Multicultural Literacy Through Programming Contemporary Movies

By Michael Nejman, c/2004

     Your campus is literally in the middle of nowhere.  Your student population and its surrounding community lack racial/ethnic diversity.  You are expected to provide multicultural programming that educates, inspires and prepares your students for today’s workforce.  And, you don’t have adequate funds to import diverse domestic speakers or programs, let alone international talent. 

      Providing well-balanced thought-provoking multicultural programming can be challenging under the best of conditions, but limited budgets, homogenous surrounding communities, and predominantly Caucasian campuses can make it a downright daunting task.  But, just as movies are an “escape” for patrons to forget their problems for the a few hours, they are also an effective way to introduce various cultures to a campus audience.  In effect, they can bring “the world” to your screening facility.   

      This article will focus on contemporary, popular films that lend themselves as catalysts for discussion and are easily available through film rental companies.

Nine considerations as you develop your multicultural film/video series:

• Promote your series as one way for students to better understand other cultures in order to succeed in today’s workforce.  In a personal interview with Dr. James B. Boyer, retired Professor of Curriculum and American Ethnic Studies at Kansas State University, he states, “It’s not necessarily where you are now, its where you are going. If we are not exposed to diversity education, we will be undereducated for now and the future.” Even if a person is in a homogenous environment now, that will soon change. As students enter the job market—their boss, coworkers and clients—could be from another country, speak English as a second language, be a different race, be gay and/or disabled. Students more knowledgeable about the people of our culturally diverse society, could be at a distinct advantage in today’s workforce.

• Program for balance. Programming needs to be inclusive of as many different groups as possible. Often, when people hear the word “diversity,” they think of only race and gender issues. But, diversity is about all the differences among individuals. Unfortunately, in the United States, people oppress others in several different ways. Just a few of the “isms” that plague society are: sexism (oppression based on gender); anti-Semitism (prejudice against Jews); religious oppression (bias against members of various religious groups); ageism (oppression based on being too old or young); fat oppression (overweight discrimination); heterosexism (oppression based on sexual orientation); and ableism (oppression of people based on their physical and/or mental disabilities). College union and student activities programmers should develop film/video events to better educate campus members about the issues and concerns of all of these target groups. And, they should be especially concerned for those groups not represented on campus. Remember, it is not where we are now; it is where we are going. A student might not be exposed to other cultures now, but once he or she enters the workforce, he or she will inevitably be exposed to new cultures. So, don’t forget to include films about LGBT issues, people with disabilities, age, class, body image concerns, and religious differences. 

• Be wary of an ethnic story told from a “white perspective.” For example, Glory, a Civil War tale about the first Black regiment, the 54^th Regiment of Massachusetts, is told through the eyes of their white commanding officer Robert Gould Shaw, played by Matthew Broderick.  Very often, Hollywood films tend to tell ethnic stories through white characters.  Strive to provide ethnic stories from the perspective of the group featured (i.e. the African-American experience as interpreted by Spike Lee).   To be safe, always preview the film to be sure it will fit your needs and share an accurate American ethnic experience.

• Program against stereotype.  Crazy/Beautiful (2001; PG-13) is a good example of a film that tells a story against stereotype.  Carlos (Jay Hernandez) is a hard-working Hispanic teen with high hopes for the future that meets Nicole (Kirsten Dunst) a troubled rich White girl bent on self-destruction.  All too often on the silver screen, Hispanics are seen as tattooed, street-thug gang members as illustrated in the recent Jim Carrey comedy Bruce Almighty.  Also when considering films with an LGBT focus, avoid films like La Cage aux Folles (1979) and its American counterpart, The Birdcage (1995), as they tend to reinforce flamboyant gay stereotypes.

·        Always include time before or after the film to discuss content and to clarify misinformation.  Challenge students to view people as individuals and not stereotypes.  Examine similarities as well as differences between cultures.  Professional facilitators and counselors are trained in conflict resolution and should be included in any potentially provocative program. Utilize your multicultural affairs department or counseling staff; or consider bringing in professional workshop facilitators. Even if you have the right intention, a poorly staged multicultural program, with inadequate counseling support, can do more harm than good for the campus.  If misinformation about an ethnic group is presented by a participant as fact, and a knowledgeable facilitator is not on hand to correct the information, it is likely that stereotypes and bias toward that ethnic group will only be reinforced.

·        Your Human Resources department might have diversity-related videos that can also be incorporated into a series as supplemental viewing.  These films are usually documentaries or corporate-related films to assist with Affirmative Action issues in the workplace and can act as an informative, practical preview of the “topic of the evening.”

• Foreign language films not only share another cultural perspective, but also give students a chance to practice another language.  According to the Modern Language Association, 1.4 million American students are enrolled in foreign language study - -the most since the group conducted its first survey in 1958.  Since 1998, the number of students enrolled in foreign language courses has jumped 17.9% (Becker, 2003).

