Chocolat: A Look at Community
What draws a person to a community? For some it is the people who reside there, for others, it is the values, norms, and traditions that take place within a community. A prime example of a community is the village in the movie Chocolat. This community has many values and norms, fits the Empirical Model, exhibits the qualities of communitarianism, and changes from a counterfeit to a genuine community. No community is exactly the same. They all have different values and norms. When analyzing the community presented in Chocolat, one must take into consideration the values of the people. From the first few minutes of the movie, it is clear that religion, traditions, family, and marriage are very important to the community. Religion and tradition seem to go hand in hand in Chocolat because most of the traditions that take place in the community revolve around their church and religion. Everyone is expected to attend church as well as follow certain biblical ceremonies like Lent. Vianne and Anouk move to the village during Lent and when the Comte De Reynaud invites them to worship, Vianne instantly declines. Vianne explains that they will enjoy living so close to the church because they like to sing with the bells. The
They float from town to town selling items that they have collected along the way. When Josephine finally befriends Vianne, she explains that "[people] Don't misbehave here, its just not done" (Chocolat 2001). They have not spoken in months and Caroline is embarrassed of her mother's actions of "swearing and reading dirty books" (Chocolat, 2001). When he arrives he is very angry and exclaims that Vianne is "housing a stowaway" (Chocolat 2001). The community was genuinely happy and had finally become what they had longed for-a genuine community. Vianne and Anouk finally had a place that they could and wanted to call home. They also know never to ask for more. After analyzing the community in Chocolat, it is clear that the village started out as a counterfeit community but by conclusion of the movie, it had become genuine. In the beginning of the movie, it seemed that the Comte De Reynaud was only out to satisfy his own happiness, but the end of the movie, the counterfeit community had become a community with people who "actively participate and cooperate with others to create their own self-worth, a sense of caring about others, and a feeling for the spirit of connectedness" (Freie 1998, 23). The Comte emphasizes the importance of family when goes to pick up rent from the beauty salon. A lot of the Irishmen have long hair and look to be dirty, while the village people have short hair and are clean-cut. Vianne is punished rather than celebrated for being different and that is one of the main reasons the village is considered communitarians rather than liberals. This statement describes the village almost perfectly. An example of this is when Comte De Reynaud has Pere Henri's homily preach the evils of what may seem harmless, like chocolate.
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Acceptance Essays
