As Baraka shows us there is great diversity throughout human civilization; no two are exactly alike. However, it also shows us that they are remarkably similar. In fact, they are too similar. If humans are completely separate from each other, any two cultures with little to no contact should be entirely different” as much as an octopus is from an eagle. However, elements of every culture are linked. Dances by Native Americans are similar to dances by aboriginal Africans or Pacific Islanders. Of course one could make the argument that random chance has made it this way (after all there are only so many ways one can “shake your groove thing”), but all things being equal if left to random chance only half of cultures should have a form of dance and I’ve never read of one that doesn’t (although this is specifically excluding religious groups that frown on it.)

Baraka tries to make the argument that there is no single cultural legacy but rather all aspects are important. However, the human cultural legacy is worthless. It isn’t something rare and valuable, it does not improve with time, it is destructive and it is selfish. Assuming there is other intelligent life in the universe, they wouldn’t be missing out on much if the entire planet were to disintegrate. Rather than putting our effort into improving the human race as a whole, the vast majority of the human species goes about their time not caring about anything around them. Unfortunately this is not just referring to “lazy” Americans but the entirety of the world. According to Titiev (1959) there are 859 documented cultures. Of these cultures exactly 0 put all the resources of their societies into improving the human species as a whole. It is amusing in my opinion that the only people who try to improve the human species (such as Hitler) are lunatics and murderers trying to shape the world into their perverted idea of perfection while the majority of reasonable people just go about there lives worrying only about themselves. Of course there are a few who are popularized for helping people (Mother Teresa comes to mind) however even she didn’t do anything notable. She only helped a few sick and poor people in India. To really do something worthwhile you must do something that effects the entirety of the human species even if they don’t realize it. The creation of nuclear energy didn’t have a direct effect on the lives of South American’s living in the rain forest; however, should they choose to build their own reactor, it will change their lives dramatically (not necessarily for the better.) Even if Mother Teresa saved ten million of India’s poorest and sickest inhabitants she hasn’t done anything for the human species a whole, just something for that small portion of the Earth’s population. Unfortunately the thought of self and group is inbreed into humans and thus the few that can overcome the pressures from theirs selves and society are the individuals that are worth anything. This is not to say that helping the poor and the sick is not a noble cause; it is a perfectly acceptable use of ones life and serves as a balance between the self and humans as a whole. However, everything dies. A life spent keeping away death is, in the end, a failure because one has only forestalled the inevitable. Of course one could argue that they spent their life warding off discomfort, but a hard blow to the head would have the same result.

Humans have a tendency to think of themselves as unique and as history has shown us time and time again they tend to gather around their “uniqueness” as a battle cry and as an excuse to think less of other groups. Unfortunately while this served humans in their developmental stages I believe this no longer has any place in our society. People like to magnify the differences, but the differences themselves are all artificial ” in other words just because the dance is unique doesn’t make the dancer unique. Unfortunately this is a very unpopular opinion; everything a person is told from birth to death is that they are special, humans are unique and humans are better than the animals. Even in Buddhist or Hindu societies which value all life, humans are still superior and all beings must become human before they can achieve enlightenment. However in the bigger scheme of things the way one-group dances is about as unique as a single grain of sand on the beach. It is only altogether that each grain makes anything special; similarly humans are only special when combined with others. It is not what one human can do that makes them special, but it is what all humans can do if they ever chose to work together.

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The Cinema Paradiso itself was the figurative and literal center of the town in the early and mid years it was in operation. Eventually, as the community was able to connect to the outside world more and more the Paridiso was slowly forgotten, until it was finally sold and demolished. During it’s early years of operation the Paridiso was for many people was the only way for them to escape the pressures of living in Sicily after the Second World War, large numbers of soldiers died leaving families broken, the land was poor and work hard to find. As with “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” the people gravitated to a single area to try to find some semblance of happiness in their lives.

Secondly, but some may argue most importantly, “Cinema Paradiso” shows just how art can effect the human condition. The Cinema Paradiso is not just the community’s center in the movie, but it is also the artistic center. Although to someone living in America the movies were considered normal nothing overly special to the people that went to the Cinema Paradiso the movies were a way of keeping in contact with the outside world and the only source of art in the town. To the townspeople as Alfredo said, “[they] think it’s the center of the world [but once you leave you realize it is not.]” In the context of the movie this idea is what lead Alfredo to push Salvatore out of town, he knew that the only way for Salvatore to grow artistically and make movies is by leaving the “backwater” town and force him to connect with the world. This is happening even today as certain types of people move across the country to other areas where more artistic is encouraged.

