Ideological Perspectives

Ideological Perspectives

Ethnocentrism- The belief in the intrinsic superiority of the nation, culture, or group to which one belongs, often accompanied by feelings of dislike for other groups.  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethnocentrism

This ideology is shown throughout this event by the Khmer Rouge in many instances. Some of the first to go under the Khmer government were those that were educated from outside sources. By ridding the country of anyone engulfed in western theory or highly educated in worldly things they fought start over in a more simple society. This was tied into the belief of starting over in “year one” for the Khmer, that by starting over with their society/culture they would be able to essentially train everyone to think in one (correct) way and be able to have a strong prominence in the worlds eye.  

They had the belief that the society they imposed on everyone was better than what was in place. Being a communist party the Khmer Rouge believed their way of life was better than what was already in place. The dislike that came from others that posed a threat to them led to millions of killings of their own nations citizens. 

White Privilege- A privileged position: the possession of advantage white persons have over non-white persons. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3006945

The idea of white privilege is strewn throughout the movie and even as a general theme when looked at closely. The movie portraits the United States to favorite/trust whites more. For example, while going to the embassy to escape initial fears Sydney glides through no questions asked while Pran is checked and double checked to make sure he belongs. Again while going through passports Sydney is never brought up in conversation but Pran is always questioned about his nationality.

We can see this as an overall theme in the movie as well with Sydney being portrayed as the hero when is reality Pran was the one that lived through it. Evidence is in the awarding of the Pulitzer Prize award, although many see it today as a joint operation in their reporting of the war the award was only given to one man, Sydney Schanberg.

Buddhism- The fourth largest religion in the world. At the time of the Khmer Rouge take over the Cambodian population was estimated to be 7.3 million with 90% of that being of the Buddhist religion. (Welaratna, 26) This is important to know because it was the religion deeply embedded into the culture.

As the Khmer tried their best get rid of religion many still practiced within their heart. We see this in Prin’s life where he states “I saw many arrested in my village, hands tied behind their backs, crying for their lives. I got chills down my back, like fever. I kept talking softly, pretending to support Angka. But I still prayed every day and every night, in my mind.” (Schanberg, 97)

Some important factors to know about the religion are the practices of no stealing, no getting angry, no killing and so on. Because of these beliefs it was easy for the Khmer Rouge to manipulate the people into doing what they wanted. With the majority strongly against standing up to the government and trying to revolt against what was being done the Khmer was able to continue in their ways.

Capitalism- Economic system of private and corporate ownership; distribution of wealth and goods determined by free market enterprise and competition.

The Khmer Rouge’s intent was to return the country to a society based on agriculture. By forcing the citizens into the fields with very little resources the government controlled what they had available to them. This concept is demonstrated by the government more than the people in rationing the amount of goods given to them. In many instances it was reported that they were forced to survive off 1 tablespoon of rice a day. This restriction of free market of goods but also ideas prohibited the people from progressing for a long time.