Yesterday we talked about movies about people with disabilities and how this can help you go through the exercise of seeing life through a different lens. For good cross-cultural communicators this is indeed an exercise. It is almost like telling your brain to take a step to one side and look at the different view. With practice it becomes easy, and even automatic… until you hit barriers.
These barriers can pop up unexpectedly. They can come from a variety of different sources:
- Your cultural background
- Your upbringing and education
- Your own personal experience
Sometimes it is hard to label these reactions as personal “barriers”.
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Different sexual preferences can become barriers. These barriers hit us on our most personal level. They are usually obvious and are therefore easier to address than more hidden personal barriers.
Here are a few movies with a homosexual story line:
Homosexuality and related issues used to be a huge barrier for many people not so long ago. It is less so today, probably thanks to movies like these. But homosexuality still raises seemingly insurmountable barriers in communication with some cultures, for example with high masculinity scores on the cultural behavior scales.
It is difficult to achieve effective communication when someone immediately puts up personal barriers. These personal barriers simply stop others from connecting with them. Personal barriers create isolation. People can learn to label and face their own barriers by watching movies that show the other point of view. Some people confuse having a broader vision of the world as endorsing things they feel strongly against.
This confusion is probably linked to some lack of self-worth. This is a whole new subject which I will not get into here. But yes, good cross-cultural communicators are usually confident and have a healthy opinion of themselves.
Acknowledging personal barriers does not mean abandoning beliefs. It is simply the first step in breaking down the wall of self-built isolation. Can anyone see any current movie trends in discussing current barriers?
Let me know if you have any other other movies to add to this list.
More on Culture Films:
- How To Choose Movies To Watch And Improve Your Cross-Cultural Skills
- Movies For Cultural Insights
- Movies To See Life Through A Different Lens
- Movies To Work Through Personal Barriers
- Movies Make It Easy To See The Differences
- Movies Take You Different Places
- Movies To Understand The History Behind Culture
- Movies To Build Empathy
- Movies For Different Perspectives
- Movies To Understand Cultural Differences
- Movies On Adapting To Different Cultures
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