Wednesday 4/2/25 - Consider a film that portrays your culture. Reflect on how accurately your culture is represented and the potential impacts of this portrayal

When I watched the film "Lamb" (2015), I felt like it captured what Ethiopian culture is like. The story follows a young boy named Ephraim who moves to the countryside to live with relatives after his mother dies, bringing his beloved lamb with him. I recognized so many parts of my own culture in the movie—from the way families interact, to the importance of food, farming, and faith. The scenery, language, and traditions all felt very real and familiar. It was nice to see Ethiopia shown in a respectful and honest way, without the usual stereotypes. Watching this movie made me feel proud of my background, and I think it helps others understand how beautiful and rich Ethiopian culture is. I also found many parallels in the life that the boy in the movie was living and the life my dad had lived growing up in Ethiopia, when it came to farming, herding, religion, etc.

Summary: Today, we watched the rest of the groups present their projects about negative cultural stereotypes portrayals. I learned a lot about how cultures are negatively depicted in media and the form in which it is portrayed whether, it be in a comedic manner or a more serious manner. I gained a deeper understanding as to the way each culture was stereotyped in the media, and the damaging effects it can have on people, especially the youth.

Reflection: I learned that these negative stereotypes are often damaging since they lack nuance and overgeneralize a very large group of people, which is simply unrealistic.