Critical Investigation (2,000
words)
‘’Every year in Pakistan, many people – the majority of them women – are known to be victimized by brutal acid attacks, while numerous other cases go unreported. With little or no access to reconstructive surgery, survivors are physically and emotionally scarred for life. Mohammed Jawad – a London Based reconstructive surgeon returns to his homeland to help the victims restore their faces & lives. ‘’
''How does the media raise
awareness about women’s rights (and acid attack victims in particular) in LEDCs
through media texts such as the documentary 'Saving Face', and what is the
impact of this?''
The media has now advanced to a great extent, allowing us as an audience to pick and choose our media texts, whether that is according to the genre, the duration or platform we receive these texts through. Not only this but user generated content is now being created by ‘’over 51% of current users of the internet, and is consumed by over 70% of the users’’ [1] this does not mean control is in the hands of those who create or view this content. We are shown great sums of news; however what is important is decided by the media institutions we consume it from. Whatever we view or create is controlled and monitored by ‘’the elite’’ [2] and similarly to Pareto’s law: ‘’80% of Italy's land was owned by 20% of the population’’ [3] – media institutions and audiences function in a similar way. We are only shown – what the institutions choose to show us. This means, the minority own the content, i.e. 20% are media institutions and large conglomerates such as ‘’Sky which is ranked 7th on the world’s largest media conglomerates’’[4] and present their views to manipulate us as the majority i.e. 80%.
In other words, media/institutions ‘’want to maintain
their power & control’’ i.e. have a hegemonic control (Karl Marx) over
audiences and the pleasures they receive. Not only this, but the audience are
manipulated by being ‘’injecting with appropriate messages designed to
trigger a desired response’’ [5] as the hypodermic needle model states. It is arguable that this is done in order to
meet the audience pleasures such Uses and
Gratifications (Blumer & Katz): ‘’diversion, surveillance, personal
relationships and personal identity’’.[6] Either
way, the media are ‘’highly selective in the way in
which they construct and represent the world back to us”.[7]
There
are many
unfortunate incidents of
Acid attacks taking place in a number of ‘’less economically developed
countries’’[8] (LEDCs), ‘’80%
of cases’’[9] of acid
attack victims are females.
This
leads me to discuss Saving Face,
which is a documentary film i.e. ‘a film made about real life’[10]. Saving
Face is produced by Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, a Pakistani-American journalist and
director of short films, and Daniel Junge also an American director. Saving
face is a documentary film, which is set in 4 towns in Pakistan, including the
capital - Islamabad. This documentary ‘’examines
the issue of acid violence in Pakistan against mainly females and the efforts
of plastic surgeon Dr. Mohammad Jawad to improve the victims' lives’’[11]. Females are specifically victimized by acid in
Pakistan because as stated by Judith Butler, "Sex is biological while gender is culturally
constructed" [12] this saying strongly applies in
the Pakistani society, as females are ‘constructed’ to be seen as inferior in
the society, thus can be easily made a vulnerable and easy target. This
mind-set has led to Pakistan
being ‘’the world's second-worst country in terms of gender equality’’[13]. Acid violence is a form of
‘’gender-based violence and discrimination prohibited under
international law’’, it is the act of ‘’an acid attack involves the premeditated
throwing of acid on a victim’’[14] - it is justified as an act to ‘’keep
women in their place’’[15]. In Pakistan ''The acid phenomenon has
been growing, for the past decade, especially in parts of the country with high
levels of unemployment and low levels of literacy.''[16]
In my primary text ‘Saving Face, which is a ‘’perfect
representation of the real’’ [17] the victims
of the acid attacks were interviewed, in which they explained what they had
gone through, and why they were made victims of acid attacks. Also, they stated
how the government is helping them, and to what extent are they helpless and
alone. Not only this but a British
Pakistani plastic surgeon Mr Mohammad Jawad had flew over to his homeland - Pakistan as he describes, in order
to help out and provide surgery for the severe disfigurements of the hopeless
victims. He also ‘’led the
burns reconstruction surgery in the much documented 'Katie Piper Story'’[18].
