MediaSmarts Tags - Movies

Stereotyping in the Movies

Stereotypes are simple, one-dimensional portrayals of people—usually based on sex, race, religion, profession or age. All of us stereotype people to some degree as we try to make sense of the world. 

Community-based projectsStart a parent movie-reviewing project.Encourage your local video store to become more "family-friendly." Ask them to:post a sign stating that it will not rent or sell restricted movies to minors.expand its family and classics section. Take in a list of suggestions.display information about the Canadian Rating System for Home Videos used on the videos. purchase a movie review book and make it available to browsing parents.move video covers di

The Web is full of great online resources for teachers and students, with new material appearing every day. With the arrival of National Media Education Week, teachers may be looking for fresh ideas to bring media education into the classroom. Here's a quick overview of recently created (or recently discovered) resources that may help:

Level: Grades 7 - 9

Duration: One hour per activity

Author: Emmanuelle Erny-Newton, Media Education Specialist, MediaSmarts

Overview

In this three-part lesson, students learn about online privacy and ethical behaviour by exploring their digital footprints to better understand that our online interactions may not be as anonymous as we think they are.

Learning Outcomes

Students will demonstrate:

It may not be easy at first. Kids may laugh at the idea of black and white movies and openly rebel at subtitles! But if you persevere, you'll be amazed at how the magic of an intelligent, well-crafted movie can enthrall even the most jaded kids.

Level: Grade 6

Author: This unit was created by J. Craig Oliphant as part of a Media Education course taught by John Pungente, S.J. at the Faculty of Education, University of Toronto.

Overview

Approaching Queerness in Media

One of the most difficult things about approaching film and television’s use of queerness is that there will rarely be a single verdict on any given cultural product. With the exception of the most simplistically supportive or bigoted representations, there is room for much discussion and debate in determining a positive or negative LGBTQ presence. Because of this shift, seriously engaging with and thinking about the images we consume has become more important than ever.

Here are some tips to help kids understand how boys and girls and men and women are stereotyped in the media.

Start talking about gender stereotyping early on. Familiarize young children with the concept of stereotyping (simple, one-dimensional portrayals of people, based on generalizations based on gender, race, age, etc.) and help them understand the role gender stereotypes play in the storybooks and cartoons they enjoy. Point out non-traditional heroes and heroines in children's media.

The following "discussion starters" are designed to help kids develop the critical thinking skills they need to understand and question the use of violence in media.