Will the movies save us?

In an era where anything seems to go..Prompted by a new wave of movies: Bourne Ultimatum, Rendition, and Lions for Lambs, Hollywood seems like they're in the mood to take on American foreign policy - even if the Democrats refuse. In each of these movies covert operations are undertaken by the CIA, particularly extraordinary rendition. Innocents are tortured, but heroes like Matt Damon and Jake Gyllenhaul save the day (man, we really are in trouble!). The bad guys (women) are found out - their nasty deeds are splashed accross the pages of the Washington Post or exposed before some fantasy subcommittee that actually holds them accountable. Scenes flash by of bad men led away in handcuffs. Of course this does not happen in reality. The US uses torture claims it doesn't but seems to think waterboarding is a reasonable strategy for interrogation. Even Chuck Schumer and Diane Feinstein thinks so!

Giroux talking about politics and pedagogy

Hi all - Check out the link I have set up that takes you to Youtube video of Henry Giroux and other critical theorists. These are 5 minute videos where Giroux and others talk about Freire, NCLB, 9/11 Iraq and corporate greed. I will bring more of this stuff to class. Giroux, in particular, has done a lot of work around critical readings of movies and what they say about race, class, gender and schooling..check it out...The other clips are other examples of critical work. The talking heads are people like Naomi Klein who are challenging dominant messages being sent through the media. Some of the questions I have been thinking about are: How can we expose kids to this kind of critical analysis in developmentally appropriate ways that gets them thinking about the advertising, media, images and information they are being bombarded with on a daily basis? What is the role of the teacher in this effort?? How can we think about using technology in the classroom as a tool to develop children's critical mind?

My first blog

Hi all - well this is exciting! I am experimenting with using video clips from youtube. I have put up some clips from 3 Days of the Condor, The Conversation, two of my favorite movies, and Bourne Ultimatum. I am interested in analyzing these for my cultural studies class - thinking about how movies portary government surveillance and accountability. I think it interesting that two of the movies fantasize about the check on abuse of power when in reality this is not happening. It is so much fun that I can do this for school!!!! Imagine how much we could get kids writing if they had more opportunity to do this.

I can't wait to see the blogs from our fantastic group of teachers..I also want to add that you guys are real troopers! You absorbed a heck of a lot last class. You are all very courageous

PS Jarg are the initials of my family..Julie aaron ruben and gus