Stories around the World in Film

Introduction and Rationale

Students spend all of middle school with an underlying fear of being different. This fear becomes apparent as they make fun of students around them who are different. In my career as a teacher, I have seen students bullied for being overweight, having very short hair, not wearing jewelry, and wearing the 'wrong' clothes. I find myself wondering where they get their ideas of what is 'right'. The reality is that kids are influenced by everything around them. They look at peers, family members, teachers, celebrities, religious leaders, and musicians—trying to determine acceptable behaviors and appearances. Each of these groups influences everything from the clothes they wear to the food they eat and, most importantly, the way they behave. According to one author, this "sense of individual and cultural identity is integral to how we understand the world we live in and its portrayal in entertainment media."¹ While this identity begins to develop early, middle school children tend to be especially open to the influences of their surroundings as they try to find their places in society.

Students are bombarded with messages from a variety of sources every day. According to one text, the most significant messages come from (1) family (2) religious institutions, (3) peers, (4) school, and (5) the media.² Children soak up knowledge like sponges, taking in everything they see and measuring the responses of those around them. Especially in middle school, students are vulnerable to the ideas of their peers as they seek to fit into a social group. The media floods students with messages about appearance, family roles, behaviors, and beliefs, and students often pick up a slanted or biased view of reality based on what they see and hear. Part of the problem is the singularity of students' exposure to popular media. One researcher writes, "Television's messages are homogeneous across the board and create an effect he [Gerbner] calls 'mainstreaming' in which audiences are flooded with the same repetitive messages."³ When these messages remain homogeneous, students are inadvertently forced (influenced) into a singular belief system that is often based on extremely limited knowledge.

Simply put, children only know what they see and hear. Gaps in knowledge and experience can lead to stereotypes and bias. When students are exposed to many different images and ideals, they are able to select their own beliefs more carefully. It is my goal to use film to correct some these cultural gaps. My first aim is to create awareness of manipulative messages the media already feeds viewers. These include the ideas that girls must be skinny and submissive while boys must be strong and aggressive. The media sends more messages than students realize. My second goal is to expose students to diverse media in an effort to promote open-mindedness and respect. One way to break down stereotypes is to build up knowledge. This is the premise of this unit of study. By the end of this unit, students will view media more cautiously and be more reluctant to judge people and groups according to public stereotypes.

The first step, of course, is to identify stereotypes that my students are likely to hold. As middle school students, my students are prone to pressure about the ideal image. Middle school girls are especially aware of their 'flaws' in appearance, so I will open the unit with something I am sure they will connect to. We will study the sly ways that media teaches viewers what appearances are 'acceptable'. This will lead into a discussion of students' ideas of acceptable behavior roles by gender, another topic about which students will have strong ideas. As we learn more about how gender roles and 'acceptable' appearances have changed throughout history, we will always reflect on the idea that stereotypes are built around ignorance. We can even build an image of the 'Stereotypical American.' This is never more apparent than in the stereotypes of Middle Easterners. Because of their age, my students tend to be uninterested in international politics and generally uninformed. Their news comes from snippets during television commercial breaks and late-night comedy routines. This gives them an undernourished sense of reality. Since national news currently revolves around the war in Iraq, it is very appropriate to address stereotypes they may have about Middle Easterners. I intend to bring in newsreels, magazine articles, and realistic films so that my students gain a better understanding of the war and the people involved.

I also want to attack some stereotypes that relate more closely to our locale in Jacksonville, Florida. To this end, we will examine Native Americans. Area tribes include the Timicua and the Seminoles. Finally, I want to open the floor to student suggestions. The unit will close with a project based on issues that my students select. For example, the diversity at my school often creates tension. My school is fifty percent Caucasian, forty-five percent African-American, and five percent Hispanic and Bosnian immigrants. This immediately opens the door for racial biases. The homeless population in Jacksonville could also be of interest, and the stigma associated with special needs students could require some exploration. While I intend to begin with some very basic stereotypes, I plan to end with student-selected inquiry projects. Overall, this will be a thorough look at biases and stereotypes prevalent in the lives of my students.

The films I have selected will play essential roles in educating students about new cultures. One researcher writes, "Study of ideology in film provides an insight into the meaning systems of the culture and into the ways in which such systems are inscribed into all kinds of social practice."⁴ By using an analytical eye, students will learn to use films as entry points into new cultures. The films will provide visual images of each culture we study. Students, especially reluctant readers, use visual images to help them comprehend what they read, so the films will be an important comprehension aid. Aligning with the original purpose of this unit, students will also search for bias in the films just as they do with the texts.