Project pitch: Taking off the rose-colored glasses

This post represents the TAPP project pitch

• Purpose: To show through visual presentational how each culture has positive and negative aspects, which are both necessary for it to be unique, and which outsiders of those cultures need to learn though cultural communication if they wish to get a realistic view of them.


• Hook: the introduction, consisting of various pictures and possibly narration, showing what foreigners associate with Serbia and the US.


• Relevance: idealized view of other cultures can lead to the phenomenon of “rose-colored glasses” (for example, Americans – always friendly and smiling, Serbs – always outgoing and welcoming), but it is important to see other, at times more problematic sides to one’s behavior, culture and history, as part of intercultural knowledge, in order to be aware both of the positive and of the negative.


• Audience: teenagers or adults – all those who would like to broaden their horizons and learn the importance of taking off the rose-colored glasses.


• About: it is about intercultural knowledge as the means to overcome the idealized view of the cultures, and the importance of knowing culture beyond idealization.


• Storyline:

Introduction:(approx. 30s) positive things foreigners mostly know when they first get to know Serbia and the US
Scene 1:
– music: soothing music (sounds of nature or piano/acoustic guitar music)
– pink background to give the impression of wearing rose-colored glasses and the title
Narration:

What attracts us to culture at first are usually its positive aspects

Scene 2:
Narration:

For Serbia that might be its beautiful landscape
– photos of Zlatibor, National Park Tara, Canyon Uvac in order:
– https://pixabay.com/photos/zlatibor-mountain-yellow-house-1899672/
– https://pixabay.com/photos/tara-mountain-mountains-panorama-5520592/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uvac#/media/File:Uvac_River_and_Eagle.jpg
– cultural heritage such as the centuries-old monasteries, churches, and fortresses which are each a story of their own
– photos of Monastery Sveti Sava, Monastery Žiča, Petrovaradin fortress, Golubac fortress in order:
– https://pixabay.com/photos/belgrade-serbia-capital-dome-2506699/
– https://pixabay.com/photos/serbia-monastery-serbian-orthodox-3646970/
– https://pixabay.com/photos/petrovaradin-fortress-danube-river-1147245/ / https://pixabay.com/photos/serbia-city-old-travel-2396888/
– https://pixabay.com/photos/%C4%91erdap-serbia-castle-river-old-2129568/
– its rich ethno tourism
– delicious food
– booming nightlife and festivals which are some of the most popular ones in Europe
– Exit festival, Beerfest

Scene 3:
Narration:

As regards the US, the first thing that comes to everyone’s mind is the idealized life shown in the Hollywood movies, big houses with white picket fence and people driven by the American dream – https://pixabay.com/photos/hollywood-sign-los-angeles-hollywood-1598473/ – Or perhaps tall buildings and the bustling life of the New York City – https://pixabay.com/photos/usa-manhattan-contrasts-new-york-1777986/ – https://pixabay.com/photos/buildings-skyline-city-cityscape-1850129/ – blinding lights and the casinos in Las Vegas – https://pixabay.com/photos/las-vegas-night-lights-strip-573600/ – https://pixabay.com/photos/gambling-machine-one-armed-bandit-4926/ – beautiful beaches and lakes scattered all over the country – photos of Maui beach, Miami Beach, Lake Tahoe, Lake Superior: – https://pixabay.com/photos/beach-landscape-hawaii-maui-kihei-1630540/ – https://pixabay.com/photos/miami-beach-water-ocean-south-1198921/ – https://pixabay.com/photos/lake-tahoe-landscape-nature-2183724/ – https://pixabay.com/photos/crisp-point-lighthouse-lighthouse-4025268/ – technological and scientific development which has shaped society today

Scene 4:
Narration:
However, “All learning begins when our comfortable ideas turn out to be inadequate.” – John Dewey
– photo of the quote

The first main part: ​(approx. 1 min) What is less pleasant and more problematic about the US and Serbia; what can be seen if one takes off the rose-colored glasses.

Scene 1
- Gloomy background in order to give the impression of taking off the rose-colored glasses (grey, for instance)
- Picture: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/12/06/20/23/glasses-3002608_1280.jpg
Narration:

Sometimes, it is hard to acknowledge that there is more to any country than its idealized image, especially when such image is shaped through social media, movies or TV-shows. However, idealization of any country means erasing half of its history and culture, as well as current problems that its citizens are facing. In order to fully understand the world we live in, we must take off the rose-colored glasses and face the reality.

Scene 2
- Background music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C2XntwWKQ8&list=PLzCxunOM5WFIudfMTgJzXkOE-xbVWrpIF&index=153 (or any other warlike, a bit melancholic melody);
- Appearing and disappearing pictures showing the events that shaped Serbia, and some current problems that the country is fighting against, with the title of the picture underneath:
• picture 1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Flag_of_Serbia.svg Serbian flag and the title „Serbia“ to illustrate that the following events and problems are Serbian
• picture 2: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/05/11/17/35/mosque-4196145_1280.jpg , text: “Five centuries under the Ottoman Empire“
• picture 3: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Balkanska-voina2.jpg , text: “The Balkan Wars in the 20th century“
• picture 4: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Belgrade_during_the_Austro-Hungarian_occupation_of_1915-1918.jpg text: „Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia in the 20th century“
• picture 5: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/WWImontage.jpg , text: “World War I and II”
• picture 6: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/03/22/21/16/cartridges-2166491_1280.jpg , text: “The Yugoslav Wars from 1991 to 2001”
• picture 7: https://unsplash.com/photos/hgFY1mZY-Y0 , text: “Brain drain in Serbia”
• picture 8: https://unsplash.com/photos/Ql3ULtlplsQ , text: “Debts”
• picture 9: https://unsplash.com/photos/ZuPa0DYH1IA , text: “Rural exodus and urbanization”

