by Elisa Dias da Silva
Culture, by the definition of the anthropologist Cristina de Rossi, “encompasses religion, food, what we wear, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things”. Basically, everything is culture and the behaviors she mentioned are just some of the many characteristics we can define and recognize in a group of people at any level. I didn’t think much of culture before, but now I see how great it is to observe and to be in touch with different cultural groups.
In the documentary “The foreign eye”, we can see how many stereotypes the Hollywood directors, actors and actresses had about Brazil. It shows a lot how media influences on the way we see things. For instance, every time I watch an advertisement about “Médicins sans Frontières”, I get the idea that every single country in Africa is poor and has near-to-death people. For a long time, unconsciousness (WC), I kept this thought, but once I had the chance to be in touch with African people in college my mind started to change, and it completely changed when I read “The danger of a single story”, by Chimamanda Adichie, in which she tells that even her, an African writer, had been influenced by European movies and books and how it had influenced on her writing.
So I had this project at college about how foreigners see our country and vice-versa, and the results were quite surprising. My group and I interviewed people from South Korea and China and they told us they thought, while in their country, that Brazil was a mix of paradise and a dangerous place. They also mentioned that we are very loud and kiss and hug people we are not intimate to while greeting. They said it’s very different in their country because they are very reserved people and they are not as outgoing as Brazilians.
It was great to compare, to know and to try to understand why we had these stereotypes about each other. It makes me want to hear more about their country, or even do a research instead of saying things I think I know about their culture, which might offend them and be completely wrong. Afterall, I think I can see my country and its people through a different point of view, in a way that I know it’s ok to be different because we live in a very big country. I think it is impossible not to have any stereotype of countries and people, but I think we, with a little patience, are able to change this with time. Let’s hope we can do it.
Culture, by the definition of the anthropologist Cristina de Rossi, “encompasses religion, food, what we wear, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things”. Basically, everything is culture and the behaviors she mentioned are just some of the many characteristics we can define and recognize in a group of people at any level. I didn’t think much of culture before, but now I see how great it is to observe and to be in touch with different cultural groups.
In the documentary “The foreign eye”, we can see how many stereotypes the Hollywood directors, actors and actresses had about Brazil. It shows a lot how media influences on the way we see things. For instance, every time I watch an advertisement about “Médicins sans Frontières”, I get the idea that every single country in Africa is poor and has near-to-death people. For a long time, unconsciousness (WC), I kept this thought, but once I had the chance to be in touch with African people in college my mind started to change, and it completely changed when I read “The danger of a single story”, by Chimamanda Adichie, in which she tells that even her, an African writer, had been influenced by European movies and books and how it had influenced on her writing.
So I had this project at college about how foreigners see our country and vice-versa, and the results were quite surprising. My group and I interviewed people from South Korea and China and they told us they thought, while in their country, that Brazil was a mix of paradise and a dangerous place. They also mentioned that we are very loud and kiss and hug people we are not intimate to while greeting. They said it’s very different in their country because they are very reserved people and they are not as outgoing as Brazilians.
It was great to compare, to know and to try to understand why we had these stereotypes about each other. It makes me want to hear more about their country, or even do a research instead of saying things I think I know about their culture, which might offend them and be completely wrong. Afterall, I think I can see my country and its people through a different point of view, in a way that I know it’s ok to be different because we live in a very big country. I think it is impossible not to have any stereotype of countries and people, but I think we, with a little patience, are able to change this with time. Let’s hope we can do it.