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Ethical issues in filmmaking
Ethical issues in documentary filmmaking
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Christopher Hvass
ENGL 101
10/18/2014
Mardi Gras Made In China In the documentary film Mardi Gras Made In China, The director David Redmon shows the path of Mardi Gras bead necklaces, from China to New Orleans. While interviewing Chinese workers about knowing what the beads are used for, and Americans about where the beads come from. Redmon is trying to make his case of how the Americans are treating the necklaces like garbage, and the Chinese make a poor living while making the necklaces. When Redmon is interviewing people in New Orleans. Some American people don't care about where the necklaces come from. While he opens the eyes of others that are ashamed of wearing the necklaces after they find out the conditions with the workers making
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Sales: $25 million dollars a year.” Carlone talks about how the factory in China “looks like a compound, because of the barbed wire surrounding it”. He states that “it is to keep people out, not to keep people from leaving.” and he says that “if they leave they don't come back, so they never leave.” When it comes down to the morality of what is being done with him and China exploiting the workers. He said “if I don't do it, someone else will.” He believes that the circumstances in the factory works for them, and it won't work in America. The way he talks, is like the more he exploits China, the more money he makes and doesn't care.
Redmon goes on to filming in New Orleans. All the beads being thrown, and the people in the party mode having a great time, without the people knowing what they're even celebrating for. Then he starts asking the people in New Orleans questions about where the beads came from, and when Redmon told them about the conditions that the beads were made. It made them feel bad about the circumstances in China, but they were having a good time and didn't want to go too deep into the conversation about the
Bob Jeffcott supports the effort of workers of the global supply chains in order to win improved wages and good working conditions and a better quality of life of those who work on sweatshops. He mentions and describes in detail how the conditions of the sweatshops are and how the people working in them are forced to long working hours for little money. He makes the question, “we think we can end sweatshops abuses by just changing our individual buying habits?” referring to we can’t end the abuses that those women have by just stopping of buying their products because those women still have to work those long hours because other people are buying their product for less pay or less money. We can’t control and tell what you can buy or what you can’t because that’s up to the person...
In the film the factory owner, Roger Wong, is contracted by entities outside of China, from the U.S.A., to manufacture beads for the least cost possible to maximize the greatest profit. This exchange of money for goods is an example of capitalism and global distribution. Capitalism is described by Conley (2008) as “an economic system in which resources are privately owned; investments are determined by private decisions; and prices, production, and the distribution of goods are determined primarily by competition in an unfettered marketplace.” (p.372) Wong agrees to manufacture the beads for a certain amount of money. From this amount, he determines the cost involved in the production such as material, electricity and wages that detract from profit. After these considerations, a workforce is employed.
The transition in the message of the film occurs during the scene where Zhang’s daughter Qin and her friends are shopping in a mall. Upon seeing a pair of jeans, Qin and her friends become mesmerized by the idea that this pair of jeans might have been made in their factory. However, upon closer inspection, they realize the jeans are manufactured by another company. This scene is paramount, because it reveals how Qin is being exploited, not even having the ability to buy the jeans which she toiled to produce. Instead, she is committed to slave like labor, to ultimately provide for the common American. The film exposes the flaws of American businesses in unison with the Chinese government. The root of the problem lies in the way American companies decide to produce their goods cheaply. While the average American might become aroused by the idea of saving money on a pair of jeans, they do not realize the “hidden larger cost.” The rest of the problem lies in the apathy that the Chinese government has for the mistreatment of these workers. The communist government does not allow for regulation in these factories, and they disregard anything that will prevent these factories from producing the maximum goods
Deceptiveness of appearances is highlighted in, “The Necklace,” by the necklace of Mathilde’s wealthy best friend, Madame Forestier. She allows, Mathilde to borrow it for the party. The fact that it comes from Madame Forestier’s jewelry box gives it the illusion of high value, when actually it is just costume jewelry. Mathilde would not have worn the necklace if she knew the diamonds were fake, because she believes she is deserving of more. Fake jewels suggest that even the wealthiest pretend to have more than they actually claim. Unfortunately, Mathilde loses the necklace, not realizing the necklace is fake. The fact that Madame Forestier, does not notice Mathilde has replaced the fake gems with real diamonds, suggests that true value is ultimately dependent on perception. In the movie Slumd...
