Breakout Room 4
Chosen Film – Tomb Raider
The last few seconds of the clip portrays a stark contrast in a global city between the developed and less developed parts by having the foreground be the fish market while containing a backdrop of the Hong Kong skyscrapers.
The clip also begins with a pan over central and its skyscrapers but then cuts to Lara Croft on a taxi stepping out onto a completely different environment. A contrast between the modern and traditional. We also noted that the way the taxi is being driven is indicative of the environment its in – the ride is bumpy and slow suggesting that they are driving in a narrow area that usually it not suitable for cars – this is different from our usual perception of global cities where we usually imagine more traffic and wide roads.
Furthermore discussion was raised on whether or not all global cities have this distinct clash between developed and underdeveloped. We thus noted that this phenomena is usually very prevalent in Asian metropolises, as they are often advertised (by the city themselves) as developed highly urbanized spaces but other media sources (such as films) will try to contrast this portrayal/propaganda.