Killing Us Softly 4 - Trailer [Featuring Jean Kilbourne] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-24 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgIn this new, highly anticipated update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, the first in more than a decade, Jean Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity. The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements to lay bare a stunning pattern of damaging gender stereotypes -- images and messages that too often reinforce unrealistic, and unhealthy, perceptions of beauty, perfection, and sexuality. By bringing Kilbourne's groundbreaking analysis up to date, Killing Us Softly 4 stands to challenge a new generation of students to take advertising seriously, and to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating disorders, and gender violence.Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. Her films, lectures and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. Kilbourne was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the creator of the renowned Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women film series and the author of the award-winning book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land - Myth Of The Generous Offer [documentary clip] ChallengingMedia 2016-05-18 | Check out these films about the occupation:The Occupation of the American Mindhttp://occupationmovie.orgPeace, Propaganda & the Promised Landhttp://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=117Both films by the Media Education Foundationhttp://www.mediaed.org
Guyland: Where Boys Become Men [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2016-02-18 | In this powerful new film based on his bestselling book, sociologist Michael Kimmel maps the troubling social world where boys become men -- a new stage of development he calls "Guyland." Arguing that the traditional adult signposts and cultural signals that once helped boys navigate their way to manhood are no longer clear, Kimmel provides an astonishing glimpse into a world where more and more young men are trying desperately to prove their masculinity to other young men -- with frequently disastrous consequences for young women and other young men.Guyland offers a way for all of us -- parents, young men and women, community members, and professors and administrators -- to envision new ways to support young men as they navigate this often perilous world.To learn more or purchase, visit: http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=254
War Made Easy Excerpt - Rumsfeld on Precision Bombing ChallengingMedia 2014-04-04 | http://www.warmadeeasythemovie.org
War Made Easy excerpt - Rumsfelds Known Unknowns ChallengingMedia 2014-04-04 | http://www.warmadeeasythemovie.org
Killing Us Softly 4 [Sexual Assault Awareness Month Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2014-04-04 | http://vimeo.com/ondemand/12253[$4.99] 24-hour rental: For Home-use only. Available in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) through April 30, 2014. This newest edition of Jean Kilbourne's influential and award-winning Killing Us Softly series shows how the advertising industry continues to reinforce, and glamorize, a regressive and debased notion of femininity. Using a wide range of contemporary print and television ads, Kilbourne lays bare a misogynistic fantasy world of undernourished, oversexed, and objectified women, and examines these images against the real-world backdrop of eating disorders, men's violence against women, and the political backlash against feminism. At once provocative and inspiring, Killing Us Softly 4 challenges young people to question traditional gender norms and think critically about the fundamental relationship between representation and power.
White Like Me - White Allies ChallengingMedia 2013-12-12 | Now available on DVD:http://www.whitelikememovie.orgIn this clip from White Like Me, anti-racist author Tim Wise reminds us that among the countless heroes of color who've fought for racial equality throughout our nation's history, there have been many white people who've also stood in opposition to racial injustice. Wise argues that these white allies can serve as models for white people today in the continued quest to eradicate racism and inequality.
