Watch some films as part of your Easter Holiday Revision

It was once part of the GCSE Religious Studies course that you had to watch numerous films with topical content and answer questions about them and how the media portrays religion. It’s why most RS teachers know every word to Bruce Almighty (references to the power of God, Jesus’ miracles, evil and suffering, parting of the Red Sea, prayer) and have a DVD collection in the garage with the Miracle Maker (Jesus’ life in plasticine), East is East (community cohesion, Islam, homosexuality, family, food laws, arranged marriage, mosque), the Vicar of Dibley (Anglicanism, community, prayer, sermons) and Bend it Like Beckham (family, sexism, Sikhism, community cohesion) using up box space.

Even though you’ll no longer have to write about specific films or TV programmes in a Religious Studies exam, you can still watch films to remind you about key topics such euthanasia, abortion, the environment, animal welfare, the death penalty, war, relationships, and gender equality, and anything which helps you remember Christianity and Islam better. Below are some ideas to get you started (most films suitable for 15 years and older):

Hacksaw Ridge – pacifism, war, Seventh Day Adventism

Miracles from Heaven – miracles, family

Tree of Life  – prayer, suffering, family

Mary Magdalene – Jesus’ life, women in biblical times

Amazing Grace – about Wilberforce a strong Christian and man who fought to abolish the slave trade

Exodus: Gods and Kings – about Moses OR The Prince of Egypt – about Moses

I Can Only Imagine – prayer, family, story about famous Christian song, faith

Noah – Noah’s Ark,

Dead Man Walking, The Life of David Gale, Monster’s Ball – all about the death penalty

Blackfish, The Cove, Food Inc, Earthlings, Vanishing of the Bees – all about animal rights

Me Before You, The Sea Inside, Million Dollar Baby, A Short Stay in Switzerland – euthanasia

Juno, Cider House Rules, Revolutionary Road, Dirty Dancing, Obvious Child – abortion

All ABout My Mother, Carol, Beautiful Thing, The Times of Harvey Milk – gay rights

This is just a drop in the ocean of what’s available. Check out Netflix, Amazon Prime, and TV channels like BBC, ITV and Channel 4, for their documentaries on crime and punishment, war and conflict, and moral issues too.

 

 

 

 

“God made you” Letitia Wright

When Letitia Wright won the Rising Star award at the BAFTA’s she thanked God in her speech. She said, “A few years ago I saw myself in a deep state of depression and I literally wanted to quit acting. The only thing that pulled me out of it was God, my belief, my faith and my family, and an email from Bafta asking me to become part of the Bafta Breakthrough Brits.”

Later her in speech she said, “I want to encourage young people. You don’t have to be young, you can be any age, but I want to encourage you – anyone going through a hard time… God made you and you’re important, there might be some of you here who might be going through a hard time. I just want to encourage you and God loves you. Just let your light shine. And the category I’m in… this means so much to me, you guys all inspire me. All of you have inspired me so much, so God bless you, thank you, Jesus thank you, thank you.”

Letitia saying that God made us reminds me of quotes for the GCSE Religious Studies…

Matthew 19:4-6 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’.  So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky

John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

1994 Rwanda Genocide

The BBC drama Black Earth Rising is designed to get people talking about the events and consequence of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The drama’s write Hugo Blick says, “It doesn’t rest at the genocide. It takes genocide as its ignition point for injustices that are still outstanding on both sides of this equation. This is not just about the Hutu and Tutsi; it’s also about the west.” If you missed the first episode you can do catch-up viewing on BBC iPlayer.

The star of Black Earth Rising Michaela Coel queried why young people don’t learn about the 1994 Rwanda Genocide; but that’s not the case at every school. For years we’ve recommended GCSE students watch Hotel Rwanda to understand a recent genocide which we’ve only had time to briefly explain in class. In 1994 an estimated 800,000 civilians, mostly from the Tutsi ethnic group, were killed over a period of three months in Rwanda.

It was the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide which was adopted by the United Nations after World War II which stipulated what genocide was. In Article 2 of the Convention it defines genocide as any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group:
(a) Killing its members;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Much has been reported at how countries like Rwanda have coped with remembering and reconciliation. It is never easy after a war or genocide for people from opposing sides to live together in harmony together. When the anniversary comes around again, some of the world continues to remember the crimes and horrors of the Rwanda Genocide.

