Socio-analysis Of Movie Mission Essays - Criminology, Deviance

Socio-analysis of Movie Mission INTRODUCTION The movie analyzed in this paper is The Mission. This movie contains several sociological aspects and concepts. The concepts most easily identified are the ones that will be discussed in the following pages of this paper. Those concepts are Social Inequality, Deviance, and Subcultures. Social inequality is the social differences that exist whenever one group of people has different access to the rewards a society offers. Deviance is a variation from a set of norms or shared social expectations. Finally subcultures are groups of persons who share in the main culture of a society but also have their own distinctive values, norms, and life styles. These three concepts are clearly recognizable and are the concepts most prevalent in storyline of the movie. MOVIE DESCRIPTION The Mission starts out in a very interesting and unique way. The movie starts out with the priest who is to decide the fate of the Missions in the movie. He is writing a letter to the King to explain his decision for no longer protecting the Missions. As he writes this letter he goes back through all the things that he witnessed during the trial over the Missions. From the beginning if you listen to his words it is clear that he made a decision contrary to his personal belief but according to the influences of his society. Also in the beginning of the movie the first action seen is the Guiane Indians tying a Jesuit priest to a cross and sending him down an enormous waterfall. These two opening scenes set the stage for the rest of the movie. Soon after the discovery of the dead priest Father Gabriel climbs the waterfall to make another attempt to bring the word of God to the Guiane Indians. He is successful in reaching out to the Indians through music and is accepted by them. It is at this point when Roderigo is introduced as a main character. He is a mercenary who works for a Spanish plantation owner. He captures the Indians and sells them as slaves. Roderigo has voluntarily imprisoned himself for six months after he kills his bother in a fit of rage for stealing the love of the woman he loved; this is when Father Gabriel comes to see him. It is after his discussion with Father Gabriel the Roderigo decides to try and forgive himself through penance. Roderigo ends up becoming a Jesuit himself and working with the very people he sold as slaves. After showing the transition of Roderigo the movie then shifts back to the political debate of who will control the land of the Missions. A trial takes place with a representative from Spain and Portugal, both who want the Indians and the Jesuits off the Missions, one of the Kings priests, and the Jesuits. During this trial the Judge hears the argument of whether or not the Indians are people or animals. He also visits several Missions and experiences the great accomplishments being made by the Jesuits and is extremely impressed. The Judge (Kings priest) still makes the decision to kick the Indians out of the Missions and that the Portuguese will take control of the land. This gives the Indians no rights and they can now be used as slaves. The Judge made the decision based on political and economic reasons rather than his own sense of what was right. The Indians do not want to leave the Mission and fight the Portuguese in an effort to keep what has become their home. The Indians are slaughtered, along with the priests and majority of women and children who did not take up arms. The movie ends with little remorse for the Indians and the Spanish and Portuguese in control of what they wanted. DATA ANALYSIS The one concept that is heavily prominent in the movie that of a subculture. There are three easily identifiable subcultures. They are the Indians, the Jesuits, and the Ruling Class in this case the Spanish and Portuguese. These three subcultures all have their own culture, and traditions. They all believe in different things and values, but share in the same main culture of the society. The Indians became a subculture of the society when the Jesuits introduced their