Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
23January 10, 2022 by toveyce
Today we began this course by discussing Plato’s Allegory of the Cave and what that means for film in general as well as for Protest Cinema specifically. Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is first and foremost relevant for the study of film because he essentially imagines a modern-day movie theater as a metaphor for human ignorance. Despite this initial negative connotation, we articulated a few ways in which Plato’s Cave and therefore also cinema can help us on our path toward enlightenment. For this first assignment, please just comment on one or two ways, in which Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is useful for understanding and explaining the agenda of protest cinema. Also, so that I and your classmates can get to know you a little better please briefly comment on your personal interest in this course. Please write at least 100 words.
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Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, although a traditionally philosophical question, directly relates to film and its effects on how people view the world. The people in Plato’s metaphorical cave only knew the cave and what was presented to them through shadows cast on the walls. They viewed the shadows as real entities themselves. Comparatively, people are shown films in theaters of things and ideas that are just representations of real life. However, film can also open people’s eyes to new ideas that were previously unknown. It is up to the viewer and how they take the information given to them.
I wanted to take this class because I enjoy analyzing films and the meaning behind them. I appreciate how thoughtful directors are when it comes to what is incorporated into films and what certain colors, motifs, etc. mean in the context of the world directors and screenwriters are creating or representing.
Plato’s allegory of the cave was his way of proclaiming that philosophy was the key to enlightenment. We all start from a place of ignorance and must slowly “climb out of the cave”.
One way that Plato’s Allegory relates to protest cinema is the idea that in order for people to accept enlightenment/become enlightened, they must be shown these differing perspectives in a non-judgmental way. Protest cinema does this very effectively by simply showcasing the problems the people are facing, without being condescending to the viewer. This allows the viewer to come to their own conclusions and become enlightened on the matter without issue.
I am a Comm major with a minor in Film Studies. I’m taking this course to fulfill my minor requirements, but I am also very excited to learn about German cinema because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a German film before.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave functions in that is utilized to showcase a process in which individuals are enlightened and given a greater understanding of the world that they reside in. Similarly, protest cinema functions in an extremely similar manner. Through protest cinema, certain messages are broadcast to an audience with the intentions to showcase certain issues or topics that are prevalent to society as a whole or even a specific community. With this, much of protest cinema works to try to enlighten its viewers and provide a message to people of how their environments can improve in a facet of some kind. That is my thought process at the moment, but anyways my interest in the course connects to this idea of cinema and the way in which it is a tool that filmmakers often use to share their personal thoughts and beliefs with audiences whether that is explicit or not.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is useful for understanding and explaining the agenda of protest cinema. The cave represents and symbolizes a movie theater. Through protest cinema, new ideas are able to be introduced to open eyes to new perspectives. Cinema can illuminate or draw awareness to certain issues. There may even be risk when releasing these film, for example, when the man that told the other people about the real outside world they became almost aggressive. I am very interested and excited for this course because I am minoring in German, so I hope that this class will help me improve greatly in this language.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave can help us understand the agenda of protest cinema because it describes how society views contrasting or unusual views and perspectives. Protest cinema can illuminate these issues and opinions and be controversial, potentially causing turmoil and disagreement. This represents how the cave dwellers viewed their counterpart who ventured outside. This is another aspect of protest cinema seen in Plato’s Allegory. There is significant risk involved with producing, writing, and agreeing or disagreeing with protest cinema films. People could get angry and frustrated, which could ruin relationships and cause damage. I am interested in this course because I am pursuing a German minor and have not had the opportunity to watch as many German films as I would like to. I also want to learn more about others’ opinions and society’s past and present issues.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is very useful to the understanding of protest Cinema because of the way that if one does not experience the things that are seen in protest films for themselves then they are only getting one side of the story. Like the people in the cave they only saw the shadows of objects not the actual objects. But if you go out and learn why the protests are happening and what is on the other side of the protest then you can get a better understanding of the shadows and make them real. My personal interest in this class was mostly for the fact that I need it for my major but not that I’m looking more into this course. I really think it’s going to be an interesting and enlightening experience.
Hi! I personally took interest in this class because I did need it to fulfill a GenEd requirement, but I also had been taking German for about six years so I figured it would be an interesting class. I had actually discussed a film in one of my high school German classes that this class made me think of and I wanted to dive deeper into a topic like that. As for the ways that the cave allegory can relate to protest film, there are two ways that my group had discussed. One, that the filmmaker could be considered the “enlightened one” who “saw the sun” and the audience are the ones who are in the cave and need guidance on a topic. The other way was that you could see it as movies give people small pieces of an issue that are easy for them to take in so they can think about it for themselves afterwards which was much like how the video described going about changing peoples opinions. I look forward to the rest of this semester 🙂
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is useful for understanding the agenda of protest cinema because it demonstrates how people with a lack of education on a topic may react poorly when presented with information that contradicts with what they believe or presume to be true. Protest cinema typically seeks to shed light on an issue, system, law, movement, or institution with a goal of educating people, questioning society, or moving people to take some sort of action. Thus, a lot of protest cinema seeks to educate. From Plato’s Cave, we learn that protest cinema must make its points carefully and thoroughly, but not aggressively, in order to avoid backlash and succeed in sparking meaningful and constructive discussions. If those involved with the production of a protest film fail to explain their position in an acceptable way or take a very controversial position, they risk harassment, threats, and even imprisonment or death in some places. We can see this risk demonstrated in Plato’s allegory when the enlightened character was mocked and eventually killed.
