MOMA

Aamna Rao

Image, Identity and Culture

02/21/2020

                                                            MOMA Identity

            Judith Howard has described the concept of identity by using theories such as social cognition and symbolic interaction that defines identity in a traditional manner. In early ages, identities were assigned but in the present age, identities are selected or adopted instead. Howard has used the word “schema” a mental framework that organize information together that let us form a judgment quickly. Self-schema is a structure of self-knowledge based on past experiences that organizes and processes information that provides point of view with reality e.g. Who am I? How I relate to the world? Group schemas are based on social positions such as gender, race, age, class. Group schemas have a stronger impact on our selves as the social positions we occupy have an immediate consequence on our sense of selves. Judith claims that identity is neither something that completely snatches an individual from social universe nor it is a concept of imprisonment as sociology defines it.

            A home film “Marvin family – Mr. Marvin’s wedding 1914”. The home film clearly portrays an atmosphere of a wedding where bride and groom walk formally towards the crowd. After the vows are said, the bride and the groom kiss each other and then each individual kiss another individual. Men are dressed in suits and women are dressed in gowns. They begin to dance although each man dances with a woman. The film does not depict a woman dancing with another woman or a man dancing with another man unlike today it is found common in many weddings since gay marriages have become legal. There is a sense of aristocracy in this film. The camera does not shift to another place. It is kept at a very rigid angle. The camera is stuck at a point and the people in the film are moving. Social identities are visible in this video. There is sense of gender roles in the film although the individual part of the identity is somehow invisible. It is there but yet hidden. Marriage itself is a private concern rater it was held among a priest, relatives or in a gathering that clearly reflects the theme “private life public spaces”.

            An American film named as “Andy Rees based on fashion portrait, 1957-1987.” The film is based on fashion show performance, young individuals in an apartment and a designer boutique. In comparison to the Marvin film, the camera is not kept at the same angle and yet it moves and shifts from place to place providing a very realistic touch. There is a fashion show and a dance performance in glittery clothes by three women and some men as well in a different scene. The scene immediately shifts from fashion show to an apartment on a cat and then slightly the camera holder looks himself in a mirror. A man receives a pizza delivery and woman holds the pizza with him. Three men are seen sitting in a room of an apartment building and watching television and drinking tea. The camera shifts to a naked man in a bathtub. The camera immediately shifts to a boutique or a studio where a woman is talking on a phone (old phone) and there are some un stitched dresses on the table and are kept on the mannequins. It reflects the culture of New York where some youngsters live together in apartments who struggles in their professions. There is some sort of boldness in this film. The identities are clearly seen in public spheres such as the dance show and later their private lives can be seen in the apartment. There is a sense of dilemma and restlessness in this film. The film covers private as well as public sense of identities. The public sphere is when the artists perform on the stage. It reflects their talent but at the same time does not reflect anything deeper until the apartment scenes are depicted when their private identities or inner self are represented. The gap between the present age and this film is not quite huge since the apartment life reflects a lot of personal things in a similar way as social media does often and the stage performance acts as a social media platform as it some part of their personal identity as social media does in modern age, it idolizes rather than depicts reality.

            The last film is shot in India where the women are dressed in sarees wearing heavy jewelry, men dressed in dhoti and a kurta, some kids are seen naked. Labors are working with their hands rather than machines. Among all the brown people there is one white woman. The woman is welcomed by the brown family. The take pictures with her. They seem to feel quite adventurous with the idea of taking a picture with a white woman. There is a sense of respect for the woman but also a sense of inequality where she is treated as a fascinating superior being and not as equal. A lot of individuals walk up to a temple. The white woman tries to adjust to her environment by wearing saree. The film has broadened the boundary of identity from American borders by reflecting Indian culture.