Abstract
How can we create the possibility of sociology in analyzing films and documentaries? Hase Masato criticizes the content of the cinema reviews that are closed within the critics' private universe and insists the potential of sociology in films in which "the politics of film" should be analyzed. I agree with his insistence. However, in this article, I would like to discuss another potential with respect to sociology in films and documentaries.
It is the potential to analyze the practices of "everyday politics" that are taken for granted in our daily lives and conducted as "folk sociology." How do we conduct such an analysis? I insist that the various practices of "categorizations" in films and documentaries should be focused upon, and demonstrate an analysis of the variation of the categorization of the handicapped in a film titled "Freaks" and two documentaries titled "Mahiru no hoshi (Shining stars in daylight)" and "Mokkosu gennki na ai (Such powerful and gentle love)." Films and documentaries are extremely interesting and thrilling materials with which we can analyze "folk sociology" in our daily lives and critically and reflectively consider "everyday politics."
