Buddy The Elf

I am pretty sure everyone has seen the movie Elf. Will Farrell plays the role of Buddy who is a human that has grown up in an elf's world. He slowly begins to realize that he is different for a many reasons. He just isn't as fast at building toys like the other elves and he puts the whole toy-making system behind. He is also much taller than everyone else and he didn't realize it was because he was human. Papa Elf finally tells him what really happened and that he was adopted and grew up in the North Pole. He then makes his way to New York City to find his real dad. Along the way he encounters some challenges that he must adjust to. Cultural analysis is very apparent when he makes the big change of living in the North Pole around elves and Santa Claus to living in New York City where it's all humans and no one is as spirited about Christmas as he is. Some of the major cultural difference that I see is when he sees gum on the subway railing and decides to eat it. He thinks it is candy but he didn't realize it was people's old gum. Buddy takes everything very literally and isn't used to this type of cultural. Another example of how you can see cultural analysis being demonstrated in this film is when he is at the mall trying to find something to get for his dad for Christmas and he sees a sign that says " For Someone Special" and it is a lingerie outfit. He takes that literally and buys it for his father. Buddy doesn't understand what this means and he think it literally means for anyone special. During the holidays in America many retail stores have very similar signs near their items because they just want people to buy them. Lastly, another example that I think is a good example of how Buddy doesn't know proper etiquette when meeting someone new or seeing something that is different. His father, Walter, is in a a very important business meeting and Buddy barges in expressing his feelings about Josie after their date. One of the men in the meeting is a dwarf and Buddy thinks he is an elf because of his size. He asks all sorts of questions about how he came and if he knows Santa. Miles Finch, the dwarf, gets very angry and ends up fighting Buddy and Buddy is very confused as to why he is so angry. Cultural analysis comes into play here because Buddy isn't accustomed to seeing anyone who looks like an elf in New York City so he legitimately thinks Miles is an elf. I have never thought of cultural analysis in this sense until I watched Elf this passed weekend. I think the whole film does a great job of portraying how a human, who has been raised by elves, thinks he is an elf and then gets put into a whole situation and has to learn the customs of the people of New York City. Below I have put one of my favorite clips from the movie. I suggest you all watch it and then analyze how you see cultural analysis being portrayed. Why is it that Buddy doesn't care what others think? All the people around him go along and pretend to believe everything he is saying and he believes it because he doesn't know better. If you saw someone like Buddy what would you do? Hope you enjoy the clip and reading this post! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!