The piece of my identity which I’ve chosen to address is smaller than many of the proposed categories, such as white, American, male, twentysomething, or Mormon – smaller, I suppose, in that it’s more specific. For example, there are, most likely, less people who identify as peacemakers than there are members of the male gender or citizens of the US - not every man, not every American fills this role - but I feel it’s much more a part of who I am than either of those examples. It was the part of my identity of which I first thought when the assignment was given. I came to fill the role of peacemaker primarily within my family, but it has since spread into every other major group with which I am involved: school, work, church, friendship circles, etc.
The
two texts I chose to poach were the stories of Ferdinand the Bull,
interpreted here by Walt Disney Animation, and of 12 Angry Men,
interpreted here by Sidney Lumet. In 12
Angry Men, Henry Fonda’s character, Juror #8, is, at first, one man against
11. His major virtue is that of giving
the other side of the argument a chance.
That’s how I see it, and Jenkins’ “How Texts Become Real,” in which he argues
that a text reaches its true cultural life through use, interpretation, and
personalization, gives me power to do so.
Juror #8 is a character that I have, perhaps, refashioned for my own
comfort. He fills the role of peacemaker
through empathetic, intelligent, and sometimes contentious means. He’s not cruel, he’s determined, especially
since human life is on the line. Had he
entered the court room with all other 11 men immediately calling out “Innocent,”
though, I’m sure he would have stopped them a moment to consider the other
side, just to be sure. He represents
fairness, equality, and balance, and to me, that’s peace.
On
the other hand, there’s Ferdinand. I
didn’t grow up with Ferdinand the Bull but was introduced to him through
Elliott Smith, a peacemaker in his own way.
It’s a perfect example of a cult story as outlined by Jenkins. Munro Leaf, the book’s author, wrote it for
his illustrator friend. He had no
agenda. Then the Spanish Civil War broke
out. It was promoted as a powerful
example of pacifism. This continued to
expand into other issues and nations, the book becoming in essence the definitive
symbol of pacifism. Hitler banned
it. Ghandi claimed it as his favorite
book.
For
my purposes, then, with Ferdinand being such an adorable story and such a
recognized example of peace, I montaged him against clips from 12 Angry Men
in order to allow Juror #8, my peacemaker of preference in the narrative world,
to be seen in the light in which I see him:
a peacemaker.
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