I took my brother to watch Happy Feet 2 today. I thought it was going to be a painful experience, but it was actually a really good movie. While I don't want to give any spoilers away...there are themes in this movie that are somewhat adult. When I say adult I do not mean explicit in any way. But they will make you reflect on things that children probably don't think about. One is global warming. I went to the movie hoping to cheer my brother up, it's been a rough week for my family....but I ended up coming out a bit sad. A movie can be really happy and cute (with amazing visuals) but when you reflect on the bigger picture....it can mean something entirely different. There are scenes with ice crashing down, harsh snow, and the emergence of green land in places that were once covered in ice. There are images of oil spills, ships, melting ice, and polar bears.
When I look to learn something I usually look for a book, a class, a news article, something that seems adult....but in most cases messages stick to a person more when they come in a lighter format. Movies usually have messages that are either obvious or barely there...but this movie's message was omnipresent without it being directly mentioned a single time. I think media is something that could be very important in classrooms. If used more, and more properly...it could lead to students really grasping ideas a lot more easily.
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