I wanted to take this course because the topic of protest cinema sounded interesting and because I have never taken any sort of film analysis course before and I wanted to experience one.
Plato’s Allegory of the cave is important to the understanding of protest cinema as it is representative of the dynamic between the Writer/Director and viewer. What I mean by this is that we the viewer can be considered as “in a cave” unaware of whatever message the director is trying to convey to us. The director is trying to show us their reality and oftentimes this leads to the viewer being uncomfortable or disliking what is being presented to them as viewers typically like to stay ignorant.
Regarding my interest in this class, I have already taken two German cinema courses at the college and enjoyed them immensely. Not only that but my roommate was a German Studies minor and now teaches German, so it gives us a little bit more to talk about.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a good way to look at the purpose of media in general, or at least the single part of images on a cave wall and collective understanding. The viewers in both instances converse about the objects and their movement like an audience would probably talk about a silent film with no captioning. They draw a meaning and expand on it the less information they are given. Most media like films give a lot of information so that people can experience something they are not directly in contact with. Protest cinema seems like one of the more information heavy forms of film. I would think, in order to fully effect the audience it takes nearly experiencing the actual events/topics to really drive home the point a film is trying to make. The cave member that leaves the cave has to go outside an experience something real before they can grasp what they were originally ignorant about. With films pictures are much clearer than shadows on a wall, it’s still not the same as the real thing but I don’t think anyone sane would want to willingly subject someone to what they are protesting, expose them to it but not have them live through it. I could also see how the Cave thought experiment could mirror the story of other protest cinema films, putting the audience in the shoes of someone who was once ignorant and found enlightenment on a topic they originally thought they knew completely. Watching someone else grow could help ease the process for others.
I don’t know a lot about cinema and rarely think about the art behind making a movie when I watch a film so I figured taking a class about film in general would be good for me.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is useful to protest cinema for two reasons. The first being that like the philosopher in the allegory, the protester can bring the viewer, a certain type of light, or “tell them of the sun.” This can be done in either a direct or gentle “Socratic” way. The second reason is that it shows what the protest is about as something that is a good thing. Not the protested idea but the protest itself being the light at the end of the cave.
Plato’s ‘Allegory of the Cave’ is interesting in that it can be applied to modern day cinema in many ways. What stands out the most to me is that cinema can be either your ‘cave’, or your ‘sun’. If you blindly believe anything that flashes on a screen and never discuss, evaluate or research the premise, you are essentially in the dark. However, if you use what you learn from cinema to form a base, you are liable to build up from there, using opinions, experiences, facts, etc., setting you on a course toward ‘enlightenment’. To state things simply and concisely, you will be a sheep if you only choose to see what is directly in front of you. True pioneers set out to explore additional routes on the quest for knowledge.
I am interested in this course mainly because I am fascinated by German history and culture. I have spent a great deal of time deeply researching WWI and WWII along with their aftermaths, and I hope this course will help me to further explore those chapters in history.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is useful for understanding the agenda of protest cinema. The cave parallels our ignorance. When the man leaves the cave and enters the outside world, we see that he gains knowledge. He views elements of nature that he previously saw depicted as shadows in the cave. The man becomes enlightened to what the real outside world is. This is similar to the intentions of protest cinema. Protest cinema highlights issues in an attempt to enlighten the audience and challenge their beliefs and views. This demonstrates the fact that once we leave a sheltered view we can see things in a different light. My personal interest in this course comes from my German language background. I have spent time in Germany and German-related topics and courses continue to be a point of interest for me.
In the context of Plato’s allegory of the cave, mainstream media/film acts as the shadows of life projected onto the walls of the cave to the humans living within it. It is a representation of life outside of the cave, one that shields what living things and objects actually look like above. Protest cinema also acts as a representation of life, just as the philosopher in Plato’s allegory would recant as best they could what life looks like, yet this type of film intends to be unfiltered and unafraid of presenting the real world. It presents an alternate image of how life has been presented to enlighten those who watch.
As a film minor an international film course is required, yet I found this topic especially interesting. We all have some semblance of what protest is like in America, so exploring what it looks like in Germany through the lens of … a lens – seems intriguing.
The Allegory of the Cave relates to protest cinema in the way that it starts with just shadows on the wall, also known as the film in the theater when coming out of the cave, you have gained a new perspective on the world. It is your decision though after watching the film to choose if you will enact change from this newfound knowledge.
