bell hooks & Active Engagement in Cultural Ideology

It is often difficult, as consumers of mass media, to separate for ourselves the tenuous distinction between the passive consumption and the active engagement of culture. We seem to be predisposed and inclined towards the former- that is, although we may make decisions about which films to see, which songs or artists to listen to or which news sources to follow, our participation therein is intrinsically shallow and non-committal. Because we are bombarded by so many images and ideas, we rarely take the time or effort to endeavor further into the true nature of what we are shone. In Cultural Criticism and Transformation, bell hooks touches upon the critical analysis that is necessary to truly engage with the cultural materials presented to us on a daily basis.
One of the most powerful examples in this documentary was the discussion of Spike Lee's cultural impact as a film of director of color. hooks raises the point that although Lee's film Malcolm X was historically acknowledged as a failure due to less than astounding box office results- when in reality, the film was no more or less successful than numerous other Hollywood films helmed by caucasian directors. From a historical perspective, the film Malcolm X has been tinted by the lens of failure, and thus, its meaning and interpretation of changed. hooks argues that one must look outside of the film to gain true insight into its cultural verbiage.
In discussing film and culture, hooks adeptly utilizes the ideologies of race, gender, sexuality and class to critique the images that are presented to us as consumers. However, the distinction must be made, as hooks notes early in the documentary, that each of these ideologies works tangentially and conjunctively in pursuit and formation of meaning. In other words, the discussion of culture cannot simply take place with one factor in mind. Thus, our society seems to have adopted (as hooks calls it) a "White Supremacy Capitalist Patriarchy."
Further, to be an "enlightened witness" is to reject the idea of the passive consumption of culture. When one watches a film, one must remain attuned to the implications of any minority representation when it is presented on the screen. Because one cannot remove oneself from representation, it is better to actively engage and understand the ideology behind a cultural representation.