Saving Face follows the documentary codes and conventions, codes ‘’convey meaning based on the agreed social and cultural experiences’’[19] of the audience/users. Voiceover’s and ‘’exaggerated sounds’’ have been used throughout the documentary, as well as ‘’interviews’’ with experts and the subjects i.e. the female victims of domestic violence and acid attacks. The exaggerated sound was a traditional south Asian music, consisting of no lyrics, but instruments such as table. This sound used was non-digetic, and it was added whilst the establishing shots were shown, such as the long-shots of Islamabad Burns Centre, and the nearby areas. There was a generally ‘slow pace of editing’, allowing the audience to build empathy for the victims. However, when one of the culprits of the acid violence (a victim’s husband) had his interview, he was shown in long-shots, and the questions he was asked were being able to be heard, in order for the audience to acknowledge the lies he has to tell and how much in denial he is. Other than this, subtitles were added in order to appeal to a mass audience, as the subjects spoke in Urdu, which is ‘’one of the official languages of Pakistan’’[20]. This documentary was first broadcasted on HBO in North America on March 8,[21] and was originally filmed for those in the western society to ‘raise awareness about the acid-violence’[22] and ‘was not meant to be shown in Pakistan’[23]
Mohammed Jawad, who was equivalent to the ‘hero’ (Vladimir Prop’s character narrative theory)[24] to help the subjects was shown in a positive way, as he successfully managed to ‘’help repair the damage done to the victims’’[25]. This had also challenged the original representations of males that was created in this documentary, however having a famous plastic surgeon like him play a strong subject in the documentary, definitely aided the success of the Documentary, and its ability to win the Oscars 2012. This documentary being able to win an Oscar, certainly shows how the media is raising awareness about issues and women who are acid attacks victims in LEDCs. However, the amount of awareness currently raised about this issue of acid attacks in specific does not have enough of an effect on the audience in the Western world. It is a shame that issues aren’t reported as much as they should be, and audiences aren’t given enough of an opportunity to ‘’empathize with victims’’[26]. An Increase of empathy with victims will increase the viewership, thus raise more awareness of the audiences, another limitations audiences face due to the media is poor quality news which further dumbs us down as an audience, because what is actually happening in the world i.e. these horrendous acid attacks and violence specifically against females, isn’t shown enough.
Acid violence impacts mainly ‘’women in southern Punjab and changes the lives of hundreds of women each year."[27] as shown in my primary text Saving Face - as well as all over the world, in specifically less developed countries.– is there enough awareness raised in the media to stop those who are guilty, and help those who are desperate?
News journalism has a broadly agreed set of values, often referred to as 'newsworthiness'[28], it makes me question why not enough is being done to help the women who will have to ‘wait hours in the hospital waiting room’[29] in countries such as Bangladesh, often ‘regardless of third-degree burns’[30].