Tim Wise on What if George Zimmerman were black? ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | http://whitelikememovie.orgTo help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Tim Wise for some answers. Here he reacts to the question: "What if George Zimmerman were black?"For more discussion of the Zimmerman verdict, check out MEF's blog: http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
Tim Wise: The Takeaway from the Zimmerman Verdict for White People ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | http://whitelikememovie.orgTo help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Tim Wise for some answers. Here he reacts to the question: "What do you hope white people take away from the George Zimmerman verdict?"For more discussion of the Zimmerman verdict, check out MEF's blog: http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
Imani Perry on the Zimmerman Verdict: Where do we go from here? ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | http://whitelikememovie.orgTo help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Tim Wise for some answers. Here she reacts to the question: "Where do we go from here?"For more discussion of the Zimmerman verdict, check out MEF's blog: http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
Nilanjana Dasgupta on Is it possible to have biases we arent aware of? ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | http://whitelikememovie.orgTo help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Nilanjana Dasgupta for some answers. Here she reacts to the question: "Is it possible to have biases we aren't aware of?"For more discussion of the Zimmerman verdict, check out MEF's blog: http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
Tim Wise Responds to the Some-of-my-best-friends-are-black Defense ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | http://whitelikememovie.orgTo help us make sense of the Zimmerman verdict and the conversations surrounding it, we looked to Tim Wise for some answers. Here he reacts to the assertions made by defenders of Zimmerman suggesting he couldn't possibly be influenced by race because he has black friends, dated an African American girl and mentored black children.For more discussion of the Zimmerman verdict, check out MEF's blog: http://www.mediaed.org/blog/?p=2661
Tim Wise: White Like Me [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2013-07-22 | A film about Race, Racism, and White Privilege featuring Tim Wise.http://whitelikememovie.org
The New Economics 101 [5-minute clip] ChallengingMedia 2013-05-09 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgSubscribe to our Youtube channel!http://www.youtube.com/user/ChallengingMedia New Economics 101, TheTrue Wealth in the New EconomyEconomist and bestselling author Juliet Schor lays out a positive vision for rethinking our relationship to consumer goods in this accessible and timely analysis of the devastating ecological, social, and personal costs of mass consumerism. Ranging from cutting-edge developments in economic theory, social analysis, and ecological design to real-world examples of these ideas being put into practice around the world, Schor makes a compelling case that preserving dwindling natural resources and enhancing economic security should have less to do with managing scarcity and learning to sacrifice than with envisioning new forms of plentitude. The result is a bold and practical vision for replacing the old dead-end, debt-financed, work-and-spend cycle with a new paradigm of sustainability fueled by the abundant and infinitely renewable resources of time, creativity, and community.About Juliet SchorJuliet Schor is Professor of Sociology at Boston College. A graduate of Wesleyan University, Schor received her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts. Her most recent book is Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth. She is also author of the national bestseller, The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure and The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need. The Overworked American appeared on the best-seller lists of The New York Times, Publisher's Weekly, The Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice, The Boston Globe as well as the annual best books list for The New York Times, Business Week and other publications. The book is widely credited for influencing the national debate on work and family. The Overspent American was also made into a video of the same name, by the Media Education Foundation. Schor also wrote Born to Buy: The Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. She is the author of Do Americans Shop Too Much?, co-editor of Consumer Society: A Reader and co-editor of Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-first Century. Schor is currently working on issues of environmental sustainability and their relation to Americans' lifestyles and the economy and the emergence of a conscious consumption movement. She is a co-founder and co-chair of the Board of the Center for a New American Dream, a national sustainability organization. Visit her at www.julietschor.org.
Flirting with Danger [6-Minute Preview] ChallengingMedia 2012-10-08 | Now Available on DVD at http://www.mediaed.orgFlirting with DangerPower & Choice in Heterosexual RelationshipsSocial and developmental psychologist and author Lynn Phillips explores the line between consent and coercion in this thought-provoking look at popular culture and the ways real girls and women navigate their heterosexual relationships and hookups. Featuring dramatizations of interviews that Phillips conducted with hundreds of young women, the film examines how the wider culture's frequently contradictory messages about pleasure, danger, agency, and victimization enter into women's most intimate relationships with men. The result is a refreshingly candid, and nuanced, look at how young women are forced to grapple with deeply ambivalent cultural attitudes about female sexuality. Essential for courses that look at popular culture, gender norms, sexuality, and sexual violence.
American Autumn [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-09-28 | http://www.mediaed.orgEducational Version Coming Soon to DVD
The New Great Game [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgThe New Great GameThe Decline of the West & the Struggle for Middle Eastern OilAfter 500 years of Western domination, the waterways of the Middle East are now being contested in unprecedented ways. Pirates are roaming sea lanes. Local powers are threatening chokepoints. And the people are rising up to bring their authoritarian rulers down. With no simple solutions for maintaining control of oil flows, the West is facing a crucial decision. Already weakened by extended military interventions, faltering economies, and strained global partnerships, the US and Europe must decide whether violent intervention or benevolent passivity is the best course of action.This timely documentary charts these murky new waters and shows how the logic of empire is being tested by a rapidly changing Middle East. With fresh-from-the-ground footage and testimony from experts and actors in the region, the film zeroes in on how disparate events occurring on land in such places as Iran, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Yemen, and at sea in the Gulf of Aden, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea, are all part of the same story -- a story about the slow dismantling of the old order, and the emergence of a new geopolitical game.