The film starts with a scene from a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, where drunk partygoers trade beads for nudity and follows the trail of the bead necklaces from New Orleans all the way back to its origins in China, where it was made. In China, the workers, mainly women, work and live in the factory under distressing conditions. These workers work for 11 hours a day and for extremely low wages. They live in crowded and dilapidated compounds and eat cheap factory food. The film also mentions some New Orleans partygoers can spend about $500 on the beads in a night, whereas the factory workers earn on average ten cents an hour and make around $2-$3 dollars a day. The workers have to fulfill a certain quota each day and failure to do so results in a ten percent cut in wages. Most of the money they make is sent back to their families. Toward the end of the film, pictures of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans were shown to the Chinese workers and footage of the Chinese workers were shown to Mardi Gras partygoers. The Chinese were shocked to see that the beads were purchased at a thousand times higher than the amount that they are paid to make it. Similarly, American partygoers were also shocked to see that the seemingly worthless beads they throw around are made with such strenuous work effort. This stark contrast represents the different value of the
The Necklace is a great example of how our desires can create tragedy rather than happiness. Madame Forestier would have rather been idolized for her wealth instead of buying items that grant her survival. She says,”It’s just that I have no evening dress and so I can’t go to the party.” which explains well how she had a finite amount of money and thought material wealth was more important than happiness. If she only knew before that she would spend the next decade working off her debt, she would have never asked for the necklace and she would have had a happy life. Furthermore, wealth isn’t the only thing that brings happiness to a life.
By juxtaposing the implications of this sale with Xiao Hong’s exaggerated innocence, Yuan appeals to his audience’s emotions, stoking anger toward social values that could enable such barbaric exploitation of the poor. Yuan employs a similar juxtaposition later in Street Angel, when Wang visits a lawyer’s office in a skyscraper – an environment so divorced from his day-to-day realities that he remarks, “This is truly heaven.” Wang soon learns otherwise, when the lawyer rebuffs his nave plea for assistance by coldly reciting his exorbitant fees. The lawyer’s emotionless greed – a callousness that represents capitalism at its worst – contrasts strikingly with Wang’s nave purity, a quality betrayed by his awestruck expression while inside the skyscraper. Again, this juxtaposition encourages the film’s audience to sympathize with a proletarian victim and condemn the social values that enable his oppression.
In China, Kelsey Timmerman spent time with a couple who worked at the Teva factory, traveled to the countryside to meet the couple’s son, insert name, who hasn’t seen his parents in three years due to his parents working long hours and it being expensive to take a train ride. In the US, the author visited one of a few clothing factories in the US to talk to the workers about his shorts, and the decrease of American garment factories. Timmerman wants the consumer to be more engaged and more thoughtful when mindlessly buying clothes. By researching how well the brands you want to buy from monitor their factories and what their code of ethics details, you can make a sound decision on if this is where you would want to buy your clothes. The author writes about brands that improve employers lives like SoleRebels, a shoe company who employs workers and gives them health insurance, school funds for their children, and six months of maternity leave. Brands like soleRebels that give workers benefits most factory workers have never even heard of help improve the lives of garment workers and future generations. From reading this book, Timmerman wants us to be more educated about the lives of garment workers, bridge the gap between consumers and manufacturers, and be a more engaged and mindful consumer when purchasing our
In "A dollar a Day:Made In China" we meet Wayne Petersen and Li Jieli. Wayne Patterson was an ex- miner who lives in minnesota. In the beggining of the film we see Wayne in Target looking through the different merchandise they are selling and see that most of the products are made in China; Wayne does not want to buy the products because all of the manufacturing jobs are going to China were workers over in China are looking at more job oppourtunites while Wayne and people in his community are loosing thier jobs. Li-Jieli is a young women from China who is forced to work in a factory that makes parts for electronics. Li Jieli had to leave home at 17 years old to improve her and her families living conditions. Li had to give up her edu...
Mardi Gras: Made in China was directed and produced by David Redmon. Redmon throughout the film investigates a factory in Fuzhou, China. In particular, he studied a factory that produced plastic beads used for Mardi Gras and art which was then sent to New York City. Redmon interviewed the owner of the factory Rodger Wong as well as the workers within the factories. He also took another angle and traced the cultural globalization of these products particularly the beads and how they were used. The factory workers were astonished as to what kind of actions their production of beads were worth in New Orleans, Louisiana. China having a capitalistic economy has increased its relationship with the US. Capitalism has allowed for goods to be traded between the two nations. Capitalism has empowered the vastly growing rate of globalization. Through this essay the reader will gain further understanding of Redmons investigation to low wages and poor working conditions and how it relates to cultural globalization relating to the privileged and disadvantage.