I wanted to take this class because I am a German major. With this, it will fill one of the requirements. I am also interested in German cinema itself after watching A Coffee in Berlin during German 201.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is a fascinating study of how humans accept information they are given, and how they react to new ideas. In the case of protest cinema, the shadows on the wall represent old ideas or the populist understanding of certain issues while the Sun is the meaning behind the protest. The cave people believe the shadows to be infallible because it is all that they know, just like a society might feel towards issues that they have been led to believe are acceptable or correct. The allegory issues a warning to anyone who attempts to show the people in the cave the truth of the Sun. A society that has been fed things they believe to be true for their entire lives could be understandably hostile to anything that might contradict it as severely as the Sun does within the allegory. Plato’s solution to this is the Socratic Method, a method of teaching that slowly opens the student’s mind to new ideas and involves them in the learning process through conversation. This same method can be applied to films trying to address or protest issues. Filmmakers looking to protest issues need to slowly immerse their audience in the issue and lead them to the moral conclusion rather than force it upon them.
In this course I’m very excited to learn more about German film history as well as the ways that protests can take place on film. Film is more popular than ever and being able to discuss problems and protest issues through cinema would allow you to reach a potentially massive audience.
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave can be used to better understand the reasoning behind cinematic movies, especially German cinema. As for the people of Plato’s cave, persuading them into believing something verbally doesn’t help much to enlighten them with the new discovery. Showing them however could have convinced them in believing him. Here comes cinematic footage to play, which can visually protest something and convince a big audience.
Reasons for taking this class were at first the gen-ed requirement but for taking this class specifically it was because it has to do something with German history and knowledge which always interests me as a German native.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is very applicable to protest cinema. This allegory is a parallel to society and their ignorance. The man that escapes and sees the outdoors is a metaphor for the people creating the protest cinema. The man in turn tries to enlighten the rest of the people in the cave. The people of the cave did not believe him and in turn planned to kill him. Many people who see protests and how they are against the grain of society strongly disagree and fight against being enlightened.
There are a couple reasons that I chose to take this course. One is because I have always wanted to take a film class. I wanted to see more important films to cinema and learn more of the history of it. In addition, I am an international studies major and this fulfills the requirement for the Literature and Culture Category within my Europe Concentration.
Platos allegory of the cave relates to film quite beautifully. Specifically when it comes to protest film, the allegory fo the cave plays a big part in understanding the motivation of the film. The allegory starts with those in the cave only knowing of the shadowy parts of the world. This relates to the way people are blissfully unaware of certain happenings around the world. When the one person finds the outside world and the light illuminates the world, this light becomes the films. The films act as a way to illuminate and bring to light an issue within the world. This course struck my interest because I have quite the background in film, I have been working with it since I was very young. I want to pursue some kind of film in my future (broadcast journalism is what I am leaning toward at the moment).
The Allegory of the Cave according to Plato is used to show how we can not determine one thought as absolutely right to others as we can with just ourselves. While the man who escaped knew what the sun was and what the trees actually looked like, he knew he was right but the others in the cave did not believe him because they had not experienced it themselves. This relates to protest cinema because what is being protested verbally will never have as much strength in believing as being shown visually, It is when all are able to see an idea or thought and then it mutually be discussed that something can reign of importance and intellectual thoughts can be formed.
I took this class because I have just taken the German film noir class and popular cinema classes and wanted to expand my knowledge on different aspects of film, that cause intellectual movement or anxieties rather than entertainment.
Plato’s allegory of the cave is a metaphor for how we are all born in a place of ignorance and can only be brought out of that ignorance by experiencing things for ourselves or witnessing others experiences. Individuals are only aware of what is in the cave with them and the images they see in shadows on the cave walls. In protest cinema, films can be compared the shadows on the wall as they allow viewers to see the experiences of those different from them. Everyone is “in the cave” about one issue or another and film is one of the most efficient ways to educate people as it makes them feel as though they are experiencing the issues other people face.
I am taking this class semester as I am really passionate about film and am excited to learn more about film analysis. I’ve been an art student my whole life and photography is my favorite medium so I have a good bit of experience with cinematography and analyzing film for form but am excited to analyze more themes and content through this class. I am also a women’s and gender studies major and activism is something I’m passionate about. I believe arts are the most effective form of activism– film specifically. I’m interested to see how this class will incorporate both concepts and also introduce me to the German culture which I am very unfamiliar with.
Plato’s allegory of the cave emphasizes the effect of education and the lack of it on human nature. The story depicts the positives and negatives that come with enlightenment. Plato’s cave is a theater and the shadows are only a representation of what is real. Films can allow viewers to put themselves in other people’s shoes and understand topics they have never had to experience themselves. Protest cinema can identify an issue or another interpretation that a being may not have been aware of before watching the film.
Being more educated on issues can be intimidating to those who do not choose to learn both sides of a specific issue being protested.