Leading Lady Parts

A few weeks ago the BBC broadcast a comedy short , called Leading Lady Parts. It only lasts 10 minutes so is worth a watch, and is simply a satirical look at the audition process for the role of Leading Lady.  It was written and directed by Jessica Swale, and boasts an award-winning cast of  Gemma Arterton, Gemma Chan, Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey, Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Katie Leung, Stacy Martin, Wunmi Mosaku, Florence Pugh, Catherine Tate and Anthony Welsh.

The British Film Institute studied over 10,000 UK movies from 1911-2017 to produce a study of gender disparity in film:

TV and Film to Watch this Christmas PART 2

After carefully reading the TV schedules I’ve spotted a few films and TV programmes which are being broadcast this holiday season which will aid your knowledge and understanding of topics we learn in Religious Studies and PSHCE…

Saturday 23rd December

• Cool Runnings – BBC1, 13:15-14:50 (prejudice, stereotypes, heroism)
• Gladiator – Channel 4, 23:20- 02:10 (Roman Empire, punishment)

Sunday 24th December

• Das Boot – History, 16:00-18:00 – (War, World War II)

Monday 25th December

• Downfall – History, 13:00-16:00 (War, World War II)
• Dambusters – ITV, 01:45 – 03:50 (War, World War II)

Tuesday 26h December

• Song of the Sea – Channel 4, 06:40-08:25 (grief, loss)
• Dirty Dancing – Channel 5, 22:00-00:00 (abortion, relationships)
• Four Weddings and a Funeral – Channel 4, 23:10-01:20 (marriage, adultery, death, liturgical worship)

Wednesday 27th December

• Bears (a documentary)- Channel 2, 07:55-09:10 (environment)
• East is East – Channel 4, 23:05-00:50 (multiculturalism, racism, homosexuality, community, Muslim wedding)

Thursday 28th December

• About a Boy – Channel 4, 23:05 – 00:55 (family, mental health, suicide, bullying)

Friday 29th December

• Brave – BBC 1, 16:20-17:45 (gender equality)
• The Green Mile – More4, 21:00-00:45 (prison)

Sunday 31st December

• We Bought a Zoo – Channel 4, 13:55-16:20 (animal welfare, zoo)
• The Lego Movie – Channel 5, 17:00-19:00 (freedom of expression)
• Kingsman: the Secret Service – Film4, 21:00-23:35

Monday 1st January 2018

• Ice Age: the Meltdown – Channel 4, 15:35-17:20 (global warming, environment)
• Noah – BBC 2, 22:00-00:10 (Bible story, The Deluge, covenant with God)

Wednesday 3rd January

• Made in Dagenham – BBC 4, 21:00-22:45 (sexism, equal pay, trade unions)

 

TV and Film to watch this Christmas to help you with Religious Studies PART 1

On numerous occasions I’ve written about films and TV programmes that students can watch which will help them with their understanding of issues we study such as poverty, war, sexual relationships, climate change, abortion, the death penalty and community. Then there are the more obvious films and TV programmes which focus on religious beliefs, teachings and practises such as Noah, Bruce Almighty and the recent TV series Broken on ITV.

At Christmas time it is a great opportunity to watch Christmas films which show how the Christian festival of Christmas is celebrated:

• Home Alone
• Santa Claus: The Movie
• Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
• Home Alone 3
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Dr Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas
• Jack Frost
• Serendipity
• Joyeux Noel
• The Holiday (on Amazon Prime, see if you can spot Shere a small village in Surrey)
• Nativity!
• The Polar Express
• Arthur Christmas
• Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger
• Nativity 3: Dude where’s my donkey

British soap operas like Eastenders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, and Emmerdale will also show families celebrating the festival of Christmas, whereas comedy specials and talk shows will have their studios decorated for Christmas with some themed jokes and interviews.

Is everything linked to the commercial celebration of the festival or is there any mention of what is written in the books of Matthew and Luke in the Christian Bible?

 

Watching TV or film and learning about Christian worship

It is such a natural form of revision to be watching TV or film and suddenly spotting something you’ve learnt in class. It is so exciting to be able to explain something, understand it better, simply because you were in that classroom, listening and concentrating on that particular day.

Some students have had the challenge of comparing TV and film which show liturgical and non-liturgical worship. Well done to my Year 10 Tuesday afternoon class who did so well on this homework.

