And we’re back for another session of live tweeting!
This is not the first time I’ve experienced live tweeting, so going into this seminar I knew what to expect and was prepared to share my opinions and engage with others.
In the seminar, we screened The Host, described as ‘horror thriller, a political satire, a dysfunctional family comedy, and a touching melodrama’ (Emerson, 2007).
This is not usually the type of movie that I would watch, so I was both excited and doubtful. By the end, I was surprised by how much I actually enjoyed it. Culture would have played a huge part in this outcome as well as the direction of my live tweeting and how I engaged with other viewers in the Twittersphere.
Now my obvious cultural characteristics would be an Australian student with a heavy Italian background but this isn’t the only type of culture that would have influenced how I perceived this movie. Part of my culture would include the importance of family relationships and friendships and the emphasis placed on certain qualities like creativity, loyalty and trust. I would also consider my part time job at Woolworths as an important part in shaping my culture. It’s this personal framework that guides my perceptions and opinions of this film.
Due to the importance I hold for family relationships, I was able to relate to the main characters that make up the family. The themes of dysfunctionality but also loyalty and teamwork were the stand out themes I saw in the film. My attention was focused heavily on these relationships and was shown in my live tweeting. I found that the film portrayed a family that was evidently dysfunctional and had their fair share of issues and arguments but were there to help and were supportive during the emotional times.
The other stand out theme was the focus on the sister of the main character, an Olympic archer. With this being highlighted during the beginning of the film, it made no sense to me that the other family members would not let her have a weapon against the monster. Within my Italian culture, there are still specific ‘gender roles’ but living in Australia and therefore primarily adopting Australian culture, this made almost no sense to me. In my day to day life and specifically in my part time job, the idea is: whoever is best for the job gets the job. The idea that she wasn’t allowed a weapon was just frustrating. After reflecting on the film content and background I came to realise that in Korean culture it is the men who look after and protect the family. So, where I saw this as unequal, it is really an accurate reflection on that culture which is different to mine.
Reference List
Emerson, J. (2007). The Host. Reviews. 1 Aug 2019. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-host-2007
New On Netflix USA. (2019). The Host (2006) on Netflix USA : New On Netflix USA. 1 Aug 2019. https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/70059029
Communications and The Media 