After reading the blog post #OSCARSSOWHITE: WHY REPRESENTATION MATTERS I was very moved to include more media literacy in my own future classroom. I think it is so essential that students learn about the inequalities that exist in the marketing world as well as in Hollywood itself. People of all races are not equally represented in most of the media we see today, and in movies that are oscar-worthy, much less. I think it is so vital that students are taught to decipher the content of media sources, and ask important questions like, "Who made this?; Who's paying for this?; Who's profiting from this?; What is the intended audience?; Where are there fallacial arguments or inaccuracies?" The more students can learn to consume media in a critical, aware fashion, the more empowered they will be, and less dependent on what the mainstream considers values. They will also be more empowered to create meaningful, effective, socially-active media that will make important changes for their generation.
I love that this writer is working to tilt the balance that is so out of balance when it comes to multi-cultural awareness and equality in our society. And good for her for working with students, and empowering them to be discerning and smart about what they see in media.
I completely agree. I think the questions that you posed, "Who made this?; Who's paying for this?; Who's profiting from this? etc." are super important for students to understand and analyze. Being critical thinker about media is becoming more and more important everyday, and the Oscars are an excellent example of why.
ReplyDeleteAngela, I'm teaching a class on Teaching Reading next semester, and we're going to apply these very questions to political ads and to the candidates' discourse as well. Should be interesting....
ReplyDelete