500 Word Argument

Q: "This house believes that films featuring ethnic minorities should only be produced by those who have the ethnic identity being represented."

This question is one of the hardest questions to argue, simply due to the fact that it involves personal references. On one hand, we have the idea that stereotypes are being reinforced by those who simply don’t understand the culture, and on the other we have a side where creativity will be put to a halt.

Firstly, one reason why I am for this argument is because stereotypes that are currently presented in film are very unequal. Films such as Deadpool or even Hancok have this ‘typical’ portrayal of ‘the indian’ man as either a cab driver (as seen in Deadpool’s Dopinder) or even a shop keeper. As someone who is from this culture it is seen why people get easily offended by this typical role being constantly presented to us audiences. Not only are stereotypes reinforced, but also the meaning presented. If a white director was creating a film based on a black person, the message that either the narrative, speech or even actions may be interpreted very differently. They may do a lot of research, but they don’t know how to present this in the best way possible to convey the meaning as they have never felt it before. People, who are essentially watching their own live being presented back at them, would feel shocked and offended with the way in which this text tries to send out a message. It goes to show, that someone who is not from the same background, may not fully understand the culture and ideologies that people of that culture have.

One reason why this argument can be subverted is simply due to the creative limitations it can hold for future films. This is because the house states that the directors and creative people should ONLY stick to creating films/content that are associated to their life and culture. However, this will ultimately lead to lower creativity on so many levels. If someone who is seeing someone else homeless and decides to make a film about him/her, it creates awareness but most importantly it creates an informative piece of work. Majority of today’s cinema (and the past) has had a range of successful films that are not associated with the directors culture, and if this question comes in to reality there will be less creative work being presented and it would essentially harm the industry. People won’t be able to experience something new and exciting which is what cinema and film is all about.

Overall, I stand 50/50 on this debate as I believe that both sides of the argument are fairly relevant in today’s society. On one hand, there are films that create an offensive tone to the audience un-intentionally, and on the other there will be a lack of creativity being given out of the industry.  If a group of people have been bullied over a certain thing and a film trues to convey that feeling, it may make that group deeply offended as that is not the correct way that specific topic should be handled or conveyed. In addition, people should have the freedom to create films based off of their experiences and what they deem to be an entertaining story films such as Django (directed by Tarantino) is a film that isn’t directed by a black director but is yet one of the most successful Tarantino films to date. Why? Because people love the creative approach to such stories.