Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Cinetrek 1:Culture differences through theater


The trip to go see the film The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie has become an experience were one can compare the English and American culture based on a simple activity as going to the movies. One of the first major differences between the theaters in these two cultures is that in the British theater one gets to choose their own seats the moment one orders them. This gives the advantage of doing things before the movie starts without having to make or ask someone to save a seat for you. In the American theater one doesn’t get the chance to do this because one sits wherever they want. Another thing that can be noticed is that the tickets are different. The British ones are larger and in them they have your seat number. As you walk into the theater you can see in plain view the room in which they are rolling and preparing the film. You also get a piece of paper with information about the movie that you are about to watch. This sheet gives a general summery about the film and it gives all the information about who were the contributors to the film. For example it gives the name of the Director, Production manager, Assistant directors, etc. As you make your way in there is a visible sign that clearly states that you can bring drinks in, but no food is allowed. This is a major difference because in the American theaters one can bring food and drinks and in a way one is expected to eat in the theater while one is enjoying the movie. The room of the theater was smaller than the rooms of the American theater. The seats here were smaller, but more comfortable compared to the other ones. The space was confined and you couldn’t walk that easily in between the rows. I also noticed that there was almost no advertisement not just of products, but of other movies as well. For example there were no trailers before the movie started, the lights just went off and the movie started to appear. The room itself was pretty small, but the screen was large enough for the room. The room also looked sophisticated and instead of appearing as a room to watch movies it appears as an actual theater room, where one can see a live performance. This experience of watching a film in a different country has become the second chance for me to compare and contrast our culture with another one. The first time I got the opportunity to contrast it was when I went to the theater in Mexico and the major differences involved social classes. Basically I went to two theaters in Mexico, which are part of the same company and are right next to each other, the difference is the price, which for one the price is cheap and for the second one the price is three times more expensive. In both they show the same movies and the same advertisement, the difference is that the service they give on the second one is as if one is a V.I.P. member. By doing simple activities just as going to the movies one can see positive and negative traits from a certain culture. For example the experience in Mexico made me realize the enormous discrimination between social classes regarding money and one in that country is place as a person with money or a person with no money. Regarding this British experience one can see a positive trait in it, that the atmosphere in the theater is more sophisticated and proper and that makes the activity more personal regarding ones attention to the film, which makes ones analysis of it to be profound. 

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