Scene 3
- Background music: https://youtu.be/TRrAZBGhTes (the same as in the previous scene);
- Appearing and disappearing pictures showing the events that shaped the United States, and some current problems that the country is fighting against, with the title of the picture underneath:
• picture 1: https://unsplash.com/photos/VO0OEWNS8gc the flag of the US and the title “the United States of America” to illustrate that the following events and problems are Serbian
• picture 2: https://unsplash.com/photos/atIgjLlFryg , text: “Slavery”
• picture 3: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Ku_Klux_Klan_members_march_down_Pennsylvania_Avenue_in_Washington%2C_D.C._in_1928.jpg , text “the Ku Klux Klan”
• picture 4: https://unsplash.com/photos/YEZVoBxezW4 , text “The Civil War in the 19th century”
• picture 5: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2019/10/19/16/30/poverty-4561704_1280.jpg , text: “The Great Depression in the 20th century”
• picture 6: https://unsplash.com/photos/gufQjEdR6uA , text: “9/11”
• picture 7: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2017/02/27/08/50/cyclone-2102397_1280.jpg , text: “Natural disasters”
• picture 8: https://unsplash.com/photos/8tGGDim3HNg , text: “Racism”
• picture 9: https://unsplash.com/photos/i__uqGnARyI , text: “Homelessness”

The second main part: (approx. 1min) Intercultural communication as a means of shedding light on different aspects of the idealized culture, and how it helps one get a better understanding of one’s own culture

Scene 1
​
-music (a couple of seconds): people talking
-a picture of people talking
Narration:

It is through communication that humans succeed in growing as a society. Similarly through intercultural communication one can shed the glamorized view of both another culture and one’s own. It helps the individual broaden their views and enable them to see issues as well as praiseworthy aspects of a culture. Intercultural communication only speeds up the shift from a monocultural mindset to an intercultural one.

Scene 2

-music (a couple of seconds): people talking
-picture of Earth and people from different cultures
Narration:

One might create an idealized picture of the culture they look up to or desire to be a part of, but similarly, it is easy to put on rose-colored glasses and ignore the issues your own culture is facing. Communicating with people from other cultures, hearing their unique accounts and experiences, helps people reflect on their own and brings up issues that one might have overseen.

Ending: (approx 30s) Talking about how every aspect of culture helped shape them and their people, whether it be something viewed as inherently positive (eg. the openness and friendliness of American people, the welcoming nature of Serbians toward foreigners), or negative (eg. the perpetual racism prevalent in the US throughout centuries, poor economy and chances of financial success leading to constant ‘brain drain’ of Serbian people), and showing how without all of these aspects, no culture would be as it is, as no culture is in itself perfect.

Scene 1 -music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XmwxH0BPw
Displaying pictures of hard times endured by the Serbian people (the wars, bombing, ‘brain drain’ as a result of poverty, etc.)
Narration:

Not one culture is in itself perfect. It is the people and their experiences throughout history that comprise a culture as it is today. Each culture has certain aspects which can be overlooked by outsiders and seen through the idealized lenses of rose-colored glasses. Some of these are even known, and remembered, only by the natives.

Scene 2
-music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XmwxH0BPw
Displaying pictures of American history portrayed from a negative standpoint (slavery, racism, homelessness)
Narration:

To fully grasp the essence of a culture and its people, one mustn’t look past the less ideal and appealing features that constitute that culture, but rather look past the preconceived assumptions and ideas created by stereotypes and presumptions about foreign nations and cultures.

Scene 3
-music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XmwxH0BPw
Narration:

Still, one mustn’t, at the same time, disregard and exclude its positives, its capturing, and pleasant features.
Displaying pictures of positive aspects of Serbian culture (national cuisine, nightlife, national beauties, etc.)

Scene 4
-music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XmwxH0BPw
Displaying pictures of all the positives and uplifting sides of American culture and its people (melting-pot of people and cultures from all over the world, Hollywood, entertainment industry, etc.)

Scene 5
-Uplifting music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XmwxH0BPw
-Interchangeably depicting all of the pictures as a portrayal of the relevance of merging all the aspects of a culture to understand it is a whole
Narration:

Only focusing on one side of the coin that makes up the complexity of a single culture, be it something seen as inherently negative, or positive, takes away from appreciating and fully grasping the essence and beauty of everything that goes into developing a culture. We need to do our best to look past previously conceived notions and assumptions, and through educating ourselves by the means of intercultural communication, understand that there is no good and bad when it comes to anyone’s culture. There is no culture that is perfect. It is the merging of the appealing and less appealing aspects that shapes and creates every unique culture.

• -Tesla
• -Tramiz
• -Winx

Posted By: Tesla