"Jodhaa Akbar" . What specific cultural values are inherent in the film which differs from mainstream American films?
Foreign Film What specific cultural values are inherent in the film which differs from mainstream American films? The film, Jodhaa Akbar, is a love story, which represents cultural values of the Indian culture, through the demonstration of the special relationship shared by the couple, Jodhaa and Akbar. Firstly, the film presented the supremacy of arranged marriages in the specified culture, which differs from values presented in American films regarding Love. Secondly, another value presented about the Indian culture is, the dominance of men, in their relationships and society The cultural value inherent in the
film is strong belief in the population in arranged marriages, which is completely different from values presented in mainstream American films, because, usually it presents the value of progressive love, leading to marriage, therefore a love marriage. In the film, Jodhaa Akbar, the director has used positioning and salience, in order to, present his perception of the historical love story of the couple. In the scene, where Akbar (the Mughal emperor) sends his proposal to marry Jodhaa, the Rajput (place) princess, to the King of Rajput (father of Jodhaa), the most salient figure is the father, who is centralised throughout ...
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film is strong belief in the population in arranged marriages, which is completely different from values presented in mainstream American films, because, usually it presents the value of progressive love, leading to marriage, therefore a love marriage. In the film, Jodhaa Akbar, the director has used positioning and salience, in order to, present his perception of the historical love story of the couple. In the scene, where Akbar (the Mughal emperor) sends his proposal to marry Jodhaa, the Rajput (place) princess, to the King of Rajput (father of Jodhaa), the most salient figure is the father, who is centralised throughout the scene as well as on an elevated position, which is in contrast with the backgrounding of Jodhaa. This clearly display the decision of the wether, Akbar, is the correct life partner of Jodhaa, solely rests on the decision of the father of the bride, due to elevated position and centralisation representing power, and as shown later in the film, the King accepts the proposal, due to which, Jodhaa marries Akbar, without any complain, therefore showing the concept of arranged marriage in the culture. Furthermore, the backgrounding of the bride, shows the unimportance of her opinions on whether or not she wishes to marry the man. This is in contrast with the values presented in mainstream American films, as seen in recent example of Pride & Prejudice, where the characters first fall in love, which is followed by marriage. This is on the contrary on the values presented in the film, where first they characters get married, which eventually leads to love. This regularity of arranged marriages also presents another cultural value inherent in the film, which is the dominance of men in Indian culture and society. Costuming, positioning and symbolism are used to display the dominance difference between the males and females, through the character of the protagonist, Akbar and his beloved wife, Jodhaa. In a particular moment in the film, Jodhaa is displayed to be sitting on the floor, while Akbar stands in close proximity with his gaze set on her. Also in the specific scene, Akbar is dressed with a cultural golden robe and royal ornaments, filled with jewel, while on the other hand, Jodhaa is displayed wearing Red Sari (a cultural dress for women). The combination of the man on a higher position, which symbolises the higher power of the gender and the golden costuming and expensive ornaments, which in context of the 16th century, display the highest level of power in the Indian culture, shows the important of men the Indian culture. This differs from the values presented in American mainstream films, which represent value of gender equality, where the woman and man are both represented of equal power and in every relationship, both have equal importance.