Saving Face follows the documentary codes and conventions, codes ‘’convey meaning based on the agreed social and cultural experiences’’[19] of the audience/users. Voiceover’s and ‘’exaggerated sounds’’ have been used throughout the documentary, as well as ‘’interviews’’ with experts and the subjects i.e. the female victims of domestic violence and acid attacks. The exaggerated sound was a traditional south Asian music, consisting of no lyrics, but instruments such as table. This sound used was non-digetic, and it was added whilst the establishing shots were shown, such as the long-shots of Islamabad Burns Centre, and the nearby areas. There was a generally ‘slow pace of editing’, allowing the audience to build empathy for the victims. However, when one of the culprits of the acid violence (a victim’s husband) had his interview, he was shown in long-shots, and the questions he was asked were being able to be heard, in order for the audience to acknowledge the lies he has to tell and how much in denial he is. Other than this, subtitles were added in order to appeal to a mass audience, as the subjects spoke in Urdu, which is ‘’one of the official languages of Pakistan’’[20]. This documentary was first broadcasted on HBO in North America on March 8,[21] and was originally filmed for those in the western society to ‘raise awareness about the acid-violence’[22] and ‘was not meant to be shown in Pakistan’[23]
Mohammed Jawad, who was equivalent to the ‘hero’ (Vladimir Prop’s character narrative theory)[24] to help the subjects was shown in a positive way, as he successfully managed to ‘’help repair the damage done to the victims’’[25]. This had also challenged the original representations of males that was created in this documentary, however having a famous plastic surgeon like him play a strong subject in the documentary, definitely aided the success of the Documentary, and its ability to win the Oscars 2012. This documentary being able to win an Oscar, certainly shows how the media is raising awareness about issues and women who are acid attacks victims in LEDCs. However, the amount of awareness currently raised about this issue of acid attacks in specific does not have enough of an effect on the audience in the Western world. It is a shame that issues aren’t reported as much as they should be, and audiences aren’t given enough of an opportunity to ‘’empathize with victims’’[26]. An Increase of empathy with victims will increase the viewership, thus raise more awareness of the audiences, another limitations audiences face due to the media is poor quality news which further dumbs us down as an audience, because what is actually happening in the world i.e. these horrendous acid attacks and violence specifically against females, isn’t shown enough.
Acid violence impacts mainly ‘’women in southern Punjab and changes the lives of hundreds of women each year."[27] as shown in my primary text Saving Face - as well as all over the world, in specifically less developed countries.– is there enough awareness raised in the media to stop those who are guilty, and help those who are desperate?
News journalism has a broadly agreed set of values, often referred to as 'newsworthiness'[28], it makes me question why not enough is being done to help the women who will have to ‘wait hours in the hospital waiting room’[29] in countries such as Bangladesh, often ‘regardless of third-degree burns’[30].
Many women around the world are ‘’not even awarded basic human rights’’[31], it may be difficult to see why the media choose to show us only the positives, or negatives of mainly those people who we can relate to such as those in the Western society such as in UK/USA or are part of the Elite e.g. politicians. Feminism and human rights is a sensitive issue, successfully being brought up in the meetings for UN, most recently during the famous Emma Watson speech. However, acid attacks victims, specifically against females are still are not brought up in any headlines. In order to raise awareness via the media, other than Project SAAVE – there is nothing being done or any key international foundations created in order to fund the expensive treatment of these victims, and make them feel supported.
Despite these scenario’s taking place, as well as successful award winning documentary being filmed following up on acid attack victims, disfigured faces aren’t shown enough on the news – this is the reality, and documentary’s such as Saving Face are there to encourage those in the western society to do all they can to help, as well as raise awareness about the suffering that has to be tolerated by hundreds of acid attack victims. However ''With all the attention on celebrity and glamour at the Academy Awards, it's rare that the award for short documentary film gets much notice.''[32] So although there is so much available about these issues, including documentary’s and news articles, these articles won’t make the headlines when they take place.
As the victims are mainly female, the lack of awareness being raised via the media could be due to the fact that the attackers tend to be mainly males in most cases. Such as in countries like such as Afghanistan, where girls ‘’have been targeted by acid attackers (a group of men) for attending school. ‘’[33]
Such acts mainly being done by males, leaves those presenting the media in a vulnerable situation, where they can make their own kind i.e. gender seem negative if too much media texts and awareness is raised about these attacks. Media institutions are predominantly owned by males, for example Rupert Murdoch, who’s the ’’chairman and CEO of News Corporation’’[34] the man who ‘’owns too many newspapers’’[35]. It is unlikely that a male would want to present males in a negative way, as this can affect their overall representation in the media, as well as in society. This is a strong factor, because there is already so much attention being paid in the media about equal rights and ‘feminism’ so any further enforcement on females being disadvantaged around the world, as well as in the western society such as females still earning less than males in ‘’90% of job categories’’[36] in the UK can make this issue of human rights and men being unfair to females an even bigger issue than it already is.
