Avoiding Cancel Culture

     Since I want my project theme to be a statement on freedom of speech and silencing, I want to be able to convey this in a very unproblematic manner. I also want to be able to have this meaning shine through without it being outright said. In my opinion, media can be as biased as the creator wants it to, but the person consuming it has the right to interperet it however they please.

    Researching this particular topic was very difficult to me, since I wanted to be able to fully understand each piece of media I bring up. Along with this, finding films that arent outright about politics and which president the producers think have the best policies is difficult. And as much as I could go on and on about one production I particularly like for this theme (Cabaret), I decided to explore more and go deeper to truly understand this topic, since it is a serious one.

    After about 20 minutes of trying to find a film with the same storytelling style as Cabaret, I felt like I should give up. I had literally sat there for a few minutes until I finally realized, maybe I wasn't looking for the right thing. Yes, my specific choice of issue to talk about would be political, but films about social issues are much better at keeping the message seen without outright saying "LOOK AT ME! I HAVE AN OPINION!" 

    This is around the time I realized I am such an overthinker. So many childhood movies have political statements in them. For example, The Lorax. Although this movie is a childrens movie about a cute Dr. Seuss book, which was also for kids. A lot more theming goes on below it. Yes, It could be seen as a statement about deforestation, but it is definately also a statement about capitalism getting out of hand and even colonization. Even the song "How Bad Can I Be?" is about how the Onceler had settled into somebody else's land and just started chopping down all of their trees and dumping oil into their water, destorying their home. This movie had genuinely done an excellent job at getting this point across to people of all ages, I mean, even I was mad at the Onceler when I was a little kid.

    Another movie that does a great job at discussing social/political issues is The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Though this message is definately stated more outright, it is still a great example of good ways to properly address issues. This film includes many themes of racism and ableism. As a matter of fact, Disney films particularly do a really good job of sending out messages about current issues in the world quite often. Hunchback particularly has a very powerful and timeless message, though. I think the way of showing the message in this film by showing just how cruel the world and reality can really be is one of the best ways to share their messages. 

    Oddly enough, the two films have complete opposite ways of sharing their messages. While The Lorax shows the corruption of a main character and how it affected those around him, The Hunchback of Notre Dame utilized showing the good in the main characters and how those around him were all "ugly on the inside." 

    Overall, I think this research was very useful to me! I really will benefit from picking one of these two approaches on facing an issue. As for picking which one, I would honestly rather go with the approach The Lorax took, since it is one of those films where the viewer does not realize who the person in the wrong is until it is too late. I think that approach would be so much more impactful with my specific film idea rather than the other approach.