Sexual Assault: A Lecture by Anne Munch [Clip] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgSexual AssaultNaming the Unnamed ConspiratorIn this provocative presentation, career prosecutor Anne Munch examines how societal attitudes influence legal cases involving sexual assault. Drawing on her experience prosecuting sex crimes, Munch demonstrates how rape cases frequently turn on the involvement of what she calls an "unnamed conspirator" -- the complex of myths and stories we tell ourselves as a culture about sex, gender, power, and responsibility. Using examples from real cases, and harrowing evidence from actual 911 calls, Munch shows how the assumptions that juries bring into the courtroom often stack the odds against victims, and challenges us to question how our own assumptions might reinforce victim-blaming. The result is at once a stunning look inside our criminal justice system and a cutting analysis of American culture's warped views of women's sexuality.About Anne MunchAnne Munch is an attorney with twenty-two years of experience as a career prosecutor and advocate for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. As a subject matter expert for the United States Air Force, the United States Army, and the United States Navy, Ms. Munch has worked extensively on the development of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response programs in the military.Ms. Munch attended the University of Denver for her undergraduate and graduate studies and received a BA in psychology and sociology, and then her law degree.Following law school Ms. Munch spent seven years as a prosecutor for the Denver District Attorney's office including a rotation in the felony domestic violence and sexual assault unit. She also spent two years as the Chief Deputy District Attorney for the 7th Judicial District in Telluride, Colorado, and two years as the supervisor of the fast track domestic violence unit in the Jefferson County DA's office in Golden, Colorado.In addition to her work as a prosecutor, Ms. Munch was the director of the San Miguel Resource Center, a domestic violence and sexual assault program the Telluride, Colorado. She also directed the Ending Violence Against Women Project, a statewide multi-disciplinary training and technical assistance project in Colorado for nine years.Currently, Ms. Munch is the owner of Anne Munch Consulting, Inc. and works full time providing speaking, training and consulting in the area of sexual assault, domestic violence and stalking. She provides her services to local, national, and military organizations all across the United States, Europe, and also in Asia. She is on the teaching faculty for the National Judicial Education Program and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Sext Up KIDS [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgSext Up KidsHow Children are Becoming HypersexualizedThe powder keg that is porn culture has exploded in the lives of North American children. From thongs and padded bras for 9-year-old girls to "sexting," 24-7 internet porn, and unfiltered social media, kids today are bombarded with commercial sexual appeals like never before. In this astonishing new documentary, award-winning documentary filmmaker Maureen Palmer (Leaving Bountiful, How to Divorce and Not Wreck the Kids) explores what this radical transformation of the culture means for young people, parents, and our very notions of childhood. Palmer interviews researchers who have been tracking how the accelerating pressure to be sexy -- and sexual -- is changing kids' behavior and undermining their health. She sits down with parents and educators struggling to help kids navigate puberty in a hypermediated cultural environment that no longer seems to recognize or respect the developmental needs of children. And she talks to teens and pre-teens who share eerily casual insights into the routine role sex plays in their lives. The result is a stunning exploration of the sexualization of childhood and a startling wake-up call for parents who still think their own children are immune to the excesses and influences of today's sexed-up youth culture.
