Cultural Identity Crisis in Devils Playground - Movie Review Example

Cultural Identity Crisis in Devil’s Playground The 2002 American documentary film Devil’s Playground directed by Lucy Walker is centered on the dilemma faced by various adolescents from the Amish culture on whether or not they want to return to the church. According to the normal Christian faith baptism should be done during infancy while Amish culture gives the members of the church, upon their sixteenth birthdays, the liberty to enjoy their lives beyond the rigid rules of their faith. This tradition which is known as Rumspringa allows the young people to indulge in the luxuries of life like parties, drugs, watching television, using electronic gadgets, listening to music, and wearing normal clothes. Thus, the youth get the opportunity to live life on their own terms before becoming baptized, and becoming adult members of the community. It is during this phase of their lives that they are faced with the dilemma of whether they want to revert to their life in the church or choose to marry people of their own choice. The film that is being discussed in this paper is focused on this dilemma of these young folks who hang out with their Amish peers. Majority of the young groups eagerly wait till the day when they can embark on a life of choice and ecstasy. In many cases, the young boy gets the opportunity to travel in a carriage to join the youth activities. The most vital thing to be noted here that it is during this Rumspringa that the youth engage in courtship as their “peer group plays a new and dominant role” (Kraybill et al.). This paper explores the cultural identity crisis faced by the Amish youth as they stand on the threshold of their community. The movie has two protagonists. One principle character is Faron Yoder who was 18 years of age and was a preacher’s son. From the start of the movie he is shown to be going through Rumspringa with major indulgence in drugs. When he is arrested for his addiction, he becomes involved in a scheme to escape prison, and then to return to his Amish family he had to break off with the girl he was dating. After he liberated himself from the frolics of Rumspringa he started dating another girl, Emma from the Amish community. However, Faron again gets attracted to be former lifestyle for which he was left by Emma who did not support him. Faron again reverts to taking drugs and partying. Finally, he reneges and moves to Florida to be with Emma for the rest of his life. The second principle character is Velda who was not fond of her life during Rumspringa and decided to return to her Amish community. However, she got depressed with the rigid norms of the Amish church and therefore decided to leave the community as a result of which she was spurned by her family which she accepted as a token of love. She is eventually a member of the Christian college and admits that she abhors the Amish lifestyle, and does not regret leaving the church (Devil’s Playground). Cultural identity crisis The movie portrays the cultural identity crisis that is the general outcome for those youth groups who become like a pendulum between the secular form of lifestyle and the rigid norms of the Amish church. At age sixteen, these adolescents are given the choice of remaining true to their faith or get the taste of youthful activities. The problem arises when these young people return to their Amish community only to feel the confinement of the religious lifestyle that demands sacrifice of their worldly desires. As these young people experience such things like watching television or riding fast cars for the first time, it becomes difficult for them to surrender those luxuries in return of a rigid lifestyle. This is the phase of cultural transient as their identity gets challenged when they are subjected to the choice of moving from one (secular) culture to a more orthodox culture. Often the choice of moving between cultures becomes difficult due to getting stigmatized along with other kinds of discriminations like language and clothes. Moreover, the identity crisis becomes acute if the concerned individual stays attached to one culture for a prolonged period (Rumspringa can last from few months to several years) (Samovar et al., 98). The identity crisis that becomes a challenge for the people who move from one culture to the other is due to the fact that “different cultures have different moral codes” (Rachels, 617). It is believed that the concept of ethics is dependent on one’s perspective and there is no truth in any universal definition of this term. The customs of different cultural groups are true for each group, and there cannot be judgement of right or wrong since each group has its own version of what is correct and what is incorrect. There does not exist any universal standard and all customs are relative in terms of the cultural group. It has been stated by the sociologist William Graham Sumner that the definition of “right” belongs to traditional customs passed on by earlier generations, and it is not subjected to investigation by experiment. It is the moral code of a specific society that determines the right and wrong of actions. Therefore, it is not prudent to make judgement of the actions of other people since each individual determines his moral attitude based on the dictation of one’s culture (Rachels, 617-618). As can be understood from the above discussion, the youth of Rumspringa become subjected to acute identity crisis when attempting to move from a liberal society to an orthodox culture like the Amish community. Being brought up in this community they have grown to believe that abstinence from the worldly pleasures is the way to salvation. However, when given the choice to enjoy life outside the Amish culture to discover own dreams and aspirations majority they become exposed to all the luxuries of life which so far they were taught as wrong in their Amish community. The challenge of retaining their identity becomes apparent when the young adults rejoin the Amish church. For instance, the character Faron Yoder had to return to his Amish community under the pressure of circumstances. However, he soon returns to his secular lifestyle that includes taking drugs and partying. Eventually he gives up everything to enter the church. It is evident that Faron was striving to find his own identity in two different societies with different notions of right and wrong. He was brought up to believe that being faithful to God is the goal of life. The strict rules and structure of life within the Amish community is accepted as the way to heaven. In the Amish community a child is taught “meekness, humility, and obedience” (Kraybill) – the very things that are flouted during Rumspringa. It becomes very difficult for these young people to renounce their lifelong beliefs and accept the liberal lifestyle as the righteous way of living. Hence, for Faron the Amish community’s orthodox lifestyle is like a protection since he has seen the temptations and dangers of the outside world. The second character Velda found solace in a third community, i.e. the Christian religion. She could not fit herself during the Rumspringa phase and after returning to the Amish church she failed to embrace the strict lifestyle. It is only in the Christian college that she found her own identity as she lives on her own and works for herself. Conclusion The phase of Rumspringa leads to a consciousness among the youth to create an identity of their own and often they become rebellious against the traditional norms. Therefore, cultural identity crisis becomes a common phenomenon among these young people who stand on the thresholds of the Amish community. However although joining the church means surrendering the luxuries of life, current statistics state that 90 percent of the Amish youth who have experienced Rumspringa eventually return to the church (Goyer, 50). References Devil’s Playground directed by Lucy Walker (2003) Goyer, Tricia. The One Year Book of Amish Peace, Tyndale House Publishers, 2013 Kraybill, Donald B. The Riddle of Amish Culture, JHU Press, 2003 Kraybill, Donald B., Johnson-Weiner, Karen M. & Nolt, Steven M. From Runspringa to Marriage, JHU Press, 2013 Rachels, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, Random House, 1986 Samovar, Larry A. et al. Intercultural Communication, Cengage Learning, 2014 Read More