The Green Inferno Cultural Analysis

Cultural Analysis
Stop for a moment and close your eyes and think of an island, what do you see? Most commonly, you might see the white beaches, the beautiful blue waters and the palm trees, but what do you see inside? That’s where the uncertainty begins to set in, the unknown being thrown at your feet playing with your unconscious fear of the dangers that lurk beyond the white sand, the white land. When it comes to film, there are various stereotypical depictions that movie goers may or may not have acknowledged, such as ugly interiors, uncivilized natives and the way island control our emotions. Such concepts are important because they have completely shaped our beliefs on what make an island so appealing or appalling to us as citizens of the United States, foreigners to new territories and cultures.
The islands in film, more so the film selections we chose to observe had a consistency when it came to the idea that the island was beautiful on the outside, containing stereotypical

imagery yet when travelers (or tributes) wandered within, it was filled with ominous surroundings and inevitable danger. While watching “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, it was found that there were the ‘common’ images of an island or ‘paradise’ with beautiful waters, white shores as well as an abundance of forestry and palm trees. It should be noted that the plot itself is not what dictates the island stereotypes of danger because although the tributes are trying to kill each other off for the prize of winning the games, there is danger that they couldn’t foresee when they enter the forest beyond the cornucopia. When Katniss falls asleep in the forest during the night, she comes across a fog that approaches near her and the group of allied tributes that seems harmless, but when she reaches out, it burns her skin, forming blisters that paralyze the tributes with the pain they experience.
The depiction of an island’s external beauty and internal danger plays a large part in today’s culture by giving audiences a misconception about islands and what they hold. By developing this concept and applying it to films such as “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, viewers are told that they are not safe beyond the shore and that a wide variety of threats lurk in the darkness. In my opinion, I find the concept to be simplistic in its depiction, yet not accurate in the slightest; it’s simple to play on the fear of the unknown, what lurks beyond the curtain so to speak, but the over exaggeration of threats that lurk inside the island are found to increase that fear. It’s a great strategy to not only show this story of The Hunger Games itself, but to play on our unconscious fear of by taking such normal objects or animals and creating this whole new perception of an island, where everything and everyone is trying to kill you.
On the islands we observed in film, a very important concept and stereotype that was found to be represented in any way possible was that the natives of the island are uncivilized, they engage in savage behavior.

In Eli Roth’s “The Green Inferno”, student activist come to Peru in order to stop the threats made to the rainforests, but when their plane crashes they are kidnapped and gradually killed off by an unidentified Amazonian tribe. The film itself is a racist depiction of native tribes, as it portrays the tribe members as cannibalistic savages that wear little to no clothing as well as large facial piercings. Throughout the film, the tribe members not only kill the ‘innocent’ student activists but they cook the corpses of these students and feast on them which is not only unbearable to watch in a small theater, but it speaks to just how far filmmakers will go to sell a concept and feed on the underlying fear that we as United States citizens have other countries or

cultures.
Such a racist depiction is developed from our own fear and lack of understanding of people who differ from us on a cultural level and Eli Roth took the stereotypes we have embedded into our brains and ran with it. This concept is not only inaccurate, but harmful to the tribes in various countries that struggle to preserve their culture and habitat because of such perceptions; the idea of a cannibalistic tribe that kills and finds amusement in such an act is ridiculously over the top and though it sells tickets, it has created a negative impact on the possibility of looking past unknown cultures and accepting them.

Though there can be many observations made based on island concepts that were found in our observed films, the last observation that I find important to touch base on is that the idea that islands are seen as ‘emotional dictators’. When I say ‘emotional dictators’, that can mean that islands create romantic setting where travelers will eventually fall in love or in other cases, they will experience insanity, this is all due to the isolation that comes with an island in film. In “Six Days Seven Nights”, two of the characters who become stranded on a secluded island encounter various dangers, but as they endure that they also experience a change in emotions; they go from hating each other and arguing to knowing each other better and falling in love. Whereas in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, Katniss and Finnick come into contact with jabber jays, that play the voices of their loved ones driving them complete insane as they chase the voices, the delusions that the capital has provided.
When it comes to islands, we can see the romantic depiction that media has provided through film and television or we can see the dark side to it, which happens to be the most common concept I have observed so far. Either way these concepts are used to to play on today’s culture, where our brains and beliefs are driven by what we want to see rather than what is really there. There is an accuracy with romantic depictions when we apply it to islands, because the idea of isolation, seclusion away from the busy world to be with a loved one sounds great right? However, the concept of fear that filmmakers use on islands is over the top and inaccurate to a fault. Human emotion guides our decisions and by using that whether in a positive or negative way, it is easy to see how islands can become appealing or appalling to citizens today.
There’s a strong conclusion that can be made based on the observations made when it comes to islands and their stereotypes being depicted in film; that conclusion is us, the people. We take what we hear and run with it, whether it be a news story or information about other cultures, because we don’t take the time to understand the unknown. Film is about the audience and what they want to see, by showcasing the stereotypes clear as day, we can then understand how we behave when it comes to them but also come to a realization that these are ridiculous. We have based stereotypes on our own perception because we don’t truly know what hides behind the curtain of our own minds, we don’t understand that there is more to islands that our own enjoyment, the dangers or science fiction inspired images that filmmakers use to play on our emotions. Island stereotypes may seem entertaining while we sit in the seat of a movie theater or on the couch in our own homes, but when can we fully understand just how harmful these concepts can be to the cultures we have presented on the screen?