An Analysis of the Features of British Culture in the Movie Paddington From Kluckhorn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Perspective

王迪

【Abstract】 Paddington is a British family comedy movie produced by David Jonathan Heyman， an English film producer. Using Kluckhorns and Strodtbecks value theory to analyze this movie is a window to understanding the futures of Brutish culture.

【Key words】British Culture； Paddington； Kluckhorns and Strodtbeck s Orientation

This paper is related to a movie called Paddington， a British comedy film. And it consists of four parts.

Ⅰ. General overview of the Movie Paddington

A British geographer Montgomery Clyde encounters a species of bear inPeru. Instead of stuffing the bear， he teaches them to do marmalade， gives his red hats and welcomes them to London. The hat is labeled British Geography Association. Later the young bear arrives in London after a long journey. He gets a name called Paddington and has a home to live in. After twists and turns， Paddington knows that the name of explore but he was died. Millicent Clyde renders the bear unconsciousness and prepares to stuff him. In fact， she hates this kind of bear because of her father. Knowing Paddington in dilemma， all the family members try their best to save Paddington. Later， Being adopt by the Browns， Paddington lives a harmonious life with all the family members.

Ⅱ. Brief introduction to Kluckhorn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks Value Perspective

The Kluckhorns and Strodtbecks value perspective consists of five value orientations， human nature， relationship of humankind to nature， sense of time， activity and social relationship.

Human nature deals with peoples goodness and rationality including basically evil， mixture of good and evil and basically good. The relationship between humankind and nature consists of three categories including people subject to nature； people are in harmony with nature and people become the master of nature. The sense of time includes past-oriented， presented-oriented and future-oriented. Activity orientation refers to the way a culture views activity including being， being-in-becoming， and doing orientations. Social orientation refers to the way people perceive their relationships with other people including authoritarian orientation， group orientation and individualistic orientation（Samovar， Porter， & Stefani， 2000）.

Ⅲ. Analysis of the movie Paddington from the Kluckhorns and Strodtbecks value perspective

Paddington happens in a British family. Using The Kluckhorns and Strodtbecks value perspective analyzes the story， which can reflect the feature of British culture.

The bears represent nature in the movie. In British culture， people are in harmony with nature. Instead of stuffing the bears， the explorer does not kill them but teaches the bears to do many things. In British culture， people are in harmony with nature.

This paper believes that the human nature of British culture is mixture of good and evil. Millicent Clyde stuffs precious animals which represents evil side of human nature. However， the Browns attitude towards Paddington is totally different. It clearly reveals that human nature of British culture is mixture of good and evil.

This paper believes that British culture is individualistic. In this movie， Everyone has equal right to express their ideas and their views will be take into consideration. In the Browns family， everyones private life is respected. Even Mary and Brown， they all knock the doors before entering their children rooms. The author thinks that British culture is individualistic.

Being-in-becoming orientation often correlate with culture that value a spiritual life more than a material one. This movie reveals British culture is being-in-becoming orientation. The Browns pay more attention their spiritual life than material life. Millicent Clyde thinks that material life is vital. Killing animals can bring her a lot of money. But in the end of the movie， she is punished， which means that in British culture， spiritual life is more important than material one.

The hat plays an important role in the whole movie. Because of the hat， Mary takes Paddington to an antique shop to find some message and Mr. Brown disguises a cleaner to look up the material in the Geographers Guild. From all their behaviors， we can see that the past is the guide for making decisions.

Therefore， British Culture features individuality， harmony with nature， mixture of good and evil towards human nature， being-in-becoming orientation and past orientation.

Ⅳ. Conclusion

Analyzing this movie by using Kluckhorn， Kluckhohn and Strodtbecks value perspective， the author thinks the British culture features people in harmony with nature， mixture of good and evil towards human nature， individuality， and being-in-becoming orientation and past orientation.

References：

[1]Samovar，A.L.，Porter，R.E.，&Stefani，A.L.（2000）.Communication Between Cultures.Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.