Blindsight

1.What types of cultural diversity are present in the movie?

Erik, a blind American who travels to Tibet, comes from a culture that considers blindness a handicap that can be over come. When he got to Tibet he encountered a completely different culture. The Tibetans view blindness as a punishment for a person's sins when they are reincarnated. He, with the aid of a German woman who had set up a school for the blind in Tibet, was working to take on this discrimination . Their Christian origins strengthened their convictions as opposed to the prejudice brought on by the Buddhist traditions.

2.What are some of the challenges people in the movie encounter?

The video shows the adventure that Erik had while guiding blind children up Mount Everest. At such high altitudes the oxygen levels are very low making it hard to breathe. The blind children faced this difficult challenge in addition to performing it without sight. The video also shows the challenge  that Erik went through because his mother died and he became blind when he was very young. Also, there was a family of a widower with two sons and a daughter who were all blind. The daughter encountered the additional challenge of growing up without a mother.

3.What are some examples of stereotyping, prejudice, bias and/or discrimination in the video?

The video gives up many examples of discrimination. The most essential was the bias the Tibetans had against blind people. Tashi, the street kid experienced this when trying to fit in with other children. He also was a victim of self inflicted discrimination. He pretended to be Tibetan because he thought Chinese people couldn't climb the mountain. Furthermore the Chinese couple who took him in and mistreated him and forced him to beg for money.

4.What challenges do people face as a result of personality rather than culture? 

It's not always a culture that is the cause of discrimination. The Chinese couple show us that sometimes people's personalities can be the reason for prejudice. They beat Tashi for not begging for enough money or having money stolen from him. Their nature caused them to treat other humans like an animal. In a way Tashi's personality and upbringing caused him to discriminate against himself when he believed that Chinese people wouldn't be allowed to join the expedition.

5.What benefits are there for the people in the movie as a result of their differing cultures?

Many benefits can be seen by surrounding oneself with different cultures. The Tibetan girl's encounter with the westerners eventually resulted in her getting a place in an English school and realising her dream to become a teacher. Other than that, Tashi's experience led him coincidentally  to his father. Most significantly, the fact that each person in the group came from different backgrounds encouraged them to find a common ground and treat each other with understanding