1. Four Weddings and a Funeral would be a good film to watch for its many scenes inside a church. For Roman Catholics and some Anglicans you’ll also get to see some sacraments.
2. The BBC’s recent drama called Broken which I’ve previously referred to on the Blog is fantastic not only for showing liturgical worship (the eucharist is given in every episode) but also its depiction of a local church community with food banks and diversity.
3. Songs of Praise is on television every Sunday afternoon, or you can catch a number of previous episodes on YouTube.
4. Coronation Street has a brilliant 2 minute scene showing parts of an infant baptism from a few years ago.
5. There is a really peculiar scene from the Kingsman: The Secret Service film, which shows a church massacre (15 rating). Watching simply that scene makes no sense unless you know more about the film.  The actor Colin Firth play a suave secret agent, Harry Hart, who recruits a kid from the streets named Eggsy (Taron Egerton) to be part of the Kingsman. But Eggsy is quickly thrown into the fire when evil tech-whiz Richmond Valentine (Samuel L. Jackson) creates a technology that can cause mass terror across the globe, and only the Kingsman can stop him. On the hunt for Valentine, Hart ends up at a hate church group in Kentucky. While Hart is in the church, Valentine tests his technology, which causes the SIM cards in everyone’s phones in the church to make them become homicidal maniacs. There is then this three-and-a-half minute sequence in which we watch Hart shoot, stab, slam, and break everyone in his path as the guitar solo from Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” plays in the background. It’s peculiar and unsettling.
6. The Simpsons has a plethora of church scenes, including this one when Homer refuses to go to Church. Listen out for Lisa saying a snippet of the Lord’s Prayer. Another short clip is from when the Simpsons go to an evangelical church. Not to do with worship but really clever is the Protestant Heaven Vs Catholic Heaven with all its national stereotypes.
7. Family Guy has numerous satirical moments where you can learn about Christianity. Students often forget that singing is a form of worship, New Yorker’s in Church has an opening prayer, and the Mr Booze clip shows an drinking den turn into a fake alcoholics anonymous based on a church with pews and singing.

We realised that a lot of our choices were comedies and openly mocked Christianity for laughter. It is interesting how far comedy is deemed acceptable going about some faiths but less so others. An article in the  BBC Religion and Ethics page debates how far comedy should go, and the BBC also reports on whether Islam has a sense of humour (of course it does!). Finally there New Humanist website decides that no idea should be able to escape satire and comedy.

In a Heartbeat

Posted on YouTube in August, it’s now had over 30 million views, which isn’t bad for a student project.  The filmmakers, Beth David, 22, and Esteban Bravo, 24, made the short animation lasting about 4 minutes for their senior thesis while at Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida. It was a big project lasting 18 months, needing a Kickstarter campaign and a journey to Los Angeles, where they did a live recording of the score. They realised people were interested in the film’s concept when donations went past their $3,000 goal, eventually reaching $14,000 (£11,000). A large proportion of the amount was used to hire composer Arturo Cardelús. His soundtrack for the short film can now be found on Spotify. The animation has been a huge success and received a lot of praise.

Dr. Sean Griffin says he believes it can be especially meaningful to teenagers who are figuring out their sexuality. “It turns a situation that is often fraught with extreme emotions – excitement, anxiety, fear, and potentially shame and embarrassment – into one that is ‘cartoony’ by literalising the runaway heart, thus making it a bit more amusing,” he says.

Not wanting to ruin the animation (make sure you watch it by clicking on the YouTube link above) the story is about Sherwin, a redhead who has a crush on Jonathan, “the most popular boy in school.” Sherwin is afraid to show his emotions, but his heart volunteers for the mission, literally jumping out of his chest and racing towards the boy who caught his eye. The heart wants what the heart wants.

 

Muhammad Ali: watch and learn

In today’s lesson where students had to decide who is the biggest hero, Mother Teresa or Muhammad Ali, the latter was a clear winner. Below are some documentaries and films which will provide you with a heaps of information and inspiration from the great man himself.

