Barker’s Experience and Cultural Understanding
Towards the end of the film, Barker reflects on the healing ritual that he witnessed for Kim Seok-Chul, and describes how he (Barker) gained a different perspective on the music after that experience. In your own words, how do you think that Barker was transformed by that experience of witnessing the healing ritual, and what questions did it raise for him? What is your own reaction to that scene in the film?
Simon Barker had a chance to witness one of the spectacular events before Kim Seok-Chul passed on. The event was such a special thing that barker was so amazed to witness. The healing ceremony that Kim performed was fascinating to Simon. The ceremony included traditional narrative singing with the incorporation of drums to the ceremony. Simon gained a different perspective on music. He was able to understand the different roles that music could play in society. He came to understand that music was not just a technique that could be developed but rather expressions of cultures’ spirits. The thought was an eye-opener to Simon. He gained the fact that music could be used to express culture and the traditions of a community. This was a way of enlarging the music functionality and purpose. He developed ideas that he could incorporate in his music to strive to make it more interesting. Simon, in my guess, might have had some questions. He might have wanted to know how to make music and tradition blend in with such understanding. He surely did want to learn the ritual and how it works. My reaction is more or less like that of Simon. The spectacular ritual is impressive. Listening to music that is more in the expression of culture is such an event. The ritual and the music complement each other.
Drawing on this and other examples from the film, share your own reflections on what this film tells us about the potential of music for increasing cultural understanding. Can music help us better understand cultural differences? What can we learn about this process (understanding cultural difference) from the story told in this film?
There are different ways through which culture can be expressed, such as sports and music, to mention a few. The latter is exceptional as it is everyone’s concern to monitor what is expressed in a particular song. In the film, through Kim’s healing ritual performance, Barker realized culture plays a vital role in one’s recognition. The interest and concern are more so given when one’s culture is put into practice. Also, the audience is directly linked to one’s use of different cultural facets. By doing so, everyone is in an excellent position to understand one’s culture. From the above elaboration, music indeed helps us better understanding different cultural practices. Again, the film’s target was to promote culture and make it valued by everyone. In this response, culture must be expressed the way it is supposed to be for it to gain popularity and recognition at the same time. It is everyone’s concern for their culture to get valued for them to the favor back.