Identity is something that’s thought to be assigned at birth. Whether male or female, black or white, physical characteristics pre-determine identities. Author Judith Howard wrote an article, “Social Psychology of Identities” in which she analyzes how identity can be created in other than biologically. One of Howard’s methods is through the process of interactionism. According to her article, interactionism is “the basic premise of symbolic interaction is that people attach symbolic meaning to objects, behaviors, themselves, and other people, and they develop and transmit these meanings through interaction” (Howard). On February 14, 2020, I visited the Museum of Modern Art in New York City with Colloquium class. The exhibit we attended was name “Private Lives, Public Spaces.” Home videos, made from different video cameras, were prevalent and on display in the exhibit. After reading Howard’s article and visiting the MoMA, I concluded that interactionism played a huge role in three of the home videos I viewed in the exhibit.
Before I examine the three videos I witness at the exhibit, I must first analyze the name of the exhibit itself. “Private Lives, Public Spaces,” gives a huge insight about what is being represented. Home videos are very personal and sometimes private mementos that most family create to capture those precious moments that they can one day look back in the future to reminisce or just nostalgic pleasure. The public spaces could be interpreted as the location in which the videos are film such as park or outdoors wedding. It could also be interpreted as the museum in which visitors come to view the exhibit. A museum is a public space.
The home videos in the exhibit, that I saw, seemed to be genuinely authentic. People in the videos were carefree and at times acted if there were no camera present at all. The people themselves were authentic and natural. Their true identities are revealed in watching how they interact with other in their private lives.
The first home video that I watched was titled the Jarret family. The home movies were filmed between 1958 to 1967. The film used to for digital preservation was standard 8mm film. The video shows up a glimpse of an African American family enjoying themselves in the privacy of a family members home. Howard’s theory of interactionism is on full display. The family engaged in through interaction with one another mostly through dance. Dancing has culturally been a way in which black families have used as form of communication to show togetherness. The home videos highlight a female family member doing the Twist, a popular dance of the early 1960’s. The family also exposes the interactionism by card playing. Playing cards is another cultural form of interaction when black families come together in a celebratory event.
The second home video that I was watched was titled “My Dream Trip.” The video was made in 1977 with digital preservation of a Super 8mm camera. In this video, the people on film seem to be from different families or different walks of life. They are visiting the Grand Canyon and are enjoying sightseeing. The tourist interaction is seeming to be a little distant because they may not be related. However, tourist seem to share similar thoughts by their reactions to certain aspects of the Grand Canyon. For example, in two different scenes of the video, two different people have a horrified expression to being close to the edge of a cliff that had no protective barriers. The person who does the filming of the home video is unknown which also makes the status of the others as being a family unknown as well.
The final home video in which I watched at the exhibit was called “Manhattan Moods” by Charles L. Turner. The video was made in 1942 with a digital preservation of 16mm film. The footage seems to capture the essence of life in New York City during World War II. It displays interactionalism and the mood of the social atmosphere during this tumultuous period in time. While American soldiers fought overseas in defending democracy, it was business as usual back in New York. The video follows the normal day to day life of New Yorkers who seem to be unaffected by the war. A woman is shown interacting with her baby in which she is strolling through what looks like Central Park. A man is walking his dog and the dog is featured in a closeup camera shot. The city’s infrastructure is highlighted with many shots of its skyline, skyscrapers, and rail service. Interaction seems to be more intimate yet limited because it is New York City were people tend to isolate themselves from strangers in public places.
In conclusion, I feel that all three home videos from the exhibit share a commonality in interactionalism. Togetherness is what draws people together and develops individual identity outside of the biological realm. Interaction with others shape our identities. The home videos were all filmed during simpler eras in American history in which have long been replaced by newer technologies and social media of today. Today’s form of interactionism has become more complex because of it.
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