The Difference Between a Social and Political Lens

Today in class we spent the first half of the period with a discussion, Previously, we had mentioned lenses interpret a text. These lenses were:

Cinematic lense - links between product and craft
Environmental lens - links between product and environment
Social lense - links between product and society
Political lens - links between product and politics

The discussion today looked more into the social and political lenses. They can often be confused for one another, so we looked more in depth in the differences between them. They key part is a social lens looks into groups of people and the relationships, communities, unity, and division between them. A political lens looks at government, rules, and power. It was critical to be able to tell them apart, to apply them to the film Get Out.

To apply what we learned, we looked at the high school cafeteria. As a class, we looked at it through a social and political lens. In the cafeteria, the different social or friend groups are represented by tables. The political lens is represented by the older the student, the better seat they get (freshmen having to sit in the back near the bathrooms). Also, the teachers still watch over all the students to make sure things don’t get out of hand, which displays power.

Moving on, the second half of class was spent continuing to watch the film Get Out. We had started watching this horror film on Monday. Get Out deals with the issues of race in modern society. Currently, we are taking notes while viewing it. These notes are supposed to help us look at it as a social and political lens later. It is important to gather evidence/examples now. Students are reminded that the Be Reel Blog is due Wednesday at midnight, and level two of Ready Player One is due by 11/13.