• Don’t forget to make sure films are captioned not only for your hearing-impaired students, but to also assist students who don’t speak English as a primary language.

• This is NOT a definitive list of diversity-related films.  There are many more titles and issues to choose from.  This is a very brief list of suggestions and recommended films for specific topics.

Programming ideas for your multicultural video series

The Black Experience in America

Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992; PG-13; 201 m.) works on two levels: 1) as an historical screen biography about one of the most influential black leaders of the 20^th century; as well as 2) a film that illustrates the concept of racial identity and how a person might proceed through the various stages. 

Consider showing this film in tangent with a discussion group showcasing Beverly Daniel Tatum’s text “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” (1997; book includes group discussion guide).  Tatum explains the concept of racial identity and examines psychologist William Cross’ five-stage model: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion/emersion, internalization, and internalization-commitment.  In the film (as well as Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1964, the book the film is based on), Malcolm X experiences several stages of the model. 

Early in the film, Malcolm straightens his hair and asks the barber, “Looks white, don’t it?”  He and his friend, played by Spike Lee, pretend to be movie gangsters Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney in one scene.  He is clearly in the pre-encounter stage where the young Black man absorbs many of the beliefs and values of the dominant White culture, including the idea that it is better to be White (Tatum, 1997).  Malcolm, portrayed by Denzel Washington, strives to look White and value the dominant culture’s lifestyle.

Later, when imprisoned, Malcolm is challenged to examine who he is and what his beliefs are about being Black in America.  He transitions into the immersion/emersion stage where he becomes more ethnocentric and embraces his ethnic roots as he rejects the dominant culture.  He is taught, “God is Black,” “Black is beautiful,” and “all White men are devils.”

Toward the end of his life, Malcolm goes on a pilgrimage to Mecca and it is there where he experiences internalization.  While at Mecca, he witnesses “true brotherhood” between both Blacks and Whites.  This experience caused him to re-examine his beliefs about Whites of European descent within the United States. 

Other films that examine the Black Experience in the United States:

Do the Right Thing, Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, Higher Learning, Four Little Girls, Get On The Bus, Rosewood, Soul Food.

Hispanic/Latin-American Experience in America

Film critic Roger Ebert says My Family (also released as Mi Familia; 1995; R; 122 m.) is not only the “(family history) of the Sanchezes, one Mexican-American family, but it is also in some ways the story of all families.”  Director Gregory Nava’s epic film tells the tale of the Sanchez family, whose father, Jose Sanchez, walked north to Los Angeles from Mexico in the 1920s, and whose children include a writer, a nun, an ex-convict, a lawyer, a restaurant owner and a boy shot dead in his prime.  The film spans approximately sixty years, from the 1920s through the 1980s.  It’s a wonderfully romantic film about family, faith and rich storytelling.  It also includes the horrible realities that Mexican immigrants tolerated including having Jose’s wife Maria (played by Jennifer Lopez) shipped back to Mexico in a cattle car during the Depression and having a son brutally murdered near their East L.A. home.  My Family reminds viewers that Southern California was once part of Mexico, which is important now that English is the second most spoken language in Los Angeles; a fact that seems to fuel negative public opinion against illegal immigrants.  This film is very accessible with a superb Hispanic cast including Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos, Lupe Ontiveros, and Jennifer Lopez.

An earlier film by Gregory Nava, El Norte (1983; R; 141 m.) is the first film to approach the subject of “undocumented workers” solely through their eyes as it tells of the journey of two young Guatemalans who journey through Mexico to Los Angeles (Ebert, 1997).

Another film to consider: Washington Heights.

The LGBT Experience in America

The Celluloid Closet (1995; No MPAA rating; 102 m.) depicts the 100-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians on the silver screen.  Lily Tomlin narrates as Oscar-winning moviemaker Rob Epstein (“The Times of Harvey Milk” and “Common Threads: Stories of the Quilt) and Jeffery Friedman assemble footage from 120 films showing the changing views of homosexuality on the big screen.  Images of homosexuality in film date back to an Edison experimental film in 1895, when two men are seen slow-dancing together.  In early cinema, “swishy” stereotypes are used for a sure-fire laugh, as “The Sissy” becomes the first gay stock character.  Later, cinematic images include homosexuals as covert lovers, murderous psychopaths and in later years, triumphant activists.  This film is very accessible as it includes interviews with Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Curtis, Harvey Fierstein, and Gore Vidal.

