Cultural Representation in Western Film Music

Our perception of any cultural artifact is affected by the media we consume. So when we are watching a movie and we hear pentatonic scales and plucky strings as we see sweeping shots of the East Asian country side, we may make dangerous assumptions. Film composers utilize music to create subconscious attachments and queues to events on the screen. A variety of techniques are used: from leitmotifs, themes, instrumentation and other (sometimes theoretically elaborated) techniques. These tools help drive the narrative, impact the audience, and create memorable experience. As film music becomes further insinuated into the consciousness of society, cognitive shortcuts and liberties are taken. A composer can make an audience think about a certain region of the world in the span of a few notes, utilizing musical stereotypes and cutting down on precious time in the composing process. If decisions that inform the creation of film music ignore the social-political implications of those decisions, misleading stereotypes take root and persist in cultural consensus. This research proposal will examine how western film music (both scores and soundtracks) effectively and ineffectively represents different cultures. Additionally, the proposal highlights what exactly makes these assumptions dangerous through deconstructing the concepts of “ethnic” and “exotic” music