Music is an important aspect in most cultures. It is usually tied to beliefs, traditions, and can completely represent a culture. When comparing the book the Sparrow to the movie the Mission, one can clearly see that both are examples of media where music is important. Although the use of music is similar between the movie and the book, the events that follow when using music in first contact largely differs. In the Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, a group of people are sent to an alien planet after receiving radio transmissions from another solar system.
Music becomes a central theme instantaneously because these radio transmissions were of the aliens singing. The group, before departing for the alien planet, Rakhat, studied this music fervently, and suspected it would be the basis in which first contact would take place. When the radio transmissions were discovered, it was discovered because it was compared to Earth radio transmissions. This comparison was vital because it established a common characteristic between the humans and the aliens on Rakhat. This belief encouraged the thought of making contact with the species on Rakhat, which sets up the plot for the rest of the novel.
One of the crew members, Alan Pace, was an expert on music and was brought along primarily for the purpose of using music to help aid the group when contacting the aliens for the first time. However, Alan Pace died suddenly and without reason soon after the group landed on Rakhat, and therefore was unable to use his expertise in that situation. It worked out, though, being that the group first met the Runa, who disliked music because of the negative connotations it was connected to for their culture. The Runa, lower on the social class ladder than the Jana’ata, were used for food and other miscellaneous purposes by the Jana’ata.
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The Game Is To Be Sold Not Tol History of Jazz and Classical Music Upon entering a modern record store, one is confronted with a wide variety of choices in recorded music. These choices not only include a multitude of artists, but also a wide diversity of music categories. These categories run the gamut from easy listening dance music to more complex art music. On the complex side of the scale ...
Being on top of the social ladder, the Jana’ata were “more cultured” than the Runa. Therefore, the Jana’ata had their own music, which was the music that brought the humans to Rakhat. Since the Runa are hunted by the Jana’ata, they tend to dislike music because what the music symbolized. The movie the Mission, directed Roland Joffe, dealt primariy with the Jesuit missions that took place in South America during colonialzation in the 1700s. As the Jesuits went “above the falls” to help the Guarani people settle themselves, territorial disputes arose between Spain and Portugal.
This started a problem with the issue of slavery within the territory. Portugal was a country that allowed slavery, whereas Spain did not. Spain owned the South American territory is dispute, which meant that it was not legal for the territory to condone slavery. However, slave poachers still ravaged the native communities for slaves. The possibility that slavery could be made legal with the acquisition of territory to Portugal meant that all of the work the Jesuits had done for the native people would be unraveled.
Known as “uncivilized brutes” to the white men who occupied the territory, the Jesuits introduced the natives to contemporary music, in hopes to present them as civilized humans. Therefore, music played a large thematic role in the movie the Mission as well as the Sparrow. However important music is in both medias, the first contacts with both were very different as a result. In the Sparrow, the first contact with the Jana’ata race, namely with the merchant Supaari, was almost a disaster. Supaari stumbled upon the group of humans while they were enjoying a barbeque.
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Police Academy: Mission to Moscow (1994) 1/2 This movie succeeds on only one mission - the mission to suck. That's the only way to describe the seventh Police Academy movie. It sucks, so much so that previous entries in the series look like classics in comparison. I can't say I didn't expect it to be this bad, because once I saw the copy on the back of the box that read, "Kicking butt-ski! Making ...
The smells of the barbeque insulted Supaari to begin with. The most heightened sense of the alien species was that of smell. However, the group was also listening to music that Supaari did not find pleasing. He attacked them because of the music they were playing. This is contradictory to the belief that the group had that music would be the medium that they could communicate with the alien species with. Although the group were lucky to come out on top, the misuse of music was almost devastating for the group. However, in the movie the Mission, Father Gabriel climbed atop the hills with only supplies and a flute.
He went alone because he had placed his entire faith in the music that he was going to use to gain the trust of the Garauni. When he reached the top, he sat on a rock and started playing his flute. The Guarani people heard the music and emerged from the forest. There was some altercation where the flute was broken, but ultimately the Gaurani accepted Father Gabriel into their community. This example of using music in order to effectively communicate good intentions was vital for Father Gabriel and the Jesuits to gain the trust of the native people.
This trust is the only basis they have to then try to help the Garauni accept Christianity and therefore help them “civilize” themselves. Music can be a cross-cultural connection in many societies. It is used for several aspects of society, including religious or traditional uses. However, as can be seen through contrasting the book the Sparrow and the movie the Mission, music can have the potential to either be the key to communication or the product that discourages communication.
