Give a brief outline of the plot (action) of the film. (<50 words)

A bandit killed a man and assaulted the man’s wife. All three people were forced to tell their version of the situation in court, the dead man was done through a person that was able to communicate with the dead. The priest had witnessed everyone’s story and was shocked by the dishonesty of everyone.

2. What are the main symbols in the film, what do they represent? (<50 words)

The crumbling gate shows Japan’s society breaking down. The storm symbolizes the disasters the characters had to face. The baby shows how humans are all dependent on something, since a baby can’t survive on it’s own. 

3. How is the structure of the film important to the telling of this story? (<50 words)

It was put together so it gives a flashback for everyone in order so it’s not confusing to understand. By having the characters tell the story in order it gives the audience a background of how the situation came to be.

4. What are the main philosophical idea raised by this film is called ‘The Rashomon effect’, which refers to the phenomenon where different individuals provide contradictory interpretations of the same event or phenomenon. The phrase has since been widely used in various fields, including psychology, sociology, journalism, and philosophy, to describe situations where subjective perceptions and biases lead to divergent accounts of the same event. This effect highlights the complex nature of truth and the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. In 250 – 300 words, please answer one of the following prompts: 

• In what ways does social media exacerbate the Rashomon effect by allowing for the rapid spread of conflicting narratives and perspectives on current events? Give examples.

Social media can make a situation even worse since it gives people the freedom to twist and turn a situation however they perceive it and spread it, it gives people the freedom to post all the different ways they perceive a situation. For example one person could post saying they saw two celebrities talking at an event. It could easily be twisted to say the two celebrities were super close to each other and could even go as far as creating rumors that say they are dating. People can then proceed to spread it more and more and as it spreads through different peoples mouths it can get completely twisted up. Just like how a dating rumor starts if two celebrities happen to post pictures that are similar to each other on the same day fans could somehow get it in their heads that oh so and so are dating because they posted similar pictures. Another thing that could easily be mixed up is if someone words something wrong online since usually online you are the ones reading it and you don’t actually get to understand the tone that the person that actually wrote it meant it as. This could result in people thinking the person is saying something else. Another for example a video of two people arguing online gets posted and it starts being spread around and people are starting to say who’s fault it is. Person A could share it and say Person B was starting the argument by saying something offensive. But Person B could share the same video and say that Person A was the one that said something offensive first and was acting aggressive. This could cause people to argue who’s fault it is and spread it around with what their thoughts are on this video. But none of these other people were there at the actual argument and the only thing they’ve seen is the video so no one really ends up knowing who started it first. The true story would never come out. This example shows how social media can exacerbate the Rashomon effect by allowing anyone to give their input on their perspective and what they think.