The movie, Devil’s Playground, provides a broad perspective over which a number of issues can be drawn. Some teenagers from the Amish community are allowed to deviate from the normal living standards to pursue other lifestyles (Walker, 1). When they finally get to discard their previous lifestyles, they begin to do the things they previously thought were not their preserve. They drive cars, do drugs and to some extent, they are engaged with driving cars. Life changes completely for the teenagers and the few people who have been allowed to move to another community (Walker, 1). An interesting phenomenon ensues in the movie when a pastor’s son known as Faron begins to sell drugs and other hard materials so as to make ends meet (Walker, 1). It is from this point that a number of issues begin to come out to the extent that the movie begin to have twists and turns that are fascinating. The movie can be viewed from different perspectives depending on the underlying intercultural perspectives (Walker, 1).
One of the concepts that can be drawn from the movie is based on the value proposition in the society where the movie is set up. A society that upholds the values of the society would not want to come up with issues that potentially destroy the society. When the teenagers begin to engage in drugs, pre-marital sex and living high lifestyle, it brings to focus a society where no serious values are upheld. What happens in the new community that the Amish teenagers are in is quite different from the initial lifestyle the teenagers live in. Different issues of concern begin to get worse when the young people indulge into some unwarranted behaviors that are not allowed in the Amish community that are not characteristic for teenagers and members of the community (Lustig, 53). Proper values seem to be restored back to the Amish people who had previously left the community. A majority of the people decides on going back to their Amish community. A good number of the individuals go back to church in a move seen as restoring the lost social manners previously wiped out by joining a community that is not value oriented. The Amish community is more established in terms of the values than the community that the teenagers decide to move to.
When the people become indifferent from what is conventional, the resultant factor becomes a culture shock (Samovar et al., 21). Case in point is that before the teenagers moved to a new community, the people were living a normal life. When they finally move to the other new community, their life changes to the extent that they begin to do other thing previously not known to them. Moving into a community where people are accustomed to drug life, sex and living expensive lifestyles can potentially bring about culture shock. When the Amish change course to begin life in another set up, they begin to see different and strange aspects of life not previously known to them. In essence, they are disoriented; as they do not know what lifestyle they are to live (Walker, 1). Eventually, when they begin to leave their adopted lifestyle, it becomes a strange phenomenon nevertheless they have no otherwise, since the community they have shifted to be predominantly known for an indifferent lifestyle of drugs, money and sex (Walker, 1).
The rest of the Amish people who had previously resisted the temptation of going to another community find the behaviors of returnees to be strange owing to the fact that they are more indoctrinated into drugs and a lifestyle that is not proper (Walker, 1). By far, the Amish community who had stayed put has a problem with the rest of the people who decide to come back into the community. Being indifferent from the other people potentially changes her perspective of the society and the sudden change of the cultural norms in the story. Culture shock comes when a phenomenon totally different from the conventional ideals come into effect. The events in the film are testimony of a community trying to readjust from a situation that delicate to the cultural wellbeing of the people.
The events in the film bring into context the issues concerning high and low cultures. Under these circumstances, the mode of communication becomes invariant to the extent that low communication becomes different from high communication a very significant manner (Martin & Nakayama, 78). In high communication context, a number of issues are not said or put into context, but the motives and the actions give out the meaning of what would otherwise have been communicated. In the movie, the people who have been transformed speak a different language from the normal people. In the movie, most of the people who had been transformed changed their language to the extent that there were a number of differentials experienced in the process. In all fairness, the people Amish people who had been transformed to other lifestyles could not to some extent communicate in a proper way. For instance, people who have been transformed into drug life would not communicate as before because there are a number of dynamics that would ordinarily affect how one communicates.
Reverse culture shock is when the unexpected happens in a rather unprecedented manner. Apart from the people who are residents of the community, there must have been some people not aware of the events as they happened in the community (Brinkmann and Oscar, 18). When the Amish people come back and find the society at a level they did not find it, it brings about the issue of reverse culture shock. Reverse culture can be seen in two parts. One is that the Amish people who had gone to stay in a different community return to find the society in a state they did not leave it. On the other hand, the rest of the community find their behaviors strange to the extent that they appear to be artificial in some sense (Walker, 1). Culture shock can only be put into context when there are people who were a part of the society, but went away. However, when they come back, they find a society in a state they did not leave it.
Cultural identity and biasness are some of the issues that are evident in the movie. When it comes to cultural identity, it means that placing an individual to the right ethic or cultural belonging (Cultural Bias, 5). Two things happen in the film. One is that there is culture interference to the extent that the people find themselves in a different outfit even though they are supposed to be of a particular ethnic identity (Kupiainen et al. 15). A new culture is created in a society where the movie is set up in the sense that the people previously living a different lifestyle are transformed to a different life. For instance, people not previously used to drinking, pre-marital sexual engagements and drugs begin to live a different life. Cultural bias is manifested when the particular society is dominated by a group of people who are who are in all respects different from the other people. In this aspect, it should be noted that cultural issues can sometimes change based on the underlying transformations in the society (Walker, 1).
Looking at the Amish community and their people, it is clear that there is much of an identity for the indigenous than any other group. The Amish community is easily identified by their lifestyle that has no completed characterizations. Unlike the community where people do drugs, sex and live in high lifestyle, high moral issues characterize the Amish community. It is symbolized through the presence of a church. Cultural identity to a large extent is a phenomenon that is easily visible in the movies (Walker, 1).
Conclusion
The movie, Devils Playground, can be drawn is a platform over which a number of issues can be drawn. A number of intercultural issues from the film to the extent that an understanding can be derived with ease. Values, culture shock and reverse culture are some of the issues that are manifested in the movie. On the other hand, the issues of cultural identity and biases are manifested in the movies based on the different transformations experienced in the movie. Through the developments in the film, it should be noted that cultures could change based different transformations that take place in the society.
Works Cited:
Brinkmann, Ursula, and Oscar. Weerdenburg. Intercultural Readiness: Four Competences for Working Across Cultures. , 2014. Internet resource.
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Walker L. Devil's Playground. (2002). Film. Retrieved from: < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1453245/>
Neuner, Gerhard. Intercultural Competencies. Strasbourg: Council of Europe, 2003. Print.
Kupiainen, Jari, Erkki Sevänen, and John Stotesbury. Cultural Identity in Transition: Contemporary Conditions, Practices, and Politics of a Global Phenomenon. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 2004. Print.
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Samovar, Larry A, Richard E. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel, and Carolyn S. Roy. Communication between Cultures. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