Latinos Beyond Reel [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Coming Soon to DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orghttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Latinos-Beyond-Reel/397634970295875?ref=streamLatinos Beyond ReelChallenging a Media StereotypeLatinos are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, and among the most diverse -- accounting for one-sixth of all Americans and tracing their origins to more than 20 countries. Yet across the media landscape, from the broadcast airwaves to cable television and Hollywood film, the reality and richness of the Latino experience is virtually nowhere to be found.In this ground-breaking new film, filmmakers Miguel Picker and Chyng Sun examine how American media portray -- and do not portray -- Latinos. Drawing on the insights of Latino scholars, community leaders, actors, directors, and producers, they uncover simultaneous patterns of gross misrepresentation and gross under-representation -- revealing a world in which Latinos appear, if at all, as murderers and Mexican bandits, harlots and hookers, gang bangers and welfare-leeching illegals. In the end, the film shows us why media representations matter, pointing to the tragic consequences that result when a narrow range of distorted images are allowed to stand in for an entire population. Featuring Chon Noriega, Isabel Molina, Alex Nogales, Moctesuma Esparza, Luis Ramos, Luis Vidal, and others.
Default: The Student Loan Documentary [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgDefaultThe Student Loan DocumentaryJust a few years after the subprime mortgage crisis, there are ominous signs that the student loan market is on the verge of collapsing, yet another casualty of predatory lending practices. Default brings this perilous situation into sharp relief, chronicling the stories of borrowers who find themselves in the paralyzing predicament of having to repay far more than what they borrowed -- with no bankruptcy protection, and no recourse under the law. The result is at once an accessible analysis of a mounting economic crisis, and a cautionary tale for students.
AgroFuels [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgAgroFuelsStarving People, Fueling GreedFilmmakers Loren and Matt Feinstein provide an eye-opening account of the downside of alternative, food-based fuel sources. Delving deep into the world of agrofuels and monocrops, they explore how the increasingly common practice of diverting food crops to the industrial production of cellulose-based fuels is devastating indigenous communities, undermining small farmers, and endangering the environment across Latin America. Turning to the promise of the future, they also show how grassroots communities are developing better, cleaner alternatives. A good resource for courses dealing with the global economy, development issues, and the environment.AgroFuels is a half-hour in depth educational supplement to the full-length feature Cicolvida. More info at: www.ciclovida.com.
A Burning Question [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgA Burning QuestionPropaganda & the Denial of Climate ChangeThis fascinating and clarifying look at the debate surrounding global warming explores the striking disconnect between the relatively clear-cut concerns of the world's most prominent scientists and the maze of speculation, rhetorical posturing, and outright misinformation that attaches to this issue whenever it's taken up by politicians, PR specialists, and political pundits. Mixing a localized focus on Ireland with insights from scientists and leaders from around the world, the film serves as both a primer on climate science and a penetrating analysis of media framing and the science of perception management. An excellent resource for courses in science, environmental studies, global politics, and media.Features commentary from former Irish president Mary Robinson, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, paleoclimatologist Jennifer McElwain, and a host of other prominent scientists and commentators.
#ReGENERATION [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-08-27 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.org#ReGENERATIONThe Politics of Apathy & ActivismA film by Phillip MontgomeryRyan Gosling narrates this engrossing film about social activism, the forces that galvanized the Occupy movement, and how a new generation of young people is coming to terms with a rapidly changing world. The film skillfully weaves commentary from some of the country's leading political and social analysts with personal observations from a collective of young musicians, a tight-knit group of suburban high-school students, and a young conservative family, providing a nuanced look at the myriad challenges facing the next generation of Americans. The result is as personal as it is political, as much a portrait of the contemporary political scene as of a generation of young people finding their way in uncertain times.Features Noam Chomsky, the late Howard Zinn, Adbusters' Kalle Lasn, Andrew Bacevich, Amy Goodman, Talib Kweli, Sut Jhally, and music from STS9.
