I'm a movie-watching fiend.

[cmt2779]

Seriously. In the last couple of weeks I have watched 10 movies. Here's a quick rundown of the movies I've watched recently--listed in alphabetical order rather than any more meaningful order.

Chalk: This was a pretty darn good movie. I picked it up because it is recommended by Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me) and because it is about teaching

Comments

[mckitterick]

Oh, "Moulin Rouge" is one of my favorites despite (or perhaps because of?) its over-the-top melodrama and music-video structure. Love it.

I need to see "The Last King of Scotland," and I think a double-feature of "The Day After" and "Dr. Strangelove" would make a fine Saturday afternoon. Kids these days worry about Bush's "The Terr'rists" and don't understand the pervading terror of impending global nuclear annihilation, so it follows that they wouldn't really grasp those movies. Hm.

[cmt2779]

God, a double feature of The Day After and Dr. Strangelove would be really overwhelming for me. I actually thought, after watching that move, that if it were just a slightly better or slightly shorter movie, I would assign it to my literature class as well as Dr. Strangelove since it provides a more realistic vision of the fear of nuclear annihilation and one that focuses on The Common Man instead of on the inner workings of the government and military. I don't know, it's still something to consider for a future semester, I guess

[mckitterick]

Gosh, the bomb drills. Get under your desk and cover your head!

Um.

Another Cold War movie that had a huge impact on me was Red Dawn. Thinking about bomb drills reminds me of that opening scene.

I can't even imagine Reagan as anything but Republican, but then we were at least alive when he was prez. I remember as a kid writing my first letter to the government, to Reagan, about how to solve the problem of war: Expand the UN and create an International Police Force. You can imagine the letter I got in response.

But, geez, isn't Reagan in the news a lot whenever Republicans talk about the perfect president?

I think the main problem you're seeing isn't college students in general so much as the level of student you're seeing. My experience suggests that, until kids reach their Junior year, most of them just have very little idea of the world around them. And a large percentage of students drop out during the first two years.

[cmt2779]

Hm. I'll have to give that question of the level of the student a little more thought. Certainly, I'd say my experience with freshmen bears that out, but the sophomore-level lit courses I teach have students of all levels, from freshmen to seniors. I'll try to pay more attention to which students are more likely to know such things in future.

Also, I've never seen Red Dawn. Perhaps it's worth watching (despite the presence of both Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey). :-)