The fall semester is ending and one class any college student should plan to take for their next semester is a examining diversity through film class. It is one class that I can honestly say changed my life. I considered myself a pretty open-minded person, but this class truly opened my mind to what it means to be an ally. At SUNY Plattsburgh I took the course with Dr. J.W. Wiley and Lauren Gonyea this semester. It's a lot of work, but worth it.
In the class, we learn many things to challenge ourselves in order to make ourselves diverse. One thing we were challenged by is our language. No one really realizes that you shouldn't call a group of people "guys" because the women in the group aren't and they aren't girls either. Girls are females under 18 years old. You wouldn't call men boys but people call women girls all the time.
During the semester, you go through a series of themes: ability and ableism, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class and privilege. You examine them with reading and film clips.
The class challenges the way you think and treat others by defining what oppression is and how to have empathy for others; one thing that stuck with me is when one of the many TA's talked about the birdcage theory.
Through some research, I discovered the birdcage theory was said by philosophy professor Marilyn Frye. The theory talks about how if you look at one bar of a cage, you're unable to see why a bird can't fly out. As you examine each bar, you might still wonder how the bird isn't free, but if you step back and view the cage in a large scale, then it is obvious that the bird is surrounded by a network that systematically keeps the bird in its place.
As a movie lover, of course I've always thought movies are amazing, but this class really showed me how movie directors try to teach viewers something. You just have to open your eyes to it.
In class, you only get to see clips from the movies. If you haven't seen the movie before it something completely new, but if you've seen the movie before then you see what you truly missed the first time you watched it. Some movie clips that we've seen in class is:
1. "Pleasantville" - Two teenagers from the 90s somehow go inside a 1950s sitcom and completely change that world for the people in that society. Everyone and everything in Pleasantville is in black and white, but the teenagers slowly give the people emotions which changes everything into color.
Watch this movie and focus on the gender roles men and women play.
Watch this movie and focus on ability.
Watch this movie and focus on race/ethnicity.
4. "Boys Don't Cry" - First off, I got to say that actress Hilary Swank did a amazing job on this film. It's one of those movies that completely changes your view of an actor afterward. This movie is about the character Brandon Teena who was born as a female, but goes by a male identity and tries to find love in a new town.
Watch this movie and focus on sexual orientation.
5. "Indecent Proposal" - A couple who has no more money is offered $1,000,000 from a millionaire in order to sleep with the wife for a night.
Watch this movie and focus and privilege and class.
I hope I've given you something to think about and next time you watch a movie, don't forget to look for the deeper meanings.
