Films Influence Human Behaviors and Knowledge
Bill Swanson uses the article “How Films Feed the Mind or When I’m Hungry, I Don’t want to Eat Candy” to show that the human mind grasps information from the surrounding. Humans gather information from their surroundings using their eyes. Such methods of gaining awareness apply to everything that a person can perceive, including movies. About twenty-four frames per second pass human eyes when watching a film. The frames have a cumulative impact on humans and forms part of consciousness and imagination that allow people to search for meaning. Films add small bits of information to the human experience. Such experience resembles situations where people acquire knowledge without watching a movie. Swanson notes that movies tend to fool people’s minds as opposed to learning enhanced by films. Although most people may disregard the effectiveness of the film in promoting learning, Bill Swanson argues that films feed the human mind with ideas and concepts.
The film “The Godfather” is an epic film that gives an account of the American gangster. The director of this film, Francis Ford Coppola, included creative camerawork, haunting scores, and memorable performances by some characters. The scene of the film presents the Corleone family, one of the five mafia relatives that control the territories spread across New York. All the family members meet for the first time during Don Corleone’s daughter’s wedding. Tension rises after people enjoyed the wedding as a drug lord, who is a distant relative, tried to persuade Corleone to join narcotics. The events end in violence that resulted in Corleone’s death. Besides, Sony took charge of the Corleone family after the death of their patriarchal. Such events influence the audience to experience tension as family members engage in conflict. Besides, the case shows that film feeds one’s mind with the factors and forces that influence events in the family. Although the movie “The Godfather” is an epic that presents the life of gangsters, it feeds the mind with concepts that show relative stability in family results from consent by the dominated groups.
The theme of violence in the film “The Godfather” feeds the mind of the audience with the factors that influence different activities in a specific setting. The film begins with a scene where a character gives a vivid explanation of his previous violent encounters (Coppola, “The Godfather” 1:00-1:35). In this scene, the members of the mafia family seem to defend their authority. The case shows an unstable relationship where the member from the dominant family tries to trick those from weaker family to agree with them. From a practical perspective, it allows the audience to accept the factors that influence relationships in families (Beckershoff 17). The ability to amass money through illegal means plays a central role in shaping life in the mafia families. Besides, the audience learns that violence enabled people to express their authority. For instance, Corleone receives threats from close associates as they force him to engage in drug trafficking activities (Coppola, “The Godfather” 10:00-11:25). The scene reveals that injustice plays an instrumental role in ensuring the mafia families executed their missions. The chronological presentation of the violent scenes allows one to appreciate the central theme in the study. Therefore, violence in the film “The Godfather” feeds the mind of the audience with the influences that led to specific decisions in mafia families.
The theme of violence plays a crucial role in feeding the audience’s mind with the consequences of following an unethical process. For instance, the scene of men stabbing one another depicts the dire consequences of adopting violence as a way of life (Coppola, “The Godfather” 14:00-14:24). The bloody scene creates fear among the audience as they dread the merciless actions. Besides, the events create a memorable instance where one recalls the horrifying events. Humans gather information from their surroundings using the eyes (Swanson 331). Such methods of gaining awareness apply to everything that a person can perceive in the film. Asking these films to the movie under consideration shows that one uses the eyes to gather different information concerning the mafia families. The director of the film used events that motivate the audience to contemplate more about various events presented (Beckershoff 18). This case implies that violent scenes encourage viewers to examine the legality of the violent means of dealing with business issues. Besides, the process allows people to learn a particular concept about the mafia family.
The setting of the film feeds the brain of the audience with the challenges that families face. The movie “The Godfather: Part II” presents killing events that take place in a home setting (Coppola, “The Godfather: Part II” 0:30-0:54). This statement shows a compelling choice of the setting for the film. Besides, the presentation motivates the audience to consider the role of a family. The presence of the head of the family to motivate his some to engage in crime operations represents a new role of a family (Coppola, “The Godfather: Part II” 0:30-0:54). This statement implies that viewers adopt a new perception of the part of the family. From a critical point of view, the situation allows one to develop a contradictory understanding of the legality of a family in engaging in illegal business operations. Films add small bits of information to the human experience that resembles situations where people acquire knowledge without watching a movie (Swanson 331). This case remains valid in the film “The Godfather” since it represents events unfolding in an actual family setting. One perceives the occurrences as those that occur in a real-life environment.
Character development in the film plays an essential role in feeding the mind of the audience on how people change behaviors to suit specific needs. For instance, allies to Corleone’s family turn into enemies when they failed to accomplish their core mission (Beckershoff 20). This case implies that the director of the film relied on character development as a tool to convey an essential message to the audience. Besides, one appreciates that human behaviors can change when they fail to meet their intended objectives. Such events occur in the daily lives of humans. Swanson notes that movies tend to fool people’s minds as opposed to learning enhanced by films (331). Such instances do not exist in the current movie since the director presents events people experience in their daily lives. Instead, the film allows people to reflect on their life experiences. Besides, the case shows that a family can obtain relative stability when the dominant groups come into an agreement with the minority group. Therefore, Character development in the film feeds the mind of the audience on how people change behaviors to suit specific needs.
In summary, most people may disregard the effectiveness of films in promoting learning among the audience. However, Bill Swanson argues that films feed the human mind with ideas and concepts. The movie “The Godfather” is an epic that presents the life of gangsters. This film feeds the soul with thoughts that show relative stability in family results from consent by the dominated groups. The theme of violence, character development, and setting of the film allows the audience to learn that dominant families suppress their rivals.
Works Cited
Beckershoff, André. “Pierre Bourdieu and the Godfather.” The Interplay Between Political Theory and Movies, 2 Oct. 2018, pp. 17–31, 10.1007/978-3-319-90731-4_2. Accessed 5 June 2020.
Coppola, Francis Ford. “The Godfather.” IMDb, 24 Mar. 1972, www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/.
—. “The Godfather: Part II.” Www.Imdb.Com, 1974, www.imdb.com/title/tt0071562/?ref_=vp_back. Accessed 5 June 2020.
Swanson, Bill. How Films Feed the Mind or When I’m Hungry, I Don’t Want to Eat Candy. pp. 330–341.