Media/Film Analysis

Choose one of the following projects. When composing your paper, please be sure to italicize or quote any movie or book titles. Follow FERPA/HIPAA guidelines and do not use actual names of children or adults (for the volunteer paper – use Client A, initials or change names). When discussing diagnoses, be sure to follow the guidelines for capitalization…eg: Asperger’s or Down’s would be capitalized as they are disabilities named after a person where as autism or cerebral palsy would not be capitalized. When in doubt ask Google:)

Media/Film Project:

For this project, you will watch two hours of films/documentaries (at least one of which must be a documentary!) relating directly to disability (list attached).Submit a three page paper (minimum, no maximum) that includes brief summaries of the films, along with an analysis of how they relate to issues discussed in class (the syllabus says submit a paper for each film, please put all information into one paper). A list of suggested films is attached. You may choose films from this list, or choose another film that interests you (please avoid mainstream films). Whether you choose from the list below or not, I want you to watch films that you have NOT seen before.  Anything not on the list should be approved by me first.For each film, I would like you to look at issues that include, but are not limited to:

What is the primary plot/theme of the film, and how does it relate to disability? Does disability play a central or peripheral role in the film? If so, how? If not, are there issues related to disability that should be addressed but aren’t?

How are the character(s) with disabilities portrayed in the film? Which, if any, of the ten roles (from readings in Language/Attitudes module) do they fall under? Examples?

Ten roles:

An object of curiosity or violence

Sinister or evil

The super cripple

As atmosphere

Laughable

His/her own worst enemy

As a burden

As Non-sexual

Being unable to participate in daily life

What sort of language is used when referring to the characters? Do the actor(s) actually have disabilities?What did you learn about disability from the film? From your experience/knowledge, do you think the film portrayed disability accurately?

How does the film relate to other readings, videos, discussions from this class?

Be careful about how you capitalize the names of disabilities. Eg: Asperger’s would be capitalized where cerebral palsy would not. A good rule of thumb is if the disability is named after a person, it is capitalized.