Cultural Ethnography Movie Comparison

There are so many different definitions of culture. Go to one website, it will give you something slightly different than another one will. There are some stock definitions that try to tell you what culture means, but it really differs on who you ask, because everyone has a different idea on what culture is to them, and it shows by what they add and exclude from the definition. To me, culture is the accepted behaviors of a group of people. This includes religion, or lack thereof, language, heritage, organizations, and the social interactions between people of the group, as well as people not of that culture.

I think it is very hard to describe your own culture, to tell someone else what makes you part of a larger entity. It’s like saying that there are stars. Everyone knows they’re there, but to have to point out certain aspects that make them what they are seems to be beyond me. When watching the Rodriguez video “Brown” in class, I thought he really was onto something with the Browning aspect of culture. No one’s culture is going to be exactly like someone else’s. The people we meet, and the interactions that we have are constantly changing our culture, as well as vice versa. We influence the people around us in their culture by our interactions. It’s an ever-changing process.

I have had the great opportunity of being able to travel to many places in the world, and because of those travels, my culture has been forever changed. I have been to Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Ecuador, Scotland, England, Russia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Croatia, Greece, Italy, France, Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, and Turkey, and maybe a few I have forgotten about. Each of these places has a very different culture, and being immerse in their culture has changed mine and how I think of other people’s culture. I feel that my cultural background gives me an open mind when viewing the movies, because I understand the differences that make people unique. I feel that I have a pretty good understanding of other peoples cultures and I know that one culture or group of people are better than another, and would never treat someone wrongly just because of their culture.

Our culture is what we make of it. It shapes us but it does not have to control us. Our preconceived notions of people of other cultures other than our own can control us and make us make irrational decisions based on our ideas of those people. The abuse and mistreatment of people from the Middle East, based on the actions of a small few from that culture, is heinous in the United States. Koppelman said “Americans live in the most racially, ethnically, and socially diverse country, on earth. Yet too often we live, work, and play as if our own social, gender, or religious group is the only one about which we need be concerned” (Koppelman & Goodhart, Understnding Human Differences: Multicultural Education for a Diverse America, 2005).

Many times, in situations