This leads me to conclude on the fact that the media are raising awareness about womens rights and acid attack victims, however this is only to some extent for those in LEDCs, and not enough is being done to raise awareness about media texts such as Saving Face. Saving Face has won a number of awards, including the ‘’2012 academy award for short documentary’’[37], it has still not lead to huge attention after these awards, the charity project SAAVE and Saving Face promote each other (similar to synergy: as there’s mentions of Project SAAVE in Saving Face and vice versa). However, this doesn’t mean that the issues covered are promoted into the real world enough to raise awareness about them thoroughly.
Words: 2140
Bibliography
Work Cited:
Newspaper articles:
Atia Abawii Afghan girls maimed by acid vow to go to
school CNN Jan 2009
Bangladesh: ‘’Acid attacks continue
despite new laws’’ Humanitarian news http://www.irinnews.org/report/82194/bangladesh-acid-attacks-continue-despite-new-laws
Manika Mehta 
‘Film a powerful tool to create
understanding’ Jan 2015
‘Film a powerful tool to create
understanding’ Jan 2015
Omar Farooq Khan. ‘’Pakistan
second-worst country in gender equality’’ (Indian Times) 2014
Susan King ‘’Saving
Face' puts focus on plight of Pakistani women’’ March 2008 LA TIMES
Tom Bawden, Simon Rogers 40 years since the Equal Pay Act, equality remains a dream
Homa Khaleeli ‘’saving faces in Pakistan’’-Feb 2012
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/12/saving-faces-pakistan-acid-attacks
Ben Dowell writes
about Harriet Harmens comments on
Rupert Murdoch – March 2012 The
Guardian
Worldwide web
Stephen
Stills. (2009) ‘’Can User-Generated Content Change Your
World?’’
Prof.
Mujahidin Kamran. (2011) ‘’The Elite,
the ‘Great Game’“’
Joseph Milord. ‘’The World’s 10 Largest Media Conglomerates’’ (Elite Daily) 2013
‘’OSCAR NOMINATED FILM FEATURES
PIONEERING PAKISTANI SURGEON’’(Pakistan Observer) (2012)
"Judith Butler [Philosopher]". Media Edu
Jawad Mohammad. ‘’The
Katie Piper Foundation’’
Search/Define: Urdu
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/urdu
Saving Face Official PAGE http://savingfacefilm.com/
Sonya Rehman ‘Saving Face’ Filmmaker on Shooting
Documentaries in Pakistan’ November 2011 http://blogs.wsj.com/scene/2011/11/29/saving-face-filmmaker-on-shooting-documentaries-in-pakistan/
Books/Media
Magazines
Katz, E. (1957). "The Two-Step Flow of Communication: an
Up-To-Date Report on a Hypothesis".
The Public Opinion Quarterly, 21 (1). pp. 61–78
Katz, Elihu (1959). "Mass Communications Research and the Study of
Popular Culture: An Editorial Note on a Possible Future for this Journal". Departmental
Papers (ASC): 1–6.
Pareto, Vilfredo; Page, Alfred N. (1971), "Manual of political
economy", A.M. Kelley
Kruger, S.
Rayner, P. Wall, P. (2004). p. 47."How
we Classify Countries". (World
Bank.) September
25, 2010.
Tom di Castella How
many acid attacks are there? Aug 2013 BBC News Magazine
‘Essential
Media word dictionary’ - AS/A-level p.
48
Nichols, Bill. ‘’Mode
Of Documentary’’ 2001
Essential Media word dictionary’ - AS/A-level p. 30
‘’United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women’’. p22. (2013)
Avon Global Centre for Women and Justice at Cornell Law
School (2012)
David Herman ‘’Narrative
Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates (Theory Interpretation Narrativ)’’ – p42 2012
Pamela J Shoemaker ‘’News and
newsworthiness: A commentary’’ p. 105 Walter de Gruyter
Moving Image
Saving Face – 2012 directed by
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy & Daniel Junge (Official Documentary)
‘’Alain De Bottom on the news’’(Feb2014) from YouTube – published February
2014.
