Under Construction @ Keele 2019 summer 2019, vol 5 issue 1 | Page 33

are ‘politically induced’. 18 In addition, referring back to Moeller’s observation of the American
news stories, media in all its forms can fall within such ‘frames’ as the way in which the news
is delivered produces a politically charged judgement of which lives are grievable.
Furthermore, Butler concludes that in order to break from such frames there ‘ought to be a
more inclusive and egalitarian way of recognising precariousness and that this should take
form as concrete social policy regarding issues such as shelter, work, food, medical care and
legal status’. 19 Crucially, Butler emphasises the importance of recognising precariousness as
a ‘shared condition of human life’ 20 indicating that humankind has a responsibility to
understand that all lives are equal as all lives are equally precarious in the fact that death is
inevitable.
Following on from Ponzanesi’s argument, Fire at Sea (2016) references Europe’s
indifference, or as she puts it, Europe’s ‘short-sightedness’ to the lives of migrants through
the perspective of the young boy who is told to use his ‘lazy eye’ in order to improve its vision.
In the film, the boy’s father informs him that he is to ‘get used to [his lazy eye] slowly’
(Fuocoammare, 2016). 21 While this analogy implies an intention to sharpen Europe’s
knowledge of displaced people, the analogy encapsulates the film’s failure to break out from
Europe’s frame. The film’s gaze maintains Europe’s ‘short-sighted’ perception by
commodifying the migrant’s crossings, injuries and deaths in comparison to European life,
suffering and fears which are depicted through one European boy. For Ponzanesi, Samuele’s
dominant presence in the film’s narrative is a productive decision by Rosi as she argues that
the ‘choice of the Samuele as the perspective of the film was important in offering more
18
Butler, Frames of War, 28.
Butler, Frames of War, 13.
20
Ibid.
21
Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea), directed by Gianfranco Rosi. Italy: RAI, 2016.
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