Geert Wilders, a Dutch parliamentary member, was the man behind the creation of the controversial short film 'Fitna', linking Islam with terrorism, which triggered protests all over the world (Broder, 2008). Bas Blokker (2008), NRC Handelsbald film critic, provided an overview of the movie; says Wilders tried to prove certain point therefore he did not concern a lot with aesthetics in making his work convincing.
Knowledge lies within individuals who perceive ‘truth’ as very subjective as it is the writer’s personal experience (Putnis and Petelin, 1996, p. 231). Reep suggests in writing for the web or broadcasting a video, the maker should evaluate the clear purpose of its video (2006, p. 181). Reading process, according to Walsh (2006, p. 25), is the integration of socio-cultural and contextual dimension with cognitive, affective, and visual process. Something which is acceptable in one country might be perceived as indecent in others since individual processes information differently.
At first Wilders managed to publish his ‘creation’ through television however, all stations refused to broadcast it, that eventually left him with one option: broadcast it online. Wilders’ video irritated Muslim religious community and is actually the compilation of pictures uploaded by extremists Muslims (Blokker, 2008) which served as the visual communication like Kress and van Leeuwen (2006, p. 23) says image is the representation of the ‘reality’.
Did Wilders suggest any new ideology? Because he presents his ‘system of thought’ as such, he attached strong emotional and bias idea (Williams, 2003, p. 146). Some pro-Wilders appreciate him for his brave and directness nevertheless others criticise him as insensitive politician who abuses the multiculturalism in Netherlands (Broder, 2008). The debates about Wilders mission to publish that anti-Koran film emerges the question whether there is a hidden agenda or agenda setting that he meant to draw media attention in hammering certain issue (O’Shaughnessy and Jane, 2002).
Does the reaction of this film reflect society’s culture shock toward a sensitive issue document, as referring to Guanipa (1998); culture shock is the feeling of discomfort not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. In my opinion, Wilders case should be an invaluable lesson for us to learn, when we produce a document, we have to seriously consider the content and purpose. It is not wrong to produce our own perspective over something, however we must further examine whether it will hurt or irritate any parties. Technology supports the information storage, processing, and dissemination in a simple and common way (Dearnley and Feather, 2001, p. 11), so why not we use it for a good reason and benefit everyone unexceptionally.
Does the reaction of this film reflect society’s culture shock toward a sensitive issue document, as referring to Guanipa (1998); culture shock is the feeling of discomfort not knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate. In my opinion, Wilders case should be an invaluable lesson for us to learn, when we produce a document, we have to seriously consider the content and purpose. It is not wrong to produce our own perspective over something, however we must further examine whether it will hurt or irritate any parties. Technology supports the information storage, processing, and dissemination in a simple and common way (Dearnley and Feather, 2001, p. 11), so why not we use it for a good reason and benefit everyone unexceptionally.
So, what do you think?
Reference:
Blokker, B 2008, Fitna the movie: not hyperbole or metaphor, but repetition, viewed on 11 June 2008
Broder, H M 2008, Mission accomplished for Dutch populist: How a film trigger a global panic, viewed on 11 June 2008
Broder, H M 2008, Mission accomplished for Dutch populist: How a film trigger a global panic; Part 2: Dutch premier: We must consider the consequences of our actions, viewed on 11 June 2008
Dearnley, J Feather, J 2001, ‘Chapter 1: Theorizing the information society' in The Wired World: an introduction to the theory and practice of the information society, Library Association Publishing, London
Slaughter and ‘submission’: Creator of Dutch film vows sequel despite Muslim deaths threats 2008, CBS news, viewed 11 June 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/11/60minutes/main679609.shtml
Guanipa, C 1998, 'Cultural Shock', viewed on 11 June 2008
O'Shaughnessy, M Stadler, J 2002, Media and Society: an introduction, 2nd edn, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, pp. 2-18
Repp, D, 2006, ‘Chapter 7: Writing for the Web’ in Technical Writing: Principles, Strategies, and Readings, Pearson Education, US.
Walsh,M 2006, The ‘textual shift’: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, pp.24-37.
Williams, K 2003, 'Ways of making you think: Theories of Ideology and Meaning', Understanding Media Theory, Arnold, London, pp. 155-164.
1 comment:
I totally disagree with your article. If society is not allowed to question itself society will fail to grow by making the same mistakes.
The measure of what can be expresssed or not should not be made by the extent if you are going to offend or not, because then noone would have the right to speak. No one dare to speak against Hitler because they would be killed. No on dare to speak against communism because they would be shot. Is this the society we want to live in?
with fear?
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