The White Ribbon

    

       This is Mary Beth, and this blog post is pertaining to The White Ribbon. The White Ribbon is an unsettling foreign film that leaves the viewer full of unanswered questions. The film is set in a German Protestant village in the early 1900's, shortly after World War I. When mysterious events begin to occur in the inhabitant's well-ordered village, no one is sure of who to blame. The chain of events that take place within the film are undoubtedly a result of social phenomena. Therefore, The White Ribbon is the perfect film to apply to the three major sociological paradigms; symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and conflict.
     The symbolic interactionist paradigm focuses on the use of symbols to convey a certain meaning. A perfect example of this paradigm takes place within the film, when the village pastor has his children wear white ribbons as a symbol of "purity." The children are not to take them off until both the pastor and his wife can trust them again, as a result of their returning home late one night without acceptable explanation. The pastor also forbids his children from eating supper that same night, to symbolize the displeasure they had caused their parents.
       The next sociological paradigm the movie employs, is functionalist. The functionalist paradigm states that each individual is part of a whole that collectively combines to create a well-functioning and ordered society. Within the film we can see that this is certainly the case. Everyone in the village has a role to fill whether it be pastor, doctor, baron, midwife, caretaker, etc. The chief aim is to ensure stability and efficiency. Social approval is also a major theme within the functionalist perspective, which can lead to the act of repression. Throughout the film we can witness many examples of repression. In large, this is due to the Protestant ethics practiced by the village, which often repress pleasure and desire, deeming them unacceptable behaviors. Psalm 145 is mentioned in the film, and it is no mistake that the psalm reads “He fulfills the desires of those who fear him.”
      Lastly, the conflict paradigm is quite frankly, the plot of The White Ribbon. The conflict paradigm focuses on relationships between the classes, especially the elite’s influence on the proletariat and low class. The atrocities that occur within the village throughout the duration of the film are geared towards the elite. It is inferred that the violent and illegal acts were carried out by lower class workers who were angry about the way they were being treated by the upper class. For instance, a young worker destroys the Baron’s field of cabbages after a discrepancy about pay. Although it is never uncovered whether or not all acts were committed by low-wage workers, we do know that at least one was, and therefore, this is a prime example of the conflict paradigm.
      We can see that all three paradigms are employed throughout the film. Although it is a seemingly strange production, it does contain some very valuable sociological insight. It is interesting to consider that the youth within the film ultimately became the Nazi generation, and perhaps, how each of the three aforementioned paradigms contributed to their moral and ethical character.