Discussion after this film could include a comparison of Hollywood’s portrayal of gays in cinema to the recent boom in gay programming on television. How are stereotypes broken or prolonged in TV shows like NBC’s “Will and Grace,” Bravo’s two “reality” hits, “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and “Boy Meets Boy,” and Showtime’s “Queer as Folk?”  Consider including a reading from The Prime-Time Closet, a 2002 book by TV historian Stephen Tropiano; or reviewing the “unofficial history” of Gay TV as depicted in Vanity Fair’s December cover story, “TV’s Gay Heat Wave!” (2003).  In the latter, attention is directed to characters with vague sexual orientation, such as Felix Unger (The Odd Couple), Jane Hathaway (The Beverly Hillbillies), Howard Sprague (The Andy Griffith Show), and Batman and Robin from the popular 1960s series.

Other films to consider:  Philadelphia, Boys Don’t Cry, Torch Song Trilogy, and Chasing Amy.

Gender Issues

  Entertainment Weekly (2003) describes Bend it Like Beckham (2003; PG-13; 112 m.) as a “fusion of other movies (Personal Best, My Big Fat Indian Wedding)” that examines gender roles, female athlete stereotypes, and East Indian culture.  A young London girl, Jess (Parminder Nagra), is obsessed with soccer as she deals with her sister’s upcoming wedding and family expectations that she give up sports in order to cook, shop and marry.  Her father demands she give up soccer, as she “must behave like a proper woman.”  There’s even some female athlete-lesbian stereotyping as her friend’s mother mistakes their close friendship as something more.

  Real Women Have Curves (2002; 90m.) America Ferrera stars as Ana, a first-generation Mexican-American teenager who is trying to come to terms with burgeoning womanhood and the challenges of making a future for herself while satisfying the more traditional demands of her family (description from movie-gazette.com).  The film examines Mexican-American culture as well as American standards of beauty and female body image.

  Lovely and Amazing (2001; R; 90 m.) Brenda Blethyn plays Jane Marks, the insecure and neurotic mother of three very different daughters, each seeking acceptance and love in a society that defines “beauty” very narrowly.  There’s a very poignant scene where the youngest daughter, an adopted African-American eight-year-old named Annie, tries to find an image she can relate to at a magazine rack in a local store.  She has black, curly natural hair in an Afro-style.  Annie peruses magazines only to find an image of a clown, with a big curly wig, as the closest image of herself.  What does this say about the lack of Black images in American magazines? (Also stars Catherine Keener and Jake Gyllenhaal).

Another film to consider: Whale Rider.

Racism

Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002; no rating; 93 m.). Based on true events in 1930s Australia where special detention centers were created to keep mixed race children from “contaminating” the rest of Australian society.  Director Phillip Noyce provides an amazing story of three young girls who trek 1,500 miles across thee treacherous Outback to re-unite with the mothers they were forcibly removed from.  Watch the “Making of” documentary on the DVD for the incredible story of how this movie was filmed. 

  Another film to consider: American History X

As mentioned earlier, this is not a definitive list of film titles and subject matter.  Additional topics and titles are listed below:

Disabilities/Ableism

Mask

Rainman

Scent of a Woman

Slingblade

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Children of a Lesser God

In the Company of Men

Pumpkin

Asian-American Experience

Joy Luck Club

Snow Falling in Cedars (1999; Japanese concentration camps in America)

American Indian/Indigenous People

Smoke Signals

The Fast Runner (Inuit culture)

Jewish Oppression

Schindler’s List

Life is Beautiful

The Pianist

The Believer

In addition to discussing the multicultural themes of these movies, it is also worthwhile to examine how Hollywood exports American culture throughout the world and the positive and negative results of that process.  Film critic Roger Ebert says, “Of all the export industries in the world, few are larger and none is more important than the movies, because what is being exported is not simply a product but a lifestyle, a system of values, a standard of taste, an angle of looking at things.  American movies control the world’s screens (and) American TV rains down from satellites onto Europe, Africa and Asia (1997).” 

As a member of the global community, how the world views us is becoming more and more important.   The student activities professional and student programming board each can play a key role in providing multicultural programming that educates, inspires, and prepares students not only for today’s workforce, but also our role in the world.

Bibliography

Becker, Robert (2003).  “Language boom sweeps colleges,” Chicago Tribune (November 6, 2003), Metro cover story.

Ebert, Roger (1997). Roger Ebert’s Video Companion.  Kansas City: Universal Press Syndicate Company.

Gleiberman, Owen (2003). Entertainment Weekly (December 26/January 2, 2004), pp. 117-118.

Haley, Alex (1964). The Autobiography of Malcolm X.  New York: Ballantine Books.

“Real Women Have Curves” film review available on-line: www.movie-gazette.com/cinereviews/335

Tatum, Beverly Daniel, Ph.D. (1997). “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” And Other Conversations About Race.  New York: Basic Books.

“TV’s Gay Heat Wave!”(2003). Vanity Fair (December), pp. 324-325, 355-356.