Cultural Change In The Film 'Guard Teamwork'

Cultural Change Analysis

Culture is a concept that we as sociologists regard as a central ingredient in human behavior. As an integral part of every society, culture is a powerful concept that creates a feeling of belonging and togetherness among the people of that society. The essential feature of culture is that it is learned and transmitted from one generation to the next. Every culture is different. The attitudes, beliefs, customs and traditions of one culture can be, and often are very different in other cultures. In studying culture the sociological imagination allows us as sociologists to examine and analyze culture through a variety of different lenses. A functionalist perspective of culture sees society as a stable, orderly system with interrelated parts that serve specific functions (Pope 1975). The view from a functionalist lens enables one to see
Portrayed in both versions but more glaringly in the remake the concept of materialism is spotlighted throughout the film mostly by the guards. Throughout the film the guard team is shown practicing on a legitimate turf football field where the inmates literally practice in the mud. The guards continue to depict the concept of materialism through their state of the art practice equipment, fancy jerseys, and even steroids. Meanwhile the inmate team who does not have the luxury of fancy material objects illustrates the concept of idealism through their focus and dedication to the idea of teamwork and motivating one other for the common yet lofty goal of beating the guards. While the guard team displayed superiority over the inmates through their possession of material objects such as; practice fields, fancy uniforms and steroids, the “Mean Machine” was able to overcome this imbalance of “power” through their dedication to the idea teamwork and working together as