• Muhammad Ali – The Whole Story (1996): This is a six hour series which covers the whole of Muhammad Ali’s life.
• When We Were Kings (1996): I watched this for the first time at University as part of  a film festival and the documentary transfixes you with the heat and passion of boxing. It covers the infamous 1974 ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ between Ali and George Foreman in Zaire in 1974. The focus is, naturally enough, the aging Ali, who was thought at the time to have little chance of beating Foreman yet his ‘rope-a-dope’ strategy –pretending to be in more trouble than you actually are, and cunningly wearing your opponent down in the process – proves devastating.
• Ali (2001): Will Smith who is most famous for the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and Men in Black stars in this biopic that chronicles ten years in the life of Cassius Clay, from 1964, when he took the heavyweight title from Sonny Liston, to 1974 and the Rumble In The Jungle with George Foreman. In between, there are the wider issues of Ali’s controversial opposition to the Vietnam War as a conscientious objector, his conversion to Islam, his banishment from boxing and his initial return against Joe Frazier.
• The Trials of Muhammad Ali (2013): This is an American PBS documentary which focuses on Ali’s life outside the ring. A lot of times is given of course to his refusal of the Vietnam draft and the legal and professional problems it caused him (he faced prison, was stripped of his heavyweight title and had his boxing licence suspended for four years).
• I am Ali (2013): This documentary is just about Ali as a man. There isn’t the focus on Ali as a boxer like other films or documentaries. It shows him as a warm-hearted family man through lots of  audio recordings Ali himself  in the ‘70s.

Other short clips about Ali are worth watching to learn more about this hero:

1. BBC News reporting on his death
2. Inside Story by Al-Jazeera
3. Muhammad Ali Obituary by the New York Times
4. The last US President Obama gives a tribute to Ali 
5. BBC Sports Personality of the Century

Watch TV to help your Crime and Punishment knowledge

My parents were strict on how much TV we could watch. This was pre-Internet days, so the biggest thing to pull us away from doing the homework, household chores, doing sport or practising the flute was TV.  Only being allowed to watch 30 minutes TV a day felt like torture so when I chose to do Media Studies GCSE the joy of being able to say “I’ve got to watch A, B and C for homework” was a welcome passport to TV heaven.

So what is out there in the realms of television that might help you relax from over zealous revision and increase your knowledge of crime and punishment at the same time?

Up there as a number one priority for people trying to learn about crime and punishment has got to be Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Filmed over 10 years, the real-life thriller follows a DNA exoneree who, while exposing police corruption, becomes a suspect in a grisly new crime. It will have you gripped from start to finish.

The Independent lists an excellent collection of documentaries that those people suffering from the demise of Making a Murderer can turn to when wanted to continue following real life storylines about crime.

Focusing on the death penalty you might watch Redemption with Jamie Foxx playing Stanley Tookie Williams or Let Him Have It with a young Chris Eccleston playing Derek Bentley.

Or perhaps you’d prefer some fictional characters. Broadchurch has recently finished on Series 3 with its police investigations, causes of crime and court scenes. Whereas Line of Duty can offer police corruption with some intermittent court cases too.

Exciting film awaits about Syrian Swimmer

Stephen Daldry, a famous director, has announced he’s working on a film about Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini.

Mardini who was already a promising swimmer before she left the civil war in Syria travelled with her sister to Lebanon, then on to the Turkish port of Izmir, before  getting onto an overcrowded dinghy bound for the Greek island of Lesbos. But less than half an hour into their journey the motor stopped and the boat threatened to capsize: out of the 20 people aboard, only three knew how to swim: Yusra being one of them. For more than three hours, they did what had to be done, swimming alongside the dinghy, pushing, pulling and cajoling it until they reached land.

“I thought it would be a real shame if I drowned in the sea, because I am a swimmer,” Yusra recalls

She eventually settled in Germany, joined a swim team in Berlin and within months she was in Brazil, one of the 43 stateless athletes competing in Rio as the first ever refugee team. The film of her life is going to be both interesting in how it shows the escape from a war torn country as well as the determination of a young athlete aiming for swimming glory.

In class this week when discussing with Year 8 students what their human rights are we’ve mentioned Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: (1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

Beauty and the Beast gets adults only rating in Russia

In the UK Beauty and the Beast gets a PG rating (requires parental guidance), whereas in Russia it has been given an adults only rating. This is for exactly the same film.

The reason is homosexuality. In Russia since 2013 it has been illegal to talk or give information to minors (children) about homosexuality. In the new Beauty and the Beast live action film LeFou and his handsome friend begin a loving gay relationship. This is too much for the Russian culture minister who has slapped this heavy rating on the film.

Emma Watson (Beauty) appears in the new movie and is travelling around the world with Dan Stevens (the Beast) giving numerous press interviews.