Whether you know it or not, you see cultural representation in every movie you

watch, and plays a part in the convention present in a movie. Cultural representation in

media can be described the way a certain culture is presented to the audience in a

movie. The way a culture is presented can be positively or negatively depended on the

choices of the director and where the movie is made. Three movies that explain the

impact of cultural representation will be Parasite, Soul, and Paddington. The culture that

a movie is made by is arguably the most important factor when determining what kinds

of conventions the movie will employ.

One example of cultural representation would be in the movie Parasite. Parasite

is a K-drama or Korean drama directed by Bong Joon-ho. Parasite takes us for a deep

dive into Korean culture. Korean culture is much different than American culture, and

due to the fact that the movie was made in Korea Bong Joon-ho definitely nailed it with

accurate representation. One huge example of this representation in the movie would

be through the use of formal and informal language. In Korean culture different words

are used when addressing people depending on whether or not that person is viewed

as higher than you in society. An example of a person who is considered to be higher in

society would be your boss or somebody older than you. Although we have this in

English too, the difference between English and Korean is that in Korean the use of

formal and informal language is much more important and can be much more offensive.

An example of this in the movie would be when Ki-Woo is talking to his boss. His boss

refers to him in formal language despite being his boss because he is older. This shows

his boss's respect for him. One more example of culture in Parasite would be the
acknowledgment of the air pollution in Korea. While in the car Mrs. Park makes

comments about the air quality. This is a minor but important factor in Korean culture as

pollution is a huge problem there.

Another example of cultural representation would be in the movie Soul. Soul is

directed by Pete Docter. Soul is a movie representing Black culture, specifically the jazz

community. Soul is about a man named Joe Gardener, Joe is a middle school music

teacher as well as a talented pianist. Joe is trying to make it as a jazz musician. The

movie takes you through Joe’s struggle refining his piano skills and making it as a

pianist. One big part of culture presented in Soul can be seen in Joe’s struggle with

piano. Joe is an amazing pianist but is struggling to play with emotion. So therefore Joe

goes on a journey to Learn to play with his Soul. This concept of playing with your soul

is common in jazz.

The final example of Cultural representation would be in the movie paddington.

Paddington takes place in the UK. In the movie we can see a lot of culture through the

clothes they wear and what they call some items. The use of British slang is very

important to the story and does a great job of depicting the characters as from the UK.

In conclusion, Culture definitely plays a huge impact in the media. The culture

being displayed greatly impacts what scenes mean and being unaware of this culture.

The context of what is being said in different cultures could mean completely different

things which is why culture is so important.