You must choose a movie from the following list. After you have watched your chosen film, answer the questions using concepts/terms from the text. You will need to briefly describe scenes in the movie, however, PLEASE DO NOT RE-TELL THE STORYLINE; just refer to the scene. Answer the questions to focus your analysis. For each question, give an example - briefly describe the scene and character. Choose one of the main characters if the movie has many main characters rather than analyze each lightly.
Movie Titles:
MILK
MARIA FULL OF GRACE
TRANSAMERICA
JESUS CAMP
BOYS DON'T CRY
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
AMERICAN VIOLET
PLEASANTVILLE
MISSISSIPPI BURING
REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES
AMERICAN HISTORY X
NATURALLY NATIVE
GENTELMEN'S AGREEMENT
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
THE HELP
12 YEARS A SLAVE
THE BUTLER
PHILADELPHIA
REMEMBER THE TITANS
GLORY
THE TUSKEGEE AIRMAN
BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE
A TIME TO KILL
ON GOLDEN POND
AVATAR
GRAND TORINO
BELLE
MISS EVER'S BOYS
FAR AND AWAY
GANGS OF NEW YORK
A WALK IN THE CLOUDS
MY FAMILY
EL NORTE
MASK
A BEAUTIFUL MIND
Diversity in Society Movie Analysis Paper
1. SYNOPSIS OF THE MOVIE
Story and Plot of the movie-briefly describe (1-2 short paragraphs)
Include the time frame of the story, the geographical location, the culture and the historical setting; the goal of this section is to introduce and to situate the story so that your reader can make sense of your analysis in the sections below.
2. RELATING THE MOVIE TO THE TEXT
In this section of your paper, please relate what you believe the movie tells us about diversity in America. To do this, address the following questions and use the information in Chapter 1 (and most specifically pp. 13-19) of the Koppelman text:
a) Was there a conflict between a certain minority group and a majority group; or, individual members of one group vs. another group? Identify the significant groups and explain how each used labels to positively or negatively define their own group and the other group or group member(s). Was there evidence of more formal negative labeling in the movie? For instance, did school or governmental policies project negative images and terms toward a group or member of a group? What impact did the process of labeling have on the characters? Give examples that show us how and why.
b) Did the approach to diversity exhibited in this movie most closely reflect an exceptionalist perspective or a universalistic perspective to the social problem(s) being discussed? Why do you think so? Did you notice characters exhibiting dogmatic beliefs? Was there an attempt made to indoctrinate characters in some way? What effect did these tactics have on the character(s)? How did your movie relate to our Course's subject in general?
c) Using the information in Chapter 2 of the Koppelman text, answer the following questions: Did you see evidence of prejudice and/or discrimination in your characters? Identify the types of prejudice and discrimination you saw, (sexism, racism, ableism, etc).
d) As an example, provide a brief description of an exchange between characters that illustrates prejudice (you can paraphrase the conversation; it doesn't need to be word for word, we just need to have the basic tone given). Does this exchange represent avoidance of a problem? Which of the three types of rationalization identified by Koppelman does/do the character(s) comments fit and why? Are these attitudes and behaviors reflective of society today or have they changed over time?
3. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
What overall impact did the movie have on you? In other words, what did you learn or how did it change/enhance your understanding? Be specific: did this movie change your perspective about a certain group in society? Did you discover your own hidden prejudices through watching it? How did these discoveries make you feel