Sociology and Social Norm
Lloyd, Napoleon 1 Jasmine Lloyd
Noelani Napoleon
Psychology 101
5 April 2013
Volver Essay In the film Volver we were introduced to several different social norms from the Mexican culture that we were unfamiliar with. Raimunda and her mother have a wounded relationship in the film that is rebuilt when her mother (Irene) is, so say, brought back to life to rekindle their relationship. There were several themes in this film but I think the one that stood out the most was the sacrifice that mothers are willing to make to protect their child and the small misunderstandings that can break a relationship between families.
In this film there were several social norms that we had seen that we were unfamiliar with. For example, when the film began Raimunda, Paula, and Sole are all meeting at their mother’s tomb stone to clean it. In their culture doing this is normal. In the film there were several families doing the same thing. When a loved one has passed away they make sure that their tomb stones are clean/polished and well taken care of. It is kind of like paying their respects. In the United States we personally don’t go out to clean the tombs of our loved ones. We expect the others to do it for us. We don’t think of it as a responsibility that we need to do. We just visit the tomb bring flowers to set next to them. Another social norm that we had noticed was how they greet each other. In the film every time they said “hi” or “bye” to one another they would kiss each other on the cheek. In the United States this has been seen but it’s not really done that often. You may see Mexicans greet each other this way but not all cultures do this type of greeting. Much like the Spanish culture, Polynesians as well greet each other with heartwarming hugs and a gentle kiss on the cheek. Back in the old days, it used to be that they greet one another by touching nose to nose and smell each other to kind of get that “sense” of who each other were. It was and still is a
Noelani Napoleon
Psychology 101
5 April 2013
Volver Essay In the film Volver we were introduced to several different social norms from the Mexican culture that we were unfamiliar with. Raimunda and her mother have a wounded relationship in the film that is rebuilt when her mother (Irene) is, so say, brought back to life to rekindle their relationship. There were several themes in this film but I think the one that stood out the most was the sacrifice that mothers are willing to make to protect their child and the small misunderstandings that can break a relationship between families.
In this film there were several social norms that we had seen that we were unfamiliar with. For example, when the film began Raimunda, Paula, and Sole are all meeting at their mother’s tomb stone to clean it. In their culture doing this is normal. In the film there were several families doing the same thing. When a loved one has passed away they make sure that their tomb stones are clean/polished and well taken care of. It is kind of like paying their respects. In the United States we personally don’t go out to clean the tombs of our loved ones. We expect the others to do it for us. We don’t think of it as a responsibility that we need to do. We just visit the tomb bring flowers to set next to them. Another social norm that we had noticed was how they greet each other. In the film every time they said “hi” or “bye” to one another they would kiss each other on the cheek. In the United States this has been seen but it’s not really done that often. You may see Mexicans greet each other this way but not all cultures do this type of greeting. Much like the Spanish culture, Polynesians as well greet each other with heartwarming hugs and a gentle kiss on the cheek. Back in the old days, it used to be that they greet one another by touching nose to nose and smell each other to kind of get that “sense” of who each other were. It was and still is a