1. Give a brief outline of the plot (action) of the film. (<50 words)
3 men in the midst of a storm tell the tale of Tajomaru, a bandit who encounters a wealthy journeyman and his wife and whose main motive is to get the wife to stop loving her husband and to begin loving him. The men tell the story in storylines that contradict each other yet ultimately lead to the same outcome.
2. What are the main symbols in the film, what do they represent? (<50 words)
One of the main symbols was the rain in which the 3 men has sat in and the ruined structure in which they took place in where wood was being broken off the building in order to make fire and simply survive. The storytelling that takes place and the lies within the story display a theme that mankinds lies and false interpretations lead to the downfall of societies.
3. How is the structure of the film important to the telling of this story? (<50 words)
The structure is in a court-like scenario in which the bandit is caught in custody and is explaining the truth of the events that occurred compared to the tales in which the 3 men in the storm were explaining.
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.
- How does the Rashomon effect manifest in politics, especially regarding the interpretation of political speeches, actions, and policies by different factions and media outlets? Give examples.
- Consider where you have seen examples of the Rashomon effect in journalism. Do you think that the Rashomon effect can be mitigated in your news event, and if so, what strategies can journalists employ to present more objective and accurate portrayals of the event in the face of conflicting accounts?
Social media is able to amplify the presence of the Rashoman effect most commonly in politics. Whenever the election comes around or even the primaries news about we see new information about the policy-making of both candidates of even the candidates past mistakes or entanglements we tend to see this information true or false used against the candidates in order to get the public against them to the get more people in favor of the other candidate. To the supporters of a certain candidate social media is able to perpetuate such irrational claims against this person to get the public convinced that this person should not be running in office for this lack of judgement of a persons character can lead to a unfavorable outcome. The rate in which social media has been taking over politics leads to the growth the political polarization our already flawed and disintegrating democracy in America. This Rashoman effect is one of the main reasons that certain political candidates have conspiracy theories surrounding them which again flaw their character and are always used against them. Just like in the film, when men lie society crumbles and likewise to such as a subgroup like politics when our nations leaders cannot be trusted and have certain sources telling us their actions as political leaders this break of trust takes us by surprise and weakens our want to support either group. The Rashoman effect leave sus straying away from the more important purpose of election and of democracy. To the younger generation who may be introduced to voting and politics in general, false narratives could be detrimental to understanding a solid foundation for what it means to have a voice in America.