The Battle of Seattle Movie (2007)

A Stuart Townsend-Directed Political Action Movie

The narrative The Battle of Seattle is based on the protests that happened at the 1999 WTO meeting. The WTO is blamed by protesters for wide socioeconomic disparities between the rich and the poor (Klein). The clash between the majority and the peaceful protestors is shown in The Battle of Seattle, causing property damage, which leads to a chaotic scene that becomes an emergency.

Conflict Theory by Austin Turk

Despite the cause’s best efforts, conflict will always arise. The picture’s creator, context, and consequences, the conflict theory by Austin Turk explains the conflict between those that have power, that is, the authorities, and those that do not have power in coordinated relationships, the institutions. The theory depicts a differential in the cultural values of a stratified society where the middle class rarely struggle over abstracting norms as stated by Turk.

Modern Insights into Criminal Justice

According to Lilly et al, it is not that there is a struggle within the financial aspect, but rather that the option to maintaining stability is on the edge of deviance. The theory is relative to the history of criminal justice, that has brought relatively new insight into modern civilization, particularly in relation to the mass societies as well as the social institutions. The various schools of thought have a range of findings from both the biological, psychological, and sociological factors where ecology, social class, and social disorganization are often reiterating as the basis of criminal motivation.

The Progressive Approach in The Battle of Seattle

In the movie The Battle of Seattle, the previous condition of the Seattle changing workforce and the economy were a result of the decisive nature that makes many stand up for their civic right. The film defines itself by bringing out the human focus aspect of the events that took place. It depicts the scene where the protestors are pepper sprayed in order to disburse. The movie is a clear depiction of the progressive approach used to unite American citizens rather than to protest.

Urban Gang Delinquency and Cultural Deviance Theory

In The body and society: Explorations in social theory, Walter Miller in his cultural deviance theory, states that urban gang delinquency is not associated with poverty, but rather the product of a distinct lower class culture whose focal concerns encourage deviance rather than conformity. The cultural deviance theory is a combination of the disorganization and the strain theories that they believe in the result of the people’s strain and the social isolation that the urban environments have subjected them to.

The Role of Media in Geopolitical Discourse

The WTO meetings that were associated with the protests in Seattle received mass media coverage around the globe. Acknowledging the role of the media in the cultural process where meanings are produced and consumed by audiences, the clash with the elites and the dominant geopolitical actors were worked within the media hemisphere to shape geopolitical discourse. Traditionally, the effect of popular culture over high politics on the international scope has been deliberately overlooked.

Popular Culture and Geopolitical Reasoning

Therefore, the essence of popular culture in the perpetuation of dominant geopolitical reasoning has emerged as one of the most significant research focuses within the critical geopolitics. Mass media provides a context within which the elite geopolitical texts are reproduced in that the high cultures of statecraft and popular cultures become tenuous and thus the media reporting of geopolitical agendas as foreign policies. In the movie, one can see the main protagonists preparing and unfurling banners from cranes and organizing their protest operation. However, a small segment of the group is interested in causing chaos and this disrupts the entire motive of the protest resulting in a deadly riot, that was not the intention of the riot. In response, the police in the film are thus forced to use force as they are seen firing tear gas.

Strain Theory and Deviance

Robert Merton, in his Strain theory, argued that deviance is a result of the mismatch between cultural goals and institutionalized approaches to achieving goals (Tarrow). The theory states that conflict is a result of the strain that people feel when they have personal aspirations with no access. According to the Strain Theory, the youth feel that the only chance to obtain what they want is to join social movements. Such circumstances can be inclusive of deterioration within factions among the social setting and the lack of social control, and other groups that violate the law.

Politically Motivated Riots and Access to Goals

He meant that while nearly all of us are socialized to aspire to the American dream, it is impossible for everyone to have equal access to the institutionalized means of achieving the American dream. Therefore, social limitation to access the institutionalized method of satisfaction may most likely result in politically motivated riots. As seen in the movie, citizens of the US and Canada turn out in large numbers along with representatives to display their anger for what they believed to be a system run in the interest of multination lists.

Conflict and the Inevitability of Achievement

Politically motivated riots tend to occur in a circumstance where a group feels that there is a lack of reliable means of achieving their goal. This justifies the actions shown in the film and the turnout of events as they occurred; by portraying the sprawling confrontation via a handful of mini-dramas on an individual level. Nonetheless, no matter how much one is willing to do good, it is impossible to make an achievement without conflict.

Works Cited

Lilly, J. Robert, Francis T. Cullen, and Richard A. Ball. Criminological theory: Context and consequences. Sage, 2010. Print

Turner, Bryan S. The body and society: Explorations in social theory. Sage, 2008.

Tarrow, Sidney G. Power in movement: Social movements and contentious politics. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print

Klein, Ezra. “Ezra Klein: Battle in Seattle Takes the Politics Out of the WTO Protests”. The Guardian, 2017. Web.

The Battle of Seattle. Movie