Don’t Put People in Boxes
By Gianna Giglio, Media Management, 2024
When hearing the phrase, “don’t judge a book by its cover”, many people have the understanding that this means to not portray a person solely on looks. How about the phrase, “don’t put people in boxes”? This is not something someone hears every day, but rather has a very similar meaning. Putting a variety of different people in “boxes” critically according to how they look or how each person perceives one another, is what it means to judge others when knowing nothing about them. Humans are quick to judge, that’s why these views of “boxes” are made.
This clip generally shows an experiment, of a group of different people with different ethnicities, genders, race, religions, ages, shapes, sizes etc. and had them walk in one box together. Then, they asked everyone in each box the same exact question, if that question applies to their life, they step over towards the wall. While these questions are asked everyone sees what life each individual has been fighting through, just based on a question to help know others better. Throughout the experiment, the more personal and serious the questions get. This helps to show that no matter how someone looks, no one knows who they really are.
7 boxes are set up around the floor and a group of 7 or 8 stands in them. Each are in different categories, maybe some are dressed wealthier, or are from the ages of 14-16, or could be around the same height etc. They are asked the question: “How many of you were the class clown?” and some of the most serious people walked up to that wall. This is interesting to view because judging based on looks showed the audience that they could be portrayed as more serious rather than a class clown. This shows how people view others through every action and expression they make and then base it on their own thoughts of who someone is. Rather, towards the end of the clip a more serious question was asked, like “Who had beat cancer?”. All different ages, races, shapes, sizes etc. walked up to that wall with pride showing they survived a deadly disease. The others who stood in the boxes then all clapped at the accomplishment in disbelief that what the person standing next to them had to deal with. This shows, someone will never know who someone truly is.
When stepping back and watching from the outside, labeling individuals with no information or facts provided about them can make it hard to seek a positive judgement. Through this diverse clip shows the fact that no matter how big or small, tall or large, everyone is together and share more in common than they think. When organizing individuals in boxes based on appearance can show more diversity than thought to bring. Everyone is different and has their special commonalities throughout the world, there just needs to be less box placing and more listening, to who people truly are.