Essay Example on Film and Television Cultures and Aesthetics

Introduction

The cultural artefacts, such as films and television, are always the carriers of social and cultural messages that are impacted upon by TV and film regulation. Besides, various movies and television programs including "12 years a slave" has important messages with regards to cultural and social contexts in addition to political meanings that are transmitted through media narratives. On the other hand, human beings are significantly influenced by television programs including their corporate social responsibility in promoting a healthy personality. Furthermore, since its inception during the 1950s, TV, and films have both nurtured and reflected cultural norms and social values in the society.

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However, there is a reciprocal relationship between television films and social attitudes since broadcasters in these films have always demonstrated their powers with the intent of influencing viewers, either intentionally through commentaries of slanted politics, or even delicately, through portraying controversial relationships as accepted socially, such as same-sex marriages, single parenthood, or even interracial couplings. Importantly, the symbiotic nature of television films and culture is often demonstrated in every broadcast, from essential news reports to family sitcoms (Martin & Wall, 2013, 445). Television and movies are known for their influence of contributing to social and cultural changes. Therefore, the primary purpose of this report is to analyze various theoretical works for explaining in addition to understanding how ideological conditioning, cultural norms, and political ideas are transmitted through media narratives such as 12 days a slave film.

How Ideological Conditioning are Transmitted through Media Narratives

Ideological conditioning is regarded as a social-ethical set of ideas, doctrines, symbols, principles, or even myths of a social movement, class, institution, or large group for explaining how the society should work, in addition to offering a specific cultural and political blueprint for a particular social order.

Various ideological conditioning opinions are portrayed in the1841 case study, 12 Years a slave film. Solomon Northup, an African American, and a free man is forced into slavery after being kidnapped for 12 years under the name "Platt." As a result, he is faced with hardships of working as a slave under some few slave owners. However, through faith, courage, and willpower, Northup must endure and survive these 12 years as a slave. Therefore, the film "12 Years a Slave" significantly helps in exposing the inhumane relationship between the black and white women of the 1841 era. Therefore, by staging ideological conditioning concerning public memory, history, social perceptions, and race, the movie 12 years a slave is considered by Rael (2015, 1779) as a political act. It carries a significant message to the audience through several narratives. For instance, it shows that not only the Americans but other populations as well have become silence concerning enslavement together with its legacies. It also shows how racial politics in both America and Britain has such a significant enduring legacy. Something that is not well clarified by the film is how the narrative devices and cinematic strategies are presenting religion as a mechanism of political efforts in this movie.

The12 years a slave is often regarded as the feature greatest film that has ever been made concerning American slavery from the fact that it has garnered numerous accolades and awards, including nine Academy Award nominations as well as a Golden Globe for the best drama television (Tomich, 2016, 1832). The film has played a significant role in correcting the early TV and film representations through demonstrating its capability of staging new thinking ways concerning both the history and legacy of slavery in America, thus covering a spectrum of sophistication.

Even though this film is largely drawn from the 1853 Northup's narrative, the connection between the film and the text is somehow complicated as compared to that of adaptation. 12 years a slave exhibits an ideological condition of a free man from the north, who is kidnapped and later turned into a slave (Mueller & Issa, 2016, 140). Besides, rather than being a television movie that is based on a book, its cinematic vision helped in influencing how its original account was read, which had all the issues dealing with the public memory politics.

It is also imperative in understanding that 12 Years a Slave is not a historical event documentary thus the viewers should not be expected in walking away content with their knowledge concerning Solomon Northup's life or even the circumstances in which his story could become known. However, Chen, Martell and Lach (2016) posit that the film is merely based on a written narrative composed with deliberate intentions of politics known as the demolition of slavery. Besides, it portrays an era in which the United States as a country was caught in a scientific, theological, moral, as well as political gridlock on the issue of slavery. It, therefore, implies that the film is not only translating the text of Northup into the cinema but is also translating the 1853 political message into something resonating with audiences after 160 years. The message portrayed by this film is not entirely about slavery but about the people of the United States. It merely asks the people of this country in realizing that the story is still recounting; and that the people's incapability of intervening in the action underscores their participation and cooperation within the unfolding of the story (Chen, Martell & Lach, 2016, n. p). While directed to a variety of audiences, just like the book, 12 Years a Slave is wrapped up in the cultural politics of that era.

