Offers a critique from two Chinese educators with regard to the historical, cultural, linguistic, and artistic authenticity of Disney's animated film "Mulan." Argues that the filmmakers robbed the original story of its soul and "ran over Chinese culture with the Disney bulldozer," imposing mainstream cultural beliefs and…

Offers brief descriptions of 16 films (1936-1994)--biographies of classical composers--that are available in video format. Notes their usefulness to therapists working with special populations. (SR)

Contributes to scholarship advancing the understanding of communication regarding texts containing both hegemonic and emancipatory messages. Finds elements in "The Indian in the Cupboard" that promote emancipatory readings: maturation, overt challenges to hegemonic codes, and proffering of implicit alternatives to those codes. Discusses…

Explores the particular maneuvers students in a class on writing about film make as they encounter and attempt to absorb the languages of the academy. Examines the discourse of the class as a whole and the formal writing of a student who resisted academic discourse. Argues for the value of an incomplete conversion to the academic style. (RS)

Discusses a college course on "the Bible as Literature." Describes how, by focusing on the biography of Jesus as portrayed in the Gospels, and comparing it to other cultural narratives about him (in the Apocrypha, films, biographies, and novels), students learn to see how various ages and cultures have reshaped Jesus's life and mission.…

Explores the often difficult but ultimately rewarding experience of being a tenure-seeking film professor at California State University. Describes a brutal workload, balancing the demands of motherhood and career advancement, and making a documentary film about the earthquake that destroyed the campus. (EV)

Describes the cultural history of linear narrative and the veering away from that tradition by film, television, and, most recently, by World Wide Web hypertext. The World Wide Web has new rhetorical and symbolic implications, because coherence in that environment is anchored in associative, linked structures rather than linear ones. Contains 33…

Discusses various encounters children may have that leave lasting impressions, including encounters with animals or natural elements in general, those with people that evolve into friendship or tension, and fantasy encounters. Examples are given from films and literature, and sample creative activities involving encounters are suggested for…

Suggests the film "The Piano" reflects themes addressed in the fairy tales "The Little Mermaid,""Bluebeard," and "The Handless Maiden." Demonstrates how the film can be used with clients to address archetypal motifs of silence, betrayal, and the search for a voice. Discusses the film's symbolism using a…

Describes how students in the author's eleventh-grade American literature classes, in groups of three, brought a book, short story, literary character, or historical epoch to life by capturing its essence on video. Suggests these student-produced literary documentaries crossed many disciplines and engaged students thoroughly, while engendering a…

Describes the use of film documentaries by students to promote dialogue and activism in their communities, explaining that marginalized youth equipped with video cameras can transform issues that once hobbled their academic and social development into opportunities for research, problem solving, and social action. A sidebar includes an annotated…

Explores the effectiveness of using short video clips from feature films to highlight theoretical concepts when teaching social psychology. Reveals that short video clips have many of the same advantages as showing full-length films and demonstrates that students saw the use of these clips as an effective tool. (CMK)

This article describes how an inner-city school used Renzulli's enrichment activities model to provide opportunities to above-average students who may not have been identified by traditional identification procedures. The program offered students opportunities to produce "real world" videos utilizing a production company who trained them in media…

Discussion of the influence of violence in the media, especially on children, presents a multidimensional analysis of factors contributing to violent behavior which makes it possible for violence in media to have its effect. A psychological analysis is offered through a discussion of the film "The Bad Lieutenant". Contains 51 references.…

While we often assume media are highly effective tools for learning, research shows an unpredictable relationship between text and audience response, with variable interpretation being the norm. This can be especially problematic in anthropology, whose central goal is to understand different cultures; some studies suggest that films may reinforce…