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Ethics and Film: Messages, Themes, and Techniques Module 1: Part I – Triumph of the Will; Part II - Casablanca by Magaret Haun, PhD Overview Setting the Stage: Some Questions to Think About Who determines what constitutes a morally acceptable film? Must your own values be the same as those expressed in a film for you to learn from the film or enjoy watching it? Is it possible for a film to pull you into it's world and make you believe something you don't want to believe? Introduction In this era of high-stakes testing, the tendency is to view movies in the classroom as a distraction, at most a deserved respite from the serious work of preparing students for the minimum competency assessments they must pass to graduate. The guiding principle of this series of modules , however, is that films provide students an opportunity to think critically about plots or events, characters, techniques, themes, and social issues. In other words, bringing movies into the classroom in a viable and engaging way enables students to build on skills they already possess-thinking critically, framing arguments, decoding images-skills essential to success in high school, college, and the world of work. From a values standpoint, films provide their viewers, young and old alike, with an opportunity to take a stand on important and often controversial issues, to accept or reject radically different interpretations of the world, to find confirmation of their own beliefs, or begin the process of questioning long-held assumptions about the world and their place in it. The following is a multi-clustered unit that focuses on the use of films in teaching ethics. We include five films in four modules: 1. Triumph of the Will (1938, Ger.), and Casablanca (1942, Amer.) 2. Stand By Me (1986, Amer.) 3. Mississippi Burning (1988, Amer.), Spain) 4. The Merchant of Venice (2004, Brit.). Each film provides direct support to standards in secondary language arts or social studies. Each module includes film introductions, discussion questions, project ideas, classroom activities, topics for further study, writing prompts, and assessment strategies that will provide a structure for the incorporation of these films into the humanities classroom. Teachers will, however, have to make their own decisions about the appropriateness of a particular selection based on course objectives and learning standards. There are compelling, even urgent, reasons to teach Leni Riefenstahl's documentary Triumph of Will (1938), for instance, in an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course. We are not so sure it belongs in a ninth grade classroom where students may lack an understanding of film as propaganda. Students will be asked to identify the values upheld by each of the five films and to discuss how a film's formal elements (photography, editing, lighting, etc.) make the identification of values possible. They will be asked to situate films in history both in terms of their subject matter and their making. (It is critically important that the action of The Merchant of Venice, for example, takes place during the Renaissance, but it is just as important to understand the artistic and political decisions of a director making the film in 2004.) What is the connection between art and life? Do directors have ethical responsibilities? Can a film still be good if its content or message makes us flinch? How faithful must a so-called historical film be to the event it purports to represent? By thinking critically and broadly about film, students will discover much about themselves and the world in which they live. The study of film, like the study of literature or history, leads us to questions about who we are, what we believe, and where we need to change. Moving toward an understanding of movies and developing a vocabulary with which to discuss them will make possible a whole other avenue of lifelong learning.

Ethics and Film: Messages, Themes, and Techniques Module 1: Part I – Triumph of the Will; Part II - Casablanca

by Magaret Haun, PhD

Overview

Setting the Stage: Some Questions to Think About
Who determines what constitutes a morally acceptable film?
Must your own values be the same as those expressed in a film for you to learn from the film or enjoy watching it?
Is it possible for a film to pull you into it's world and make you believe something you don't want to believe?

Introduction
In this era of high-stakes testing, the tendency is to view movies in the classroom as a distraction, at most a deserved respite from the serious work of preparing students for the minimum competency assessments they must pass to graduate. The guiding principle of this series of modules , however, is that films provide students an opportunity to think critically about plots or events, characters, techniques, themes, and social issues. In other words, bringing movies into the classroom in a viable and engaging way enables students to build on skills they already possess-thinking critically, framing arguments, decoding images-skills essential to success in high school, college, and the world of work. From a values standpoint, films provide their viewers, young and old alike, with an opportunity to take a stand on important and often controversial issues, to accept or reject radically different interpretations of the world, to find confirmation of their own beliefs, or begin the process of questioning long-held assumptions about the world and their place in it.

The following is a multi-clustered unit that focuses on the use of films in teaching ethics. We include five films in four modules:
1. Triumph of the Will (1938, Ger.), and Casablanca (1942, Amer.)
2. Stand By Me (1986, Amer.)
3. Mississippi Burning (1988, Amer.), Spain)
4. The Merchant of Venice (2004, Brit.).

Each film provides direct support to standards in secondary language arts or social studies.
Each module includes film introductions, discussion questions, project ideas, classroom activities, topics for further study, writing prompts, and assessment strategies that will provide a structure for the incorporation of these films into the humanities classroom. Teachers will, however, have to make their own decisions about the appropriateness of a particular selection based on course objectives and learning standards. There are compelling, even urgent, reasons to teach Leni Riefenstahl's documentary Triumph of Will (1938), for instance, in an Advanced Placement English Language and Composition course. We are not so sure it belongs in a ninth grade classroom where students may lack an understanding of film as propaganda.

Students will be asked to identify the values upheld by each of the five films and to discuss how a film's formal elements (photography, editing, lighting, etc.) make the identification of values possible. They will be asked to situate films in history both in terms of their subject matter and their making. (It is critically important that the action of The Merchant of Venice, for example, takes place during the Renaissance, but it is just as important to understand the artistic and political decisions of a director making the film in 2004.) What is the connection between art and life? Do directors have ethical responsibilities? Can a film still be good if its content or message makes us flinch? How faithful must a so-called historical film be to the event it purports to represent?

By thinking critically and broadly about film, students will discover much about themselves and the world in which they live. The study of film, like the study of literature or history, leads us to questions about who we are, what we believe, and where we need to change. Moving toward an understanding of movies and developing a vocabulary with which to discuss them will make possible a whole other avenue of lifelong learning.