The technologies of media narrative have as well been utilized in transmitting the ideological conditioning, especially as seen in 12 Years a Slave film. Besides, such techniques have for a long time also conducted various cultural operations including the use of cinema and photography utilised for creating the conditions of reality. It has been achieved by defining various categories with which individuals identify as well as assign to each other (Martin & Wall, 446). For instance, James Zealy, a daguerreotypist created the images of this era through the film through stripping these slaves their clothing in addition to positioning them as a specimen of science.

How Cultural Norms are transmitted through Media Narratives

Media narratives including TV and films such as 12 Years a Slave play a significant role in transmitting cultural norms of the 1853 era, including cultural information, attitudes, and ideas to a diversified and sizeable audience through the utilization of media developed in the same manner. For example, they influence the spreading of cultural traits from its point of origin throughout a given region as well as into the neighbouring societies and areas (Wood & Smith, 2015, n. p). Various cultural items are such as dress, dance, food habits, language, and religious beliefs.

Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave has a relevant significant cultural message today, particularly to the people of the United States. The film has significantly helped in outlining a cultural trauma theory with regards to slavery in addition to the formation of African American identity. Furthermore, it is anticipated that the "African-American" idea materialized as efforts of black intellectuals generation in coming to grips with both their collective and individual rejection by the American society after they were promised of being wholly integrated after the end of Civil (Cobb, 2014, 340). Slavery is, therefore, being used in 12 Years a Slave as a reference focal point in this process. The film portrays cultural trauma of that era, implying that trauma is mostly conceptualized on a personal level such as in the case of Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave through psychoanalytical and psychological frameworks. For example, Solomon Northup sought for a more cultural idea that would assist him in taking responsibility for the occurrence of new collective identities during the times that he faced a social crisis when he was under slavery for 12 years. As a result, this significantly undermined his established identity.

Contrary to physical or psychological trauma involving the great emotional anguish experience and a wound by an individual, cultural trauma is the dramatic loss of meaning and identity. It is also a tear within a social fabric that affects a group of individuals who have achieved a standard degree of cohesion. In this case, not only did Solomon Northup experience cultural trauma but other people as well who accepted their new identity as slaves (Northup, 1968, n. p). Therefore, this film ensured that the audiences of today understand the cultural trauma faced by slaves during the 1853 era.

Additionally, the film 12 Years a Slave has helped in portraying a culture of religion both at its best and worst since it is not only a commentary on race but on religion as well. The movie is based on a true story concerning Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who is a free black man drugged, duped, in addition to being sold as a slave on a Southern plantation. Besides, the cinematography utilized in this film is breathtaking, with a gripping cycle of hope and despair, as well as the portrayal of slaves as being mistreated, which is unsparingly ruthless that it always forced some in turning away (Mask, 2012, 57). However, the movie is much a commentary on religion.

"12 Years a Slave" utilizes most of its 133-minute runtime throughout to explore the manner at which the White Christians within the American South utilized both their faith and scripture for perpetuating injustice. After the arrival of Solomon on a sugar cane plantation, his master, William Ford, is seen gathering all the slaves together for reading scripture as well as delivering a sermon that he quoted from Luke 17:2. "It was better for him that a millstone was hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones (Diawara, 1993, 22). However, there is stifling hypocrisy since the film viewers have just observed the purchase and separation of a female slave from her children by William Ford.

This film tends to be making a crucial point concerning how individuals today are picking and choosing the bible verses they are living by in addition to how such verses should be applied in a Christian context. Perhaps, Waldstreicher (2017, 139) posits that this issue is being demonstrated as valid by American history. It is because most Christian clergies championed for slavery since the White people believed that the Bible taught them in owning black individuals as work animals. Today, other people do still witness the tendency of using scriptures for acquiring power and oppressing people, particularly in countries that have illegalized same-sex relationships by making it punishable by law. "12 Years a Slave" therefore, represents both the present and past Christian history as a significant reminder of people's tendency to manipulating the scriptures in pursuit of both political and personal objectives.

How Political Ideas are transmitted through Media Narratives

Television and film have significant power of influencing or determining the course of major political events. Besides, the media through various movies including "12 Years a Slave" has the potential of shaping politics and government in several ways by transmitting meaningful messages right from the 1853 slavery era. An important message being transmitted by thi...