Throughout
the film, Satellite is the primary English-speaker in his entire village; this
is largely the reason for his popularity in the community. With the English
language, Satellite is able to go to town and barter with other people to gain
success, or in their case buy a satellite. The reason for purchasing this piece
of equipment is to watch the news in the United States to figure out when the
war will begin. Satellite is once again placed on a pedestal higher than anyone
else in his village because he is the only person who can translate the English
– and even with his ‘power’ of speaking and understanding English, he denies many
people that information. A typical ‘American’ some people would say; abusing
power just for the sake of having it over everyone else. This idea of English dominance
and dependency on the United States for information highlights a key point in
the article “Framing Diaspora in Diasporic Cinema: Concepts and Thematic
Concerns” written by Michael T. Martin and Marilyn Yaquinto.
The
article states, “Conversely, diasporas mask complex forms of dependency and
hegemony, especially for poor migrants
and their descendants who negotiate worlds constructed by others.” I have
bolded a key point in the text of this article, which is above. There is this
strong belief that migrants (and their descendants) live in a world that is
otherwise constructed by everyone except themselves. Whether this is completely
true is more of an opinion based question, but the film does emphasize this
belief by trying to watch the US news. To them, that is there only source of
information as to what is happening in their homeland…that they are presently
in, which is crazy to me! But, as I have said previously there is definite ideology
that the not only the English language but the American nation as a whole
carries and that is power and knowledge – whether this is right or not, it is
clearly depicted even in films from non-American directors and producers.
This was very interesting to read, simply because I didn't even noticed the power of the English language in the film. The ideas you bring up that English was trying to be shown in this film as a sense of power is brilliant, because from my American mind set I didn't even notice it during the film. I just went along with it as if it was meant to be that way. Looking back on it though you are absolutely correct, that the film was trying to show how powerful the English language is looked at and tried to be shown off during films like this.
ReplyDeleteI agreed with everything you said except the part where you thought Satellite abused his "power" by refusing to translate the television. From the evidence provided by the film, Satellite only knew a few basic phrases in English and his refusal to translate when watching television was because he couldn't understand what was being said.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't noticed the power of English in this film either until reading your post, and I do agree with it. However, we also have to keep in mind that English isn't just a product of the United States and that it has long been the language of communication of many other countries. The power of English was just as evident (if not moreso) in Kandahar because Nafas' use of English greatly increased her chances of receiving aid from the doctor and the Red Cross workers, and the director was pretty clearly appealing to an English-speaking audience by having Nafas record her travel narration in English.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! What's interesting, too, Jamie, is that Satellite gains power from his technological know-how. It makes me think about generational differences, and how young people today are much more technologically adept than their parents. In certain diasporic cases, children become the adults because their skills are more translatable, and because they learn things more quickly. Think of how many immigrant children translate (English to Spanish, for instance,) for adults...
ReplyDeleteSpring