Introduction
Marshall McLuhan is an established entity in the philosophy field. The philosopher of Canadian origin dealt with public rational and the concept of communication. The foundation of the media and concept theory generated from his unending research and argument on the importance and significance of the theory in communication (Jandt, 2012). The scholar presented an advanced explanation of the achievements of media theory and the facilitation of the Web worldwide decades before their inventions. This illustrates on the degree of knowledge and academic acquaintance gathered by Marshall McLuhan during his research and analytical period in philosophy.
According to McLuhan, the ‘contact zone’ signified a section or region where different groups with a common goal join to facilitate an understanding, interaction and recognition of information, art, communication, technology and media. This means that the ‘contact zone’ establishment is aimed at distributing dormant information into useful and understandable content to the world. This sharing and facilitation of information transfer is properly achieved through media and other forms of communication fields (McLuhan & Fiore, 1967).
This case study aims at analyzing the concept founded by McLuhan and the significance of his research hypothesis to the current media and communication fraternity. The media theory experienced a lot of controversial sentiments during the reign of McLuhan and years after his death. This resulted from the significance of his observation on the importance of devoted personnel and entities acting as the media to share and distribute gathered information to the different regions of the world. Research indicates that media theory and concept from the philosopher has currently gained recognition due to the establishment of social media (McLuhan & Fiore, 1967). This growth represents assured and reliable source of information for research and local use.
Analysis of the Hundred-Foot Journey
The movie, ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey,’ is based on an American setting and cast. Steven Knight and Lasse Hallstrom act as the screenplay writer and director of the movie respectively. The movie illustrates the operation of two individual restaurants.
One restaurant is owned and operated by an Indian investor while the other is operated by a French native. The hilarious connections between the two operators of the restaurants and their customers produce an amazing masterpiece. The plot of the movie shows how the families of Kadam who are Indians operate their family restaurant in Mumbai. Hassan who is the second son in the family is established as the successor of his mother as the cook in the restaurant. However, the occurrence of burglary in the restaurant results in the death of Hassan’s mother from the attack. This results to their relocation due to political imbalance and insecurity issues in the area.
Kadam and his family migrate to Europe in search of an ideal area to set up their restaurant business. A mechanical default makes them to stop in France on their way to Mainland Europe. Marguerite who is a chef in a French restaurant offers assistance to the Kadam family. The food offered to the guests is poorly cooked and served when cold. Kadam is astonished on the quality of the food and the level of service offered by Marguerite who is allegedly one of the cooks at a local restaurant.
This triggers the urge to find a restaurant in the surround since the competition offered in France on the service and quality of food in the restaurants failed to impress Kadam. Luckily, he finds a restaurant opposite the ‘weeping willow’ which is a local restaurant and names it ‘Maison Mumbai’. The beginning of rivalry between Mallory and Kadam who are the owners of the restaurants begin when Mallory’s chefs spray Kadams restaurant with words which signified that they were not welcomed in the area (Jandt, 2012).
The result of the confrontation between Mallory and Kadam results to the destruction of the restaurant and Hassan gets injured in the process. Jean-Pierre who vandalizes the restaurant is fired and the two agree on Hassan working for Mallory since he prepares her a delicious omelet. The acquisition of Hassan by Mallory’s restaurant earns the restaurant numerous customers and recognition. This leads to the enrollment of Hassan as a chef in a recognized restaurant country wide.
This results to a mutual relationship and understanding between Kadam and Mallory who in the beginning were enemies. The outstanding performance by Hassan in the preparation and serving of meals earns him more recognition in Paris. However, the chef feels lonely because of the distance between him, his family and Marguerite who had already become his lover. Due to the inconveniences of long distance relationship, Hassan decides to return home and ventures into business together with Marguerite.
Purpose of the Movie
The production of ‘The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) movie’ was made to assist in the illustration of the significance of the different cultures and the availability of conflicts based on cultural and racial grounds. From the beginning of the movie, the lack of communication and distribution of information using the ‘contact zone’ aspect fails to be established (Wood, 2011). Kadam and his family depend on luck in the establishment on a new business and fail to gather advanced information in the beginning on availability of greener pastures. From the case study, a conclusion can be drawn that Hassan’s success resulted from the distribution and sharing of information about his prowess in cooking.
This uplifted his salary, social and economic lifestyle since he earned an employment in a recognized restaurant in Paris where he still earned fame and acknowledgement. The screenplay writer and the director of the movie together with their allies made a profound statement on the need to facilitate the media law. The ‘contact zone’ is well established in how it lacks in the beginning of the film and its significant achievements.
Production house
The production house consisted of well established crew members like Juliet Blake, Steven Knight, Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg. The directors of the film had a high dedication on their research and made an appropriate base for the film. According to research, food acts as a cultural foundation of different cultures and the sharing of different foods from different areas allows intercultural cohesion and understanding (Pratt, 2011). Different groups with a common goal join to facilitate an understanding, interaction and recognition of information, art, communication, technology and media. This shows that the different cultural aspects shown in the film resulted in a common understanding at the end and cohesion with strong and promising results.
Treatment and style of the movie
The movie contains exceptional style of production and screenplay writing. In addition, the actors produced an excellent performance. Research indicates that media theory and concept from the philosopher has currently gained recognition due to the establishment of social media.
The movie illustrates the operation of two individual restaurants (Pratt, 2011). One restaurant is owned and operated by an Indian investor while the other is operated by a French native. The hilarious connections between the two operators of the restaurants and their customers produce an amazing masterpiece. From the illustration of the ‘contact zone’, the actors played their roles to indicate on the occurrences witnessed in different parts of the world due to differences in social, political and racial status.
Narrative structure
The presentation of the film by its production team to feature ideas to the viewers represents a sufficient narrative structure. The narrative structure of this movie starts from its plot and the themes represented in the entire film. In addition, the resolution of the movie gives clarity to the viewers in information delivery (Pratt, 2011). Research indicates that media theory and concept from the philosopher has currently gained recognition due to the establishment of social media. This growth represents assured and reliable source of information for research and local use.
Intended audience
The film is intended to be watched by the different social classes from all regions. From the basic understanding of the movie, it was meant to affirm McLuhan’s theory on media and contact zone. This acts as a founding revelation of how food can be shared between individuals of different cultures in a mutual understanding (Comninou, 2007).
Reaction of Viewers
The different viewers gave different controversial feedbacks after the release of the movie. The French community disregarded the film because of the racial acknowledgement made in the film and due to the discrimination portrayed in the movie. It can be concluded that the audience shared different individual sentiments and acceptance to the movie after its release.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is clear that that the ‘contact zone’ establishment is aimed at distributing dormant information into useful and understandable content to the world (Comninou, 2007). This sharing and facilitation of information transfer is properly achieved through media and other forms of communication fields.
References
Comninou, M. (2007). Interface crack with friction in the contact zone. Journal of Applied Mechanics, 44(4), 780-781. Web.
Jandt, F. E. (2012). An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community. Sage Publications. Web.
McLuhan, M., & Fiore, Q. (1967). The medium is the message. New York, 123, 126-128. Web.
Pratt, M. L. (2011). Arts of the contact zone. Profession, 33-40. Web.
Wood, J. F. (2011). An Introduction to Intercultural Communication: Identities in a Global Community. Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, 40(2), 173-175. Web.