Work Consulted:
Nichols, Bill. 'Foreword',
in Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski Documenting
The Documentary: Close Readings of Documentary Film and Video.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1997
Rubin, Alissa J.; Nordland, Rod (December 10, 2011).Four
Afghan Men Held In Acid Attack On Family .
ALISSA J. RUBIN and ROD NORDLAND (The New York Times).2010
Kavita Choudary. India is fourth most dangerous place in the world for
women
CREED, BARBARA Monstrous-Feminine:
Film, Feminism and Psychoanalysis, The
MACDONALD, MYRA Representing Women
MALIK, SARITA Representing Black Britain: Black and Asian Images On
Television~
NOSHEEN , ABBASS BBC
Online World News - May 2012
CLANCY, CHASSAY The Guardian News – November 2008
AMY, CHARLEWOOD The
Media Magazine Issue 40 – April 2012
Baker,
James. Clark,
Vivienne. & Lewis, Eileen. (2003). Key
Concepts & Skills for Media Studies. London: Hodder Headline.
Collins,
William. (1989). The
Collins Concise dictionary of the English Language. London: Collins.
(Original work published in 1988)
Dyer, Richard. (1993). The matter of images: Essays on
representations (1 ed.). New York: Routledge
Kruger, Stephen. Rayner, Phillip. &
Wall, Peter. (2004). Media Studies:
The essential resource. London: Routledeg
Laughey, Dan. (2009). The Media Studies Guide. Harpenden:
Kamera Books
ALAT,
ZEYNEP. (2006) Feminist
Media Studies V6 N3.
Perlm,
Allison. (2007) Feminist Media Studies V7 N1: New York
[1] Stephen Stills. (2009)
[2] Prof.
Mujahidin Kamran.
(2011)
[3] Pareto, Vilfredo;
Page, Alfred N. (1971)
[4] Joseph Milord. 2013
[5] Katz, E. (1957).
[6] Katz, Elihu (1959).
[7] Kruger,
S. Rayner, P. Wall, P. 2004
[8] "How we
Classify Countries". (World
Bank.) September
25, 2010.
[9] Tom di Castella Aug 2013
[10] ‘Essential Media word dictionary’ - AS/A-level p. 48
[11] Pakistan
Observer (2012)
[12] "Judith Butler
[Philosopher]". Media Edu
[13]
Omar Farooq Khan. 2014
[14] ‘’United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality, and the Empowerment of Women’’. (2013)
[15] Avon Global Centre for Women and Justice at
Cornell Law School (2012)
[16] ibid
[17] Nichols,
Bill. ‘’Mode Of Documentary’’ 2001
[19] ‘Essential Media word dictionary’ - AS/A-level p. 30
[20]Search/Define:
Urdu http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/urdu
[21] Saving
Face Official PAGE http://savingfacefilm.com/
[22] Ibid
[23]Faiza Mirza June 2012
[24] David Herman ‘’Narrative Theory: Core Concepts and Critical Debates (Theory
Interpretation Narrativ)’’ – p42 2012
[25] Homa Khaleeli -Feb 2012
[26] Alain
De Bottom – Feb 2014
[27]
Sonya Rehman November 2011
[28]
Pamela J Shoemaker ‘’News and newsworthiness: A commentary’’ p. 105 Walter de
Gruyter
[29] ‘’BANGLADESH: Acid
attacks continue despite new laws’’ Jan 2009
[30]
ibid
[31] Manika Mehta Jan 2015
[32] Susan King March 2008
[33] Atia Abawii Jan 2009
[35] Harriet
Harman – March 2012
[36] Tom Bawden, Simon Rogers March 2011
[37] Saving Face Official webpage - 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment