Beatrice Cale
Two excellent films that I have enjoyed recently have expressly demonstrated sociolinguistic themes and theories we have touched in class. BlacKkKlansman and Arrival.
The first is the (mostly) true tale of a black police agent, who, in the 1970s, infiltrated the local branch of the KKK (the Ku Klux Klan, a violent, hate group which espouses white superiority), in Colorado, U.S.A.
The second film, is a thoughtful science-fiction fantasy, recounting the arrival of strange-looking extraterrestrial aliens to planet earth (directed by a Quebecer). In both films, the hero or heroine is the person who is most able to harness the power of language and communication to reach out to the other side for the betterment of humanity.
Continue reading “Sociolinguistics Goes to the Movies”