By: Keisha Santoso, Junior College 2 Courage

Humanity has always been fond of tales. First, the earliest humans would retell their day’s adventures on cavern walls. In today’s modern world, humanity tells its stories through film reels, ink spills, and paint strokes. It is thus, not far-fetched to claim that a film can influence the way one understands the world.

Films are one of the many ways to convey social and political commentary, insights into the worldviews of the producers of the film. However, some will say that this is simply not true. A film does not influence one’s worldview– it is the experiences that one personally encounters in life that do so. In this essay, ‘influence’ will refer to the ability to change one’s views; ‘understand the world’ will refer to an individual’s perspective of the world he/she lives in. This essay will also assess the influence that films have had through their social and political commentary, as well as the impact that films have in the spread of cultures.

A film can influence the way that an individual views a country and its people. It was not uncommon to find racial stereotypes in films and television shows of the past. One particular television series that is guilty of this is ‘Mind Your Language’. The premise of the show was to teach characters from different countries to speak English. These characters were most definitely reflective of the racial stereotypes of the time. For example, the character from China spoke in broken English and displayed an undying loyalty to Chairman Mao. The character from France was a charming woman who could charm many men– a nod to the ‘romantic’ aspect of France. This stereotyping is very damaging, even if it was done unintentionally, especially to younger audiences of the show.

The children who watch films like these may grow up to always have this narrow perception of the different people of this world. Thus, certain films can project harmful stereotypes of the people of different countries.

A film can be weaponised to paint a nation and its government in a good light. This can usually be seen in war movies such as ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ and ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ where a bloody battlefield is heavily glorified. The trauma war brings is brushed aside to focus on the action and gore.

A nation that has exploited films like these is the United States of America. Many perceive the United States as a country with streets of gold. It is a land that apparently values freedom above all else, which is why certain movies portray US soldiers as valiant heroes. In films such as these, the US government is seen as an effective force that quells its opposition in times of crisis. In a sense, these films are propaganda. It is, therefore, not far-fetched to say that the perception one has on a country can be heavily influenced by films.

However, many do not believe that films can influence one’s perception of the world. They believe that it is education and personal experiences alone that have the ability to do so. One such case is when an individual learns history. A film can always show a gleaming nation when retelling war stories, but if one has already learnt the ins and outs of that particular war in history lessons, the film falls apart at the seams.

For example, a film cannot convince people that the United States did not suffer a terrible defeat in the Vietnam War. This is because it has become general knowledge in history that the US soldiers were not fit for conflict in Vietnam’s tropical rainforests. That film cannot erase the death of multiple US soldiers to guerilla warfare. A film is thus very limited in what views it can alter. Though this is true, one that is not familiar with history would not be able to contradict the information given or presented by the film.

In this same realm, the science in both sci-fi and crime shows – such as ‘CSI’ and ‘Rick and Morty’ – are often inaccurate to maximise the fun factor. One without knowledge of these sciences would not know if the information presented is true or false. It is likely that a film could easily alter the world views of a child or someone that is not familiar with the topics at hand.

After assessing both sides of the issue, I believe that a film can influence the way one perceives the world. Unsuspecting viewers could end up believing that one country is superior to another, or begin perceiving an ethnic group in a way they were stereotyped. However, what a film can alter is limited to what is familiar to its viewers. There is no definitive way to ensure that a film will not influence an individual, but through education, any harmful perceptions ‘planted’ by a film – and any form of media – can be corrected.