Foxconn has factories in Asia, Europe, Mexico and South America why is it that only China’s Foxoconn was in highlight and not any other country? While the Chinese factories happened to be the largest factories in China, these factories are also facilitated with dormitories and other infrastructure to host the workers and provide workers to go back at end of the 12 hour shift to relax and reenergize for the next shift. A quarter of the employees live in these so called dormitories. My Case study will analyze how the various news sources revealed the global sweatshop to the world and the reactions by the companies who were using Foxconn to manufacture electronic goods. The Chinese newspaper displayed Foxconn employees having social and psychological reasons leading to suicides whereas US news showed it as human rights violation. Both of them did not acknowledge the social justice and world economy aspects and steps that were taken by the electronics giants to rectify the problems that were being faced in Wuhan, China.
The Necklace also displays distinctive realism in the use of socioeconomic influences which are essential to the plot. The major conflict in the story would be absent and the theme would not be obtainable without Mathilde Loisel’s insecurity about her own socioeconomic reputation. An example of Loisel’s self-deprivation nature is presented when she realizes she does not have a necklace, she says “I shall look absolutely no one. I would almost rather not go to the party” (Maupassant, sec. 3). Another example of the self-conflict caused by social pressure is Loisel’s immediate attempt to replace the necklace and her reluctance to speak to her friend Madame Forestier about the necklace for ten whole years. If she were not conflicted by societal pressures she might have avoided the whole situation altogether. The Necklace establishes a realistic difference in value between the necklaces and proposed clothing. Her husband proposes flowers which were valued 10 franks so in any case if she had chosen the flowers there would have been an insignificant economic loss. Her decision not to tell her friend about the necklace ends up costing her seven times the worth of the original. The roses symbolize the simpler things in life to the theme of the story. Mathilde Loisel’s withered appearance at the end
In the short story “The Necklace”, the main character, Loisel, is a woman who dreams of greater things in her life. She is married to a poor clerk who tries his best to make her happy no matter what. In an attempt to try to bring happiness to his wife, he manages to get two invitations to a very classy ball, but even in light of this Loisel is still unhappy. Even when she gets a new dress she is still unhappy. This lasts until her husband suggests she borrows some jewelry from a friend, and upon doing so she is finally happy. Once the ball is over, and they reach home, Loisel has the horrible realization that she has lost the necklace, and after ten years of hard labor and suffering, they pay off debts incurred to get a replacement. The central idea of this story is how something small can have a life changing effect on our and others life’s. This idea is presented through internal and external conflicts, third person omniscient point of view, and the round-dynamic character of Loisel. The third person limited omniscient point-of-view is prevalent throughout this short story in the way that the author lets the reader only see into the main character’s thoughts. Loisel is revealed to the reader as being unhappy with her life and wishing for fancier things. “She suffered ceaselessly, feeling herself born for all the delicacies and all the luxuries.” (de Maupassant 887) When her husband tries to fancy things up, “she thought of dainty dinners, of shining silverware, of tapestry which peopled the walls…” (de Maupassant 887) As the story goes on her point of view changes, as she “now knew the horrible existence of the needy. She took her part, moreover all of a sudden, with heroism.” (de Maupassant 891) Having the accountability to know that the “dreadful debt must be paid.” (de Maupassant 891 ) This point-of-view is used to help the reader gain more insight to how Loisel’s whole mindset is changed throughout her struggle to pay off their debts. Maupassant only reveals the thoughts and feelings of these this main character leaving all the others as flat characters. Loisel is a round-dynamic character in that Maupassant shows how she thought she was born in the wrong “station”. “She dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was as unhappy as though she had really fallen from her proper station.
Most people know that the main ingredients in pasta: noodles, sauce, and sometimes meat combined makes a good meal for lunch and dinner. However, to have a great fun pasta meal that is simple and full of flavor, better than just good, people would have to eat at a restaurant/bar called Bobby Hebert’s Cajon Cannon, located in Metairie, LA. Created by the owner and his friend, Bobby and Deke’s Mardi Gras Pasta is the best cajon pasta in the Jefferson Parish area of Louisiana because of three important combinations: its creamy alfredo sauce, fettucce noodles, and fresh seafood.
The story of “The Necklace” is compared to a high school picture called “High School, Red Cloud, Nebr” by Chas. Cotting. The story is about a girl named Mathilde Loisel who marries a clerk. She desperately wants to be rich, “feeling herself born for every delicacy and luxury,” and imagines having servants, famous and sought after men “whose homage roused every other woman’s envious longings,” and delicate feasts with gleaming silverware (The Necklace, 1-2). Mathilde is later invited to a party hosted by affluent people and she refuses to attend unless she can purchase an expensive ball gown and borrow expensive jewelry to wear to the party. While there are different, more apparent themes in the story, there are also several significant traits that are seen with young females and the high school culture such as the need for admiration, the emphasis on appearances, and the longing to belong to the affluent group and being sought after by the popular males “whose homage roused every other woman’s