Imson, Agatha Marie G.

2012-75149

A Critical Paper on the Film “Babel”

The film “Babel” draws its name from the Book of Genesis. The Bible myth is
commonly used to teach us about the dangers of miscommunication from
differences in language. The film, however, teaches us about the dangers of a lack
of understanding brought about by differences in culture.

The film portrays different cultures through several means. Conflict is central to the
storyline. Conflict is brought upon the characters by clashing of cultures. At the same
time, conflict is created by the values instilled in character’s own culture.

Anthropologists talk about culture being ethnocentric, meaning people believe their
own culture to be representative of the most appropriate way for humans to live. And
although people strive to respect others who have a different culture than theirs,
understanding it and acting in accordance to that new culture is a difficult task and
practically impossible to achieve immediately. From this difficulty of adapting and
understanding different cultures, conflict arises. The two Moroccan boys were unable
to fully comprehend the culture of the gun, clashing with their culture wherein guns
are not as readily available or as prevalent. This unfamiliarity with guns causes
confusion and lack of understanding. In an attempt to understand it, the two shoot at
a bus, accidentally wounding a tourist. This leads to conflict and as it is unresolved, it
creates further problems for all characters involved.

Similarly, conflict is created within one’s culture. Richard (the American husband
travelling with his wife) runs into problems with the rest of the tourists on the bus.
While he asks them not to leave until help has come for his wife Susan, the other
tourists fear for their safety and wish to leave immediately. This conflict of interest
stems from valuing themselves over the rest of the group. Similarly, there is conflict
within one’s culture when Cheiko (the Japanese teenager) peers fail to try and
include her. This leads to her distancing herself from her father, believing that
nobody can understand her and her troubles. There appears to be a culture in Japan
presented wherein individualism is high and there is low social solidary.

The film is able to provide a good picture of how reality is: that there are no
protagonists or antagonists. The conflict within the film is caused by
misunderstanding, cultural differences, and circumstance. In the same way, much
conflict in real life may be brought upon by the same factors and that understanding
is a key factor in resolution of problems.

The film “Babel” can be said to provide audiences with insights regarding four
interlinked stories and thus, four portraits of culture. The four in the film are shown
through the Japanese girl and her father, the Moroccan community, the American
couple in Morocco and their children, and the Mexican nanny and her family.
Imson, Agatha Marie G.
2012-75149

However, from observation, the film is actually able to show five representations of
culture. The fifth is the culture of the audience itself.

The viewer is able to identify values instilled in the audience by how they react to the
film. It can be observed and inferred what the audience’s culture’s values are.

The audience would react negatively to instances that disregard and defy their own
values. For example, I would hear negative comments with regards to Chieko’s
promiscuity as a result of her sexual frustration. This points towards the value of
conservativeness in the culture of the audience. Another example would be, again,
negative comments and reactions whenever Richard would act out because of his
frustration over the slow response to his wife’s shooting. He was shown to be
gracious towards his host at times, but would lash out when he did not immediately
get what he wanted. This was taken negatively by the audience. This shows that we
value being courteous and diplomatic towards our hosts even during stressful
situations.

Similarly, the audience would either react positively or not react at all to situations
that showcased shared values. They would react positively to show that values they
believe in are portrayed. The audience would show no reaction to instances they
believe are already the norm, something that is not out of the ordinary. For instance,
the viewers showed positive reactions towards Amelia (the Mexican nanny) taking
care of the children, treating them as if they were her own family. Additionally, the
audience empathized with her anguish over losing her job and being deported. This
shows values of kinship with those who are not directly related to us.

Overall, the film is able to not merely feed culture to the audience but instead be a
means to understanding what culture is, making the audience junior social
anthropologists in their own rights.