Post #4: Babel

(Foreword: Sorry Deidre, this is going to be a long one.)

To start off this post, I would like to begin by stating that this movie had me on the edge of my seat the same way that a thriller would. Most of this anxiety came from wanting the best possible outcome for each character despite watching their situations become stickier and complex. It was almost heartbreaking watching Amelia have so much fun at her son’s wedding with the nagging thought that something bad was going to happen to her. Despite the 2.5 years that this movie has aged me from stress, I found this movie enjoyable to watch with my partner and to discuss with them the different narratives that this movie brought with it and how they differ from how American media often portrays them.

Watching the different storylines in this movie was so interesting because they all intertwined despite being in different countries and languages. It really goes to show that we really aren’t as divided by culture and language as we make ourselves out to be. Yes, differing languages and cultures create barriers at times, but we still find ourselves interacting/connecting with others despite that fact and I believe that this movie does a lovely job exhibiting the different ways in which we do: with interactions ranging Yasujiro (Chieko’s father) becoming close friends with his hunting guide, Hassan, to the ignorant caution that those on the American tour bus display when travelling through Tazarine.

Languages and the Differences in Cultures

Languages are a large, if not the most important aspect to this film, but this is a bit to be expected with a title like “Babel”. Listed out, the languages used are: English, Moroccan, Spanish, Japanese, and Japanese sign language and along with their culture, each of them contributes to a conflict of sorts in their respective storyline intermingled with different form of societal issue (I will explain. Don’t worry.)

Starting with the Mexico storyline, I would argue that the relevance of language to the storyline’s conflict is the most detached compared to the other storylines. The main event of miscommunication occurs when Amelia brings Mike and Debbie to the wedding without informing their parents, which becomes the catalyst to the issue of Amelia not having their parents’ letter of consent when travelling back to San Diego. However, the use of Spanish does play a part in the rising conflict when the border patrol officer makes prejudiced remarks towards Amelia, assuming that she had crossed the border, as well as moments later when another officer asks if she was “with them”, referring to a seperate group of folks that they had caught and were now arrested in the back their van. The societal issue that this storyline intermingles the most with is:

We then look at the Morocco storyline with Ahmed and Yussef. Having been the ones to shoot at the bus and injuring Susan in the process, they receive the blunt of their consequences (second to Susan, of course). The use of language as a means of conflict is heavily applied in this storyline when Susan’s shooting is reported to the embassy and the news gets mutated into terrorists being “confirmed” to be the ones who had shot at her. The societal issues that this is mixed with is the strained relationship that the United States has with Islamic countries post 9/11 (But let’s be real, it started waaaay before that). Throughout the movie, the Moroccan government tries to assure that the shooting was not terrorist related and desperately they try to find the true shooter. Delving into politics, the actions taken by the Moroccan government make sense. The news was escalating with accusations, and the last thing they needed was the U.S government intervening and escalating it even further. The shooter needed to be brought to justice, which is why the police kept shooting, even when they saw that children were involved. 

On the flip side of the coin, we look at Richard and Susan’s perspective of the Morocco storyline and see where language and culture differences in this movie play their biggest part. To preface their experience, I can only say that it is riddled with white privilege and it is seen in their demands towards Anwar (their tour guide), his village, their tour bus companions. It can also be seen in how they interact with their surroundings (i.e making ignorant comments about the ice instead of just not asking for any). We can see this white privilege when Richard first asks his tour group to stay with the bus but later threatens them into staying. Through a realistic portrayal of the trolley problem, it is shown that Richard only cares about his wife and himself, not caring about the elderly members who have fainted from the heat, or need medicine. The other act of white privilege is on Susan’s part, who is refusing help from the town’s veterinarian who states that she needs stitches or she will LITERALLY DIE. 

Lastly, we look at the Japan storyline. However, the focus of this storyline is not on Japanese culture (though it inherently partially is because of where it takes place), but more specifically on deaf culture and the ableism that takes place in deaf people’s day to day life. Personally, as someone who was raised female in a society that places so much emphasis on romantic and sexual relationships (especially as a late teen/young adult), I can very much understand many of Chieko’s actions. And then when you take those expectations and mix it with experiences where you have people flirt with you, find out you’re deaf then walk away laughing, it’s easy to see why one’s self-esteem would be low to the point of desperately wanting a connection with someone. Anyone.

As a side note, not related to anything and more so to end this post, I enjoyed the inclusion of Japanese Sign Language. As someone who uses ASL, it was interesting to see what was similar as well as different. 

Overall, this movie was.. Interesting. Frustrating, anxiety-inducing, but interesting.