"...what gives a place its specificity is not some long internalized history but the face that it is constructed out of a particular constellation of social relations, meeting and weaving together at a particular locus...Instead then, of thinking of place as areas with boundaries around, they can be imagined as articulated moments in networks of social relations and understandings, but where a larger proportion of those relations, experiences and understandings are constructed on a far larger scale than what we happen to define for that moment as the place itself..."

- Doreen Massey

As you read this, I bet you're asking - "now, Tim, how does this relate to film?"

Or maybe you're not.  

But that's besides the point, cause here I go anyway - Many filmmakers choose to make films about places, focusing on them as central characters.  Woody Allen, for instance, has said in interviews that his film Vicky Cristina Barcelona was based on his desire to personify Barcelona. 

I think this is a sentiment that is investigated pretty effectively in film.  When you think about it, rarely is there a film that could take place in any other place than where it is set.  

While of course there are some aspects that limit what film can do, I would argue that aside from physical travel (which costs just a bit more than $8 per-experience), it is the best way to experience a foreign space. 

Not only does the film physically show you locations, but it also often investigates cultural norms and intricacies of those places.  

Consider then that we choose people as the subject of our films, and the quote by Massey can be directly applied. 

I choose to delve into this topic becuase many people are in the habit of criticizing films these days for misappropriation.  Slumdog Millionare, for instance, is heavily critiqued for glossing over child abuse and violence with the guise of a story about love. 

I would argue that it's precisly because it focuses on love that makes it so great.  It doesn't hold back - what you see is brutal and unnerving.  But, like real life love prevails, even in the face of these horrible, disgusting things.  Danny Boyle suggests that there is humanity behind the face of evil, but that we're so consumed with the negative that we can't see it.

People reacting negatively to it is just another example of this. 

I know my points aren't solid, so someone please disagree and let's talk.

Peace.