A minor theme in the movie is that of censor ship in artistic expression. It points out what some people consider art (such as kissing) other consider pornography and that censorship like all things is best left to the majority to decide. Censorship has a huge impact on the lives of people in a community, one can argue that censorship could be the major reason for the stagnation that effected the community and convinced Alfredo to send Salvatore away. Censorship as it pertained to the Cinema Paradiso evolved over the life of the theater from the beginnings when all kissing/romance scenes were edited out to the middle when romance/sexuality was allowed to the end when the theme of the films were specifically as evidenced by the movie posters) adult in nature. But the question is “Does censorship follow desire or desire follow censor ship?” Thats is did the censorship in the movie lessen because there was no public support for it, or was the desire for censored materials increased because they were censored? In Cinema Paradiso specifically it was the former rather than the latter because all the townspeople celebrated the first uncut movie. However in the “real” world it depends on the situation, for example in democratic societies it is frequently the former, that is people no longer want to be told what they can not do, yet in totalitarian societies it is often the latter. Censorship is a risky business in all matters not just art , the goal is to censor enough that society does not rampage and gut itself from the inside out in pursuit of pleasures, but not so much as to cause a stagnation of thought inside a community.

Art may be at peripheral of our lives but it is all around us, just look at any building for a moment, everything from the painting on the walls, to the carpeting, to the design of the grounds is art. Although the carpets are quite often ugly, they are still art, although most people just see the lanes of concrete surrounded by grass as a walkway they were designed by an artist. Even English courses are not an English course it is a course on art, the art of writing, real English courses deal with nouns, verbs and past-present participles, yet even still it is not considered an art course. Instead it is considered to be a course that teaches you how to use and understand English appropriately. Art is extremely important to very few people because frankly it doesn’t pay the bills. Unfortunately because of this art’s impact on our daily lives is very low for the majority, however what art does do is help to shape our thoughts and feelings without a conscious effort in ways that other things cannot.

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Although eventually in “Cinema Paridiso” Salvatore learned how Alfredo “chased” away Elena, most people never get the chance to realize these background maneuvers. Without Alfredo’s meddling Salvatore may have have his own personal “Happy Ending”, however he may have just ended up realizing that the romance he had with Elena was not what he wanted out of his life too late and ended up unhappy anyway but in this case never to realize his dreams. Although many people are quick to pas judgment on Alfredo saying what he did was right or wrong, no one can know if that was the best choice. Instead all we can say for sure is that Alfredo did what he thought was best and in the end that is the best that anyone can do.

As for Alfredo telling Salvatore to never come back, I believe this was to protect Salvatore from the nostalgic sentimentality that would give him cause to regret his decision. It would also force Salvatore to make his mark on the world without thinking of home as an obligation, something he would have to return to eventually just to keep up appearances. By forcing Salvatore to leave the town behind completely Alfredo was forcing Salvatore to face any problems that would inevitably arise from his new life instead of giving up and returning to a “security blanket”.

Movies for the most part are a way for people to live other lives and in essence to live vicariously through another person’s shoes. Foreign movies are especially good at this because they not only let you live in another life but another culture through that cultures eyes.

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One of the many ideas that are prevalent in this movie is the idea that each person is just a part of a larger whole, that although you could try to be individual, it was not in your best interests to do so. This idea is shown both in the beginning of the movie and when Chaplin was “forced” through social pressure to strike. The entire factory sequences showed how the average American worker was just treated as replaceable labor in the 1920′s and 1930′s the only concern of the boss was the ability of the workers to keep up with quotas. The mechanical device that fed Chaplin shows just how far some people would go to get that little extra profit at the expense of the workers well being.

The American dream is also a prominent feature of the movie, Chaplin’s American Dream was a small shack with a puddle out back, saying that is is not how much you have that is what matters but what it means to you. The American dream has been prominent throughout American literature for hundreds of years and this movie is no exception. Through the use of comedy Chaplin portrays the American dream just as Algers does, something that is attainable with a little hard work. This idea was especially important at the time the movie was made.

The last major theme is about the difficulty of life during those years, food and jobs were hard to come by, and as Chaplin shows us jail was preferable to the hectic and dangerous city streets. At the time of the great depression Americans had to fight for what little they had, and as the movie showed many people went hungry. However this movie glorifies the struggle of the poor rather than vilifying them for stealing food to survive. By glorifying the struggle the movie takes on yet another social issue: when the poor steal to eat it is not criminal, just survival.

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