The documentary “Devil’s Playground” by Walker, released in 2002, depicts the aspects of a micro culture and the internal wishes of the teenagers of this micro culture to break free of the Amish society and avoid Baptism that would ultimately force the teenagers to live the life of this micro culture. This aspect brings out the conflict against religion and life faces crisis in the process of countering religious sects and results in underage drinking and Drug Abuse.
All these aspects sums up into the parameter of the wish to join the main steam culture. Only to understand that there is hardly any way out of the micro culture but the wish remains within the teens even if they are returning to their old ways of Amish micro culture.
The culture depicted in the documentary “Devil’s Playground” narrates parameters of a micro culture that is different in many ways from the mainstream society. The Amish culture is indeed a micro culture as it is too much dependent on the aspects of religion and religious beliefs. However, it could be stated that this over dependence of religion is not the main aspect that differentiate Amish culture from the mainstream. They live a life almost devoid of the factors related to market economy that is the main aspect of our culture. This makes the culture a micro culture and this specific aspect makes it very different from the rest of the society.
From the parameters of concept synthesis it could be stated that the documentary primarily indicates two major factors. The first one is the introduction and narration of a micro culture that brings up the younger generations under the influence of religious upbringings under strict religious beliefs. It narrates a way of life that is quite different from the common concepts of the citizens of the world. This detachment from mainstream society certainly takes its toll and conflict arises in due course of life. The first part of the film indicates the religious beliefs and daily rituals through the perception of Faron’s father. Being an Amish preacher his details reveal a lot about the lifestyle of the micro-culture.
The second most important factor of this documentary is the wish to detach from the micro-culture and joining the mainstream of society. There is a certain amount of conflict with this religious sect and it is depicted in the documentary by mentioning the aspects of Drug Dealers and Drug Abuse along with Underage Drinking as an act of defiance and revolt against the Amish culture.
This is more than just a revolt of a newer generation against the older one but it is more of a statement of growing up and the wish to be a part of the mainstream society that seems to work as a driving force behind every act of rebellion. The result appears to be the deep understanding of the fact that no matter how many these teens try it is not possible to become aligned with the outer world and the mainstream society.
The documentary “Devil’s Playground” by Walker looks deep into the development phases of the teenagers of Amish society. It presents the conflict with the older generation in the parameters of breaking free and joining the mainstream of society. This results in acts of rebellion that are manifested by Drug Abuse along with Underage Drinking. As a whole, the documentary is the narration of understanding the only place to go is to return to the Amish way of life and religious beliefs. This is a well-recommended film on an otherwise less known community. This is an important work on the life of the community.