Technology in this day and age is fascinating when we compare it to technology that existed decades ago, which would now be the early to late 2000s (fascinating how quickly time can go on). I remeber being a kid and some of the first interactions with technology that I had was the television. I still remember the feeling of watching a show or a movie and not having a pause button, so you would wait for a commercial to come on or run in the one scene that didn’t really interest you for some more food, a bathroom break, or something to drink. Nowadays, I watch how my siblings press pause or exist a movie without finishing it, they put on movies as background noise, something so it is not quiet, and something that since they are bored, they can have something to entertain themselves with. We have gotten to a point where cinema is simply there, and it begs the question to how the stories are formed and whether they truly have a strong emotional importance anymore on its audience. As a kid I remember movies such as WallE, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, El Dorado, Treasure Planet, Orignal Marvel Movies, and many others (some movies may have been bad in those days looking back on it, definetely not ones I mentioned on the list but others, but they were still simple stories and sometimes goofy with enjoyable scenes). I remember scenes in bolt that made me learn the value of friends, family, and especially, an incredible amount of love towards my dog. (the scence still make me cry 15 years later).
Movies like these truly have left a memorable impression on me for years, and it has helped allow me to learn a lot of things regarding relationships. I believe that the reason I have brought this up is because of the lack of good storytelling, or the over abundance of it nowadays, where the quantity of films has definetely skyrocketed, but the quality has plumeted a lot. With streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and a multitude more that I will not list here, everyone has access to handfuls of tv shows, movies, short films, etc., but I feel like the magic of movies and films has died off a lot. Whenever I watch new movies or tv shows, I typically no longer respond much unless the piece of media was great. I typically feel like this now.
There have been a few films that came out this past year that were exceptionally well made and fun to watch such as Glass Onion, Avatar: Way of the Water, and of course, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. These movies were incredibly good and fun movies to watch and it showed the beauty of cinema. Another comment to make would be that there were 3 different Pinnochio movies this year, the only truly mentionable one would be the one by Guillermo Del Toro. Good storytelling is incredibly important to feel a connection with whatever is going on screen. I really enjoyed the Puss in Boots 2 movie mainly because of how well the story ran through, the emotional importance that was felt throughout the whole movie. (Spoilers ahead, a bit). Puss in Boots deals with Puss and his grapple on his mortality and the true potential that he could die. Every action leads to a consequence and it moves the story forward naturally instead of simply moving the movie ahead because it needs to. Why am I writing about movies and how does it deal with anything in education and with people? Thats a good question.
When we are thinking of the effect that movies have on us as people, and how it can move us emotionally, movies that are no longer made with passion and good story telling has an effect on our lives. We are surrounded by a lot of information in todays age, and by having so much, we begin to see the world and all this information as quantity over quality. Movies that taught morals and good qualities of life are now often missed being shown in movies and media, which does have an impact on how students think and live their life. Our minds and the way we think is impacted by the information that we are continually taking in, so if there is bad media, or at least no longer great media, then the quality of our emotions and thoughts may drop. Also, how could you not enjoy Benoit Blanc in Glass Onion
In the field of education, I feel like one thing we should focus on is the importance of good storytelling and connection with our ideas and emotions. It is probably my bias coming from a person that spent 4 years in theater, but it was a wonderful experience where you could truly connect with ideas that were out there and connect with other students. Theater really allows for fun and creativity, and I believe we can implement that in classrooms as well, at least that fun feeling of learning and participating in class. By building strong creativity in class and in life, we get fun movies and media that correlate with students to truly enjoy and grow in this wave of information. We want to focus on quality to our students, and reflecting on these movies, us teachers are somewhat like directors. We can help guide students and work with them, but it is also up to the student to provide good “acting”. A good director has a huge impact on whether the movie is good or not, and I do believe teachers should focus on quality and relationships, building up emotions, just as these movies do.
Israel, are really admire your observation that teachers are like directors. (people that don’t know good instruction might say teachers are like “the star” of the show).
When I first started teaching – I thought I was the show. It took me years to realize I was like a designer creating a learning experience. Guess I could have said director.
You’ve written an insightful piece