"Deep Play: Notes On The Balinese Cockfight"

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Cockfights are illegal in Bali. They continue to watch the fight
and he describes the cockfight like any "layman" might see it. This way of
not interacting and seeing things from a spectators point of view, is in a
way using ethnocentrism. This means he isn't really seeing the culture as
it is. From this view point the things which take place may even look
stupid. So, things like the cockfights can be seen only as wrong. At best,
their belief toward the cockfight is a distorted belief; at worst, it is an
outright falsehood. This is something a "common reader" may exp erience.
Initially, he is looking at the big picture. Overseeing the whole culture.
Watching and not interacting, this is why he is not getting the true "it"
he is looking for.
Geertz is able to gain access to the people soon after the essay
begins. This is achieved because the cockfight, which is illegal, is
raided. Everyone takes off running, including he and his wife. The people
were impressed ...

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They referring to the common tourist. Going off the beaten
track and experiencing the unusual is the goal of the expert. This is
similar to the tourists at the Grand Canyon in Percy's essay. When they
went off the track they believed they experienced "it" much more, than the
tourists who saw only things that they expected to see. Through the use of
cultural relativism the anthropologist appears to experience the culture
for what it seems to be. Cultural relativism is understanding another
culture in its own terms. So, for Geertz, this would mean that the
cockfight is coherent and meaningful for the design of living in Bali.
Geertz, is looking to unveil the deeper meanings inside ...

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