Based on the Video The Eye of the Storm and the Crash - Movie Review Example

This kind of status will be enjoyed based on the dominant gender, race, ethnic group and economic class. This paper first evaluates the video ‘The Eye of the Storm’, which has offered an important metaphor for the ways in which ascribed statuses influence the system of rewards and punishments in our society. It will then evaluate the way race, class and gender in the lives of men help to understand their experiences as in the film ‘CRASH’. In the video ‘Eye of the storm’, the ascribed status is based on whether the subjects have blue or brown eye color.

The eye color is the parameter which is used in the video by society to deny or grant privileges to its members. Social stratification is a class concept which takes the form of putting persons into groups with respect to some common characteristic in the society. In his book, Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, Chris Barker defines social stratification as a "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions . a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions." (436). Stratification in western societies takes three main forms namely: the upper class, the middle class and the lower class (Aileen 57).

There are various forms of stratification in the society and in the video Eye of the Storm; this stratification is done based on the ascribed statuses. The eye color ascribed statuses is used to stratify society into dominant and subordinate groups. Those who belong to the dominant category are accorded some privileges in the class room and the subordinates are denied such privileges. For instance; those with the dominant eye color are rewarded by being allowed to sit in front of the class and drink from the fountain.

They are also accorded longer recess, given higher value by the teacher and acknowledged as smarter. For the subordinates they: Sit in the back of the class, Drink from a cup and Stand in the back of the line for lunch. They are not only segregated but also denied a chance to play with the dominant group. This discrimination comes with some consequences to members of the two groups where by; those rewarded feel that they are dominant, powerful and smarter. As a result, they score higher marks in class and make fun of the subordinate group.

On the other side, the subordinate group feels less powerful, hopeless and embarrassed. They also have low esteem and score poorly in class. A literary figure of speech that takes the form of a known fact or image in representing a less known idea or quality is a metaphor. The video ‘Eye of the Storm’ chronicles Jane Elliott’s undertaking to help her third grade class to understand the meaning of prejudice. After the assassination of Martin Luther king, Elliot realized that the class she was teaching could not understand the mission of Martin Luther and she sought to use a practical metaphor to demonstrate her point on how prejudices are created and used to segregate society members (Aileen 59).

Therefore, the video is a metaphor for the different ways in which people can be treated differently and unfairly based on ascribed statuses in the society. This fact of the eye color was used to let them understand what they were not