The Three Learning Functions of Hollywood Movies in the Classroom (Metzger, 2010)

1.)    Fact and Fiction

Most Hollywood movies are not meant to be scholarly works. Dramatic screenplays often embellish, trim, or ignore historical record. Films often focus on one character to keep the plot simple. The past is reinvented with imagined details such as superhuman feats to meet entertainment demands. Teachers must know what has been added or left out.

2.)    Constructing the Past and the People in it

There are often uncertainties about the past; film makers choose how to portray certain characters, and events the way they imagine it. Most movies depict only one version of what could have happened in the past. Teachers and students must be aware and look for authentic elements and uncertainties present in the film.

3.)    Reacting to the Past

History films can bring the past to life. Students are able to visualize a previous time that would otherwise be distant. A moral or lesson is often included in the film which is made for contemporary audiences. Many learners only react through the lens of the present.

The Four Frameworks of Historical Inquiry in Films (Paris, 1997)

1.)    The Moving Image as a Representation of History

Films are useful for acquainting students with the time, place, and culture. Using film clips can introduce issues such as living conditions, social customs, and family relations of a particular time period.

2.)    The Moving Image as Evidence for Social and Cultural History

Popular culture often reflects the social and cultural environment of the time it was produced during more accurately then the subject the film. For example Buffy the Vampire Slayer contains thousands of popular culture references which accurately portray the culture of the 90s.

3.)    Actuality Footage as Evidence for Historical Fact

A filmed record can often be the most useful in a classroom. Students should still be aware of editing and filming as well as faked newsreel footage.

4.) The History of the Moving Image as Industry and Art Form

The history and development of modern culture is intertwined in growth of film. Individual films portray changes within the industry. Broader topics within the classroom include changes in distribution, financing, and technology within the industry.

Advantages VS. Disadvantages

Advantages and disadvantages of using films in the classroom.

Advantages

Disadvantages

Films are a great addition to the classroom in terms of differentiated learning. It reaches students through visual stimulation and auditory learning. Movies can be a powerful stimulus for historical empathy. (Metzger, 2010) Students can be taught to recognize historical perspectives in films and begin to care about social justice. (Metzger, 2010)  Films are a familiar and comfortable form of media for students to use in the classroom. Film serves a larger role as a historical source for the public at large. Most people learn about history through film or video games above text. (Stoddard, 2010) Movies give audiences a feeling for life in a distant time and place. (Metzger, 2010) The activities that accompany viewing films promote critical thinking within the classroom.

Many Hollywood movies produce “faction” (a blend of fact and fiction) to create an entertaining story. This may become confusing to students. (Metzger, 2010) The confusion between fact and fiction can sometimes lead students to develop inaccurate ideas about a particular group or draw naïve conclusions about the past. (Metzger. 2010) Without critical thinking in the classroom films contribute to passive viewing and unquestioning acceptance of received material. (Paris, 1997) Students tend of measure historical accounts against what they already know from watching films outside of the classroom. Dubbed the “Disney effect.” (Metzger, 2010) Empathy from films has limits. Watching a Holocaust film will not give you an accurate idea of what it was like to survive an ordeal like that.

            Although it does seem like the disadvantages outweigh the advantages we can easily eliminate the problems that arise with watching films in the classroom through careful planning and appropriate activities that promote critical thinking.

            It is important that we teach critical viewing skills to avoid passive viewing. (Paris, 1997) Students must become critically aware. (Paris, 1997) It is important that students are able to pick apart films and recognize the fact and fiction within a film.  Films should be treated like other resources in the classroom such as textbooks. Students need to be aware that they cannot take a film at face value. Not everything they view on film is the truth.

Students will encounter history movies long after their formal schooling, a major benefit of teaching with film is to provide students with the skills and knowledge to analyze interpret and evaluate the messages in historically themed film. This is known as ‘historical film literacy’. (Metzger, 2010)