Thomas sankara the upright man review Term Paper

Thomas sankara the upright man review - Term Paper Example Do not expect any change of heart from such powers; their circumstances might have changed and their position to defensive at present. Thomas Sankara’s mind must be thinking on similar lines when he thought of self-reliant economy and he was averse to receive loans from the World Bank. He did not want any traces of colonial empowerment in his land. His acts of promotion of local food and textile production are a precedent-shattering commercial move, which gave great fillip to rural employment and provided recognition and status to the local artisans. That was a leader who had confidence in himself and in the capacity of his people to build the nation. The scene in the movie when I saw the how local African textile designs was encouraged was great. Not only his country, but the entire African Continent had a leader worth the whole-hearted support. 2. What men and women in a country that owns newly tasted independence want is confidence—the feeling that they are being car ed for and their voice is being heard in the new set up. Sankara was a great psychologist, besides being a man with the practical vision. He hit the right spot when he addressed the poor peasantry of the Nation and outlawed compulsory payments and labor (a sort of a bonded labor) to village chiefs. Rural poll tax was done away with. His most daring step in the tradition-fearing and male dominated African Society was to promote gender equality by outlawing polygamy and female circumcision. He often appeared in media to announce his popular measures. How women must have felt elated when he instructed the men to do shopping so that women had enough time as home makers. Some of his progressive measures were, the extraordinary immunization program, building new railway lines and public housing building programs. Literacy initiatives got a strong push, he addressed the issue of river blindness seriously and his most important measure—hard steps against corruption in the administrat ion, was the master-stroke and this well-meaning initiative made him popular amongst the masses. To Sankara, reformation and rehabilitation was a way of life and not mere political propaganda. He cut short the luxuries that go with the bureaucracy and urged them to be simple in their lifestyles. He advised that his picture should not be displayed in public buildings and put a ban on chauffeur-driven Mercedes and first-class airline tickets to his ministers and top bureaucracy. 3. Where is the scope and honorable place for principled politicians? Sankara was a dynamic leader who was in a hurry to show the results. His politics was unconventional. He was a planner and creative man. A man who would decide and act start and finish. His socio- economic reforms have no precedent in any African country. Some undemocratic principles crept into his style of functioning. But what he did was not for self-interest but for the overall welfare of the Nation. He was the envy of the fellow military leaders; he challenged the former colonial masters and the French hegemony. By 1987, opposition to his leadership was both from local leaders and the fresh establishment. He had humiliated President Francois

How might an anthropologist analyse a mainstream film Essay

How might an anthropologist analyse a mainstream film - Essay Example The depiction of the characters in the movie is not only racist in more ways than one, it is also extremely sexist. It takes historically inaccurate facts and places the burden of a sexist society upon the tribes of America. The vision that the director and the makers of the movie endorse is extremely problematic and make for disturbing viewing when looked through with a postcolonial and feminist approach. The dissection of the movie in this paper shall then proceed with the gaze of an anthropologist. Another factor that shall be looked into is the fact that Gibson’s movie was a mainstream one and hence factors in popular notions regarding other cultures. This then brings in the elements of reception and the cultural attitudes that are prevalent in the American and also global population. What sections of the population are targeted is also something that needs to be discussed here. This paper shall seek to look at these elements of the debate and also a psychoanalytic approac h into the understanding of why certain races are depicted as they are in popular culture. However, there is another side to this debate. The changes that are introduced into the idea of the Mayans represent the idea of difference between the city and the forest within Mayan culture. The movie is then an indictment of Mayan elite culture that according to Gibson had degenerated into a set of mindless rituals. The city becomes the center of all forms of evil that Gibson associates with Mayan culture. This is then contrasted with the culture that is prevalent within the geographical confines of the village. This village is then the site of family and bonding between different members of the same society. It is a self-sufficient unit that is understood to be a space where traditional aspects of Mayan life are followed without there being a corruption of these ways. There is however, also the presence of technology in the form of traps and other devices that smoothen the life of the peo ple in the villages. There is thus, an endorsement of the idea of the â€Å"noble savage† as Jean Jacques Rousseau thought of it. It discussed the idea of man in a pure state which made him not merely a savage but also a noble one that was purer than the man who had been corrupted by civilization (Basic Concept: Primitivism and the Noble Savage). Throughout the movie, aspects of Mayan culture are denigrated and the only character whose perspective is taken for a large part of the movie is that of the protagonist, Jaguar Paw. The movie traces the life that this character leads where a process of colonization takes place between different tribes within America. The fickleness of power is made clear in this kind of transfer of power takes place very frequently. One of the people who were met by Jaguar Paw is later seen as a captive within a matter of a few days. All of this leads to the series of human sacrifices that take place at the Mayan temple in an effort to appease the Ma yan god Kukulkan. The degeneration of the culture of the elite and those that live in the city are talked of in this movie. The connection between Jaguar Paw and the nature of his homeland is repeatedly stressed. This can also be seen in the way in which the forest decimates the people of the city who seek to kill Jaguar Paw. The connection between Jaguar Paw and his homeland’