Baraka

The film we watched in class portrayed many different photographic elements. It taught me about how different people around the world are based on their culture and where they are from.  In one disturbing part of the film, people were killing chicks as if they were like flies.  These innocent creatures were suffering as their wings were getting ripped off.  The photographic element in which a small object looks as if it is large was used in this portion of the film by showing a close-up view of the chicks; however, the chicks looked a lot smaller when they were all going through the machines.  As soon as I saw the first chick’s wings get torn off, I closed my eyes because I could not handle watching such cruelty.  I could not believe that people in other countries treat animals in such a terrible way. I noticed that some people from other cultures do not see animal cruelty the same way I do, which led me to wonder if I would be able to rip off a chick’s wings if I were from some other country.  That portion of the film caught my attention the most, but it was not the only part that concerned me; I was intrigued by the world poverty that was portrayed.  This film frequently presented poverty by showing images of poor people along with their diverse culture.    

After watching most of this film, I began to wonder what other issues people around the world are constantly dealing with.  Although the movie only consisted of short random clips with no dialogue, it still really opened my eyes and made me think about subjects that would not have crossed my mind otherwise.  If this entire film had been shot from with little variations of photographic elements, it certainly would not have had as strong of an effect on me.