The Rashomon Effect
Eyobel Tesfamariam
Mr.
Eng 111- D29
4/12/2016
Rashomon Effect
The Rashomon effect is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible of it. The word Rashomon derives from Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 Japanese epic film Rashomon. Rashomon which is infact based upon a short story written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa called Yabu no Naka (In a grove) tells the story of the brutal rape of a women named Masako Kanazawa and the alleged murder of her husband who is only describe as the Samurai by a notorious bandit named Tajōmaru. But as the story evolves more and more characters come forward with their own versions of the tale.
At the beginning of the …show more content…
To illustrate how the rashomon effect can be used to justify kamikaze would be disastrous. But what kurosawa shows is that the japanese had their own interpretation of it not because of the culture they had at that time but instead because they are human beings. Human beings are biologically made to hide or lie their shame as well their guilt. We usually do this by creating our own versions of a particular event and portraying ourselves as heroes. But at the same time the rest of the world doesn’t see the japanese pilots as heroes but instead as lunatics which in truth they kinda were. But each story would contradict one another as the japanese at least at that time were going up against the whole world especially by the end of the war. In turn the whole thing becomes a mess of interpretations and stories thus becoming The rashomon effect.
The rashomon effect is a theory born out of something we all experience on our daily lives. It is the way we can sleep at night even after we commit horrible deeds which in turn we subconsciously convert to something good. It is in other ways the basic idea of the consciousness and ethics we live
Mr.
Eng 111- D29
4/12/2016
Rashomon Effect
The Rashomon effect is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible of it. The word Rashomon derives from Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 Japanese epic film Rashomon. Rashomon which is infact based upon a short story written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa called Yabu no Naka (In a grove) tells the story of the brutal rape of a women named Masako Kanazawa and the alleged murder of her husband who is only describe as the Samurai by a notorious bandit named Tajōmaru. But as the story evolves more and more characters come forward with their own versions of the tale.
At the beginning of the …show more content…
To illustrate how the rashomon effect can be used to justify kamikaze would be disastrous. But what kurosawa shows is that the japanese had their own interpretation of it not because of the culture they had at that time but instead because they are human beings. Human beings are biologically made to hide or lie their shame as well their guilt. We usually do this by creating our own versions of a particular event and portraying ourselves as heroes. But at the same time the rest of the world doesn’t see the japanese pilots as heroes but instead as lunatics which in truth they kinda were. But each story would contradict one another as the japanese at least at that time were going up against the whole world especially by the end of the war. In turn the whole thing becomes a mess of interpretations and stories thus becoming The rashomon effect.
The rashomon effect is a theory born out of something we all experience on our daily lives. It is the way we can sleep at night even after we commit horrible deeds which in turn we subconsciously convert to something good. It is in other ways the basic idea of the consciousness and ethics we live