of metafilms in “the other" reflectivity in the works of this director. The result of the study suggests that despite the same director, and the same social, political and cultural background of these works, due to the characteristics of self-reflectivity and self-criticism in kiarostami's metafilms, unlike his films, the relationship between "self" and "the other" is based on Levinas and the other-oriented. This is a sign of the reorganization of the discursive order of society in the relationship between "self" and the other.
Azam Ravadrad; Mania Alehpour
Abstract
In this article the manner of representing the “Other” in 10 animations which succeeded in winning Oscar award during 2005 to 2014 is studied using Barth’s three levels semiotic method. The ideological significations of these animations are also studied. In this research, the way of ...
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In this article the manner of representing the “Other” in 10 animations which succeeded in winning Oscar award during 2005 to 2014 is studied using Barth’s three levels semiotic method. The ideological significations of these animations are also studied. In this research, the way of representing race and gender of "other" are two main components. The result of the research indicate that the racist approach towards the other has changed in animations which are under study. Moreover, there has been a clear change in representing women in these animations. It can be said as a general conclusion that another representation in recent Oscar winning animations is the fact that there is not people’s race and gender which determines their otherness. Instead it is their thoughts, beliefs and actions which determine who is the “Other”. A representation of the other as the one who is against change, does not tolerate differences, is dedicated to traditions and hurts the environment is among the results of this study.
