The subject of this post is the short "Silent Beats" by Jon Chu, which depicts the experiences of a teenager entering a convenience shop occupied by the owner and another woman. The topic of the film is how initial impressions can be deceiving.
While the subject, an African American youth, is approaching the entrance the shop owner is profiling him based on the information that he had. Against the bright backdrop all he could see is the silhouette of a person with a slanted baseball cap and baggy pants, and as he gets closer, that he is black. The shop owner imagines him in a mugshot, revealing his fear that he is going to commit some crime. As the boy walks through the doorway a low camera angle is used to elicit feelings of fear from the perspective of the shop owner. As he walks through the store to select his items, the shop owner stares at him like he intends for him to notice, as if to say "I know what you're up to, kid".
The film does not focus solely on the first impressions from the shop owner and other shopper, but also from the youth himself. He imagines the cartoonish stereotypes of Asians and the elderly. I think this goes to show that everyone's initial assumptions about others are often based on external sources of information (i.e. mass media, expressions of prejudice from other people, etc.) and can quite often be wrong. The shop owner illustrates this when the elderly woman steals a candy bar and the boy purchases water, an apple, and band-aids.
No comments:
Post a Comment