Intercultural Communication

Intercultural communication means sharing information or exchange across different cultures and/ or social groups.  It is defined as situated communication between individuals or groups of different linguistic and cultural origins.  The Diplo Foundation is an organization that works to improve more inclusive and effective diplomacy by offering courses, blogs, interactive communities, books, movies, and other resources.  A wide variety of fields realizes the importance of intercultural communication for their everyday work.  It is especially important that there be intercultural communication in a global economy.  

Culturosity Group, LLC is a website that helps people to learn about other cultures from experiences by becoming aware of intercultural communication as a part of their every day lives.  One way to improve intercultural communication is by viewing films and movies. Ellen Summerfield, an intercultural film specialist, explains the advantages and disadvantages of using films to help us learn about other cultures. 
 
I chose the movie The Backwoods to examine for completing the Power of Movies assignment.  British actor Gary Oldman is the star of the film.  I chose this film because it was set in Spain and used both English and Spanish in the film.  I am currently taking Spanish 4 and wanted to be able to watch a film that used both the English and Spanish languages.  I came across the film on my Dad's recent movie downloads.  He is a fan of B rated, horror, and foreign films.  This movie is all three. 

Here is a short synopsis of the film.  The Backwoods (El bosque de las sombras) 2006, is a foreign version of the American film Deliverance.  It is a B rated horror film.  It is about two married couples from London who want to rekindle the flame by getting away for a while.  They decide to take a take a trip to a renovated farmhouse run and owned by one of the couples, Paul (Gary Oldman) and Isabel.  The cabin is located in northern Spain in the Pyrenees Mountains.  Once there, the two men are out enjoying a hunting trip when they discover a malformed, feral girl (enfant sauvage) in an abandoned cabin who appears to be neglected.  They “rescue” the girl and take her back to the cabin only to find that they have drawn out the wrath of the local townspeople who have had the girl hidden in the cabin.  The rest of the movie is about the couples attempt to leave the village with the girl to turn her over to the proper authorities. 

The movie increased my knowledge about the culture of people living in northern Spain.  It also allowed me to practice my listening and interpreting skills in Spanish.  I was able to experience some of the culture in the area.  I believe the language and dress were authentic for the area.  This film gave me the opportunity to view the physical setting of Spain and the way the villages and communities were laid out.  I feel it was a pretty good representation of the amenities that were available in the area. 

However, I believe the film was biased and reinforced stereotypes. In this case, the film reinforced the stereotype that all people living in the mountains are inbred, redneck, and savage people.   While I'm not sure where this stereotype started, I know this example of stereotyping is evident in the United States.    This stereotype seems to have assimilated to other cultures, as this is a foreign film written and directed by Koldo Serra of Spain.  There was one part of the film that really stuck with me.  In our culture, to find an abandoned, dirty, and neglected child, would suggest that the child was abused.  In this case, the girl is terrified of her rescuers and extremely comfortable and loving to the family who has had her hidden in the cabin.  This is an example of not knowing what is acceptable in a culture.  The movie did leave me with a negative image of inbred mountain people, but gave me a little insight that what is acceptable for one group of people might not be the same for another group of people.  But, this was a movie and a horror movie at that.