Mighty Immaturity

Group: 29 Ninth Grade Students, male and female

Film: The Mighty

Watching my students view anything, from the morning announcements to clips from Romeo and Juliet, can be an education. The responses will always range from "That was stupid" to "I loved it!" I was able to observe my 9th grade class watch The Mighty over a three-day span while studying unlikely heroes. When the film had run its course, and the lights had gone back on, it was time for discussion. Here is where the real fun begins. It never fails that some kids will simply state, "I didn't get it." They usually were not trying "to get it," but that is their perrogative. On the other hand, I have the female student who cannot stop crying because the young, crippled Kevin died. She can only sob, "It was so sad! Why'd he have to die? Where's the happy ending?" She obviously missed the part when Max discovered his true intelligence as a result of Kevin's short interaction in his life. The middle of the road responses are usually the safest, if also the most generic. "It was inspirational," "It touched my heart but was unrealistic," and "I liked it." Altogether, uninspirational.

What I have found when using film in the classroom is that students cannot connect the importance of a film to a lesson. They see the 120 minutes as relaxation time; they zone out. Applying the central theme to the short story we had previously read, "The Scarlet Ibis," never occurs to them. Luckily, they were given a worksheet to fill out during the movie which asked for similarities and differences between the short story hero, Doodle, and one of the heroes of The Mighty, Kevin or Max. Without this unsubtle prompting I'm not sure they would have retained any valuable information. When it came to writing a comparison/contrast essay about Doodle and their chosen hero, it was like pulling fingernails. They couldn't remember all that Kevin did or how Max reacted to certain situations. I heard "I don't remember" about a million times over two days.

Now why do students do this? Is it a lack of long-term memory? Is it the brain's automatic response to shut down when confronted with a big screen? Whatever it is, the students all felt that basing an essay on a film was difficult. Using the experience for more than just visual enjoyment had not occured to them, even when specifically told ahead of time that the essay was to follow.

The chasm between media and academics is very wide still. The teacher struggles with effective integration, and it turns out the student struggles with building a mental bridge between the two. Hopefully by the time I show them Romeo and Juliet they will have made those connections. TV and film are not just for pleasure, but for learning as well.