Mic Check [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-07-17 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgMic CheckDocumentary Shorts from the Occupy MovementShort documentary films about the most important social movement of the 21st centuryWhen thousands of people concerned about growing economic inequality gathered in Zuccotti Park in New York City on September 17, 2011, there was little indication that they would fundamentally transform American political debate and ignite a full-scale national and global protest movement. But within a year, the Occupy Wall Street protestors had done just that.This powerful collection of short films, made by Occupy protestors on the ground, tells the story of the movement in real time. While the films range in length from just one to ten minutes, their combined force is spellbinding. Together they show how a fledgling movement came out of nowhere to challenge Wall Street's rapacious and predatory practices, force economic inequality and corporate greed onto the mainstream political agenda, and capture the imagination of the world. The result is a fascinating and multifaceted portrait of one of the defining political struggles of our time.Mic Check is especially suitable for courses in political science, government, economics, history, human rights, sociology, social justice and activism, and for campus event programming dedicated to social issues. The films were curated by Nick Shimkin, a film programmer and writer based in Brooklyn, NY.Now Available on DVD
Five Friends [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-03-08 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=245American philosopher Elbert Hubbard was fond of quoting his father on friendship. "When you die," his father would tell him, "if you've got five real friends, you've had a great life." Five Friends, written and directed by Erik Santiago, is the story of how one man sought to live that life. Beautifully shot, from the mountains of Southern California to the New England coastline, the film follows a 65-year-old man and his five closest friends as they navigate and reflect on success, conflict, marriage, divorce, fatherhood, children, and dying. From touching moments and humor to horrific tragedy and darkness, Five Friends offers a breathtaking exploration of the emotional lives of men, and a deeply moving portrait of what men are capable of when they dare to open up with one another. Features commentary from experts including bestselling author and renowned sociologist Michael Kimmel. A ManTiago Films/Captive Pictures Production.Written, Produced & Directed by Erik SantiagoProducer & Collaborator: Hank MandelCo-producer: Ken StewartDirector of Photography: Sean ConatyEditor: Kyle Gilbertson
Just Do It [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-03-08 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.orgJust Do ItA Tale of Modern-Day OutlawsDirected by Emily JamesA Left Field Films production in association withThe Bertha Foundation & CinereachFor one eventful year, filmmaker Emily James gains unprecedented access to document the work of a group of environmental activists engaged in nonviolent direct-action campaigns across England. Embedded in the activists' clandestine activities, she captures the triumph, setbacks, secret planning sessions, and feverish passion of a group of remarkable characters. They blockade factories, attack coal power stations, and glue themselves to the trading floors of international banks -- despite the very real threat of arrest.There's Marina, who solves the world's problems one cup of tea at a time; Sally, the university student who uses civil disobedience to change unjust laws; Sophie, the artist-activist committed to transforming the political system by starting her own political party and art project; Rowan, who takes on capitalism via direct-action protests at coal plants, airports, the Copenhagen Climate Summit, and the climate camp at London's G20 summit; and Lily, the UK's 'Green Campaigner of the Year,' whose grassroots resistance takes her into local communities to empower and educate.Just Do It gives us a thrilling inside look at the kinds of direct-action campaigns that are now sweeping the globe in local Occupy movements, showing us how everyday people can use the tools of civil disobedience to make meaningful change.Now Available on DVD
How to Start a Revolution [Trailer] ChallengingMedia 2012-01-09 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=155The Media Education Foundation presentsA film by Ruaridh ArrowGene Sharp hardly seems like one of the world's most dangerous men. White-haired and soft-spoken, the 83-year-old professor mostly keeps to himself, spending much of his time in his small Boston home reading, writing, and tending to his orchid garden. But to the world's most brutal dictators, Professor Sharp's ideas have proven catastrophic. In this fascinating new film, first-time director Ruaridh Arrow details how an obscure list of nonviolent actions authored by Sharp in 1973 has served as a blueprint for anti-authoritarian revolts everywhere from Eastern Europe and the Balkans to the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. Giving as much attention to the substance of Sharp's "198 Methods of Nonviolent Action" as it does to the democratic rebels who have courageously made these methods their own, How to Start a Revolution bears witness not only to the power of nonviolent struggle, but to how one person of conscience can quietly influence the lives of millions of people. Features commentary from Sharp's close ally Retired U.S. Army Colonel Robert Helvey, Sharp himself, and many of the revolutionary leaders his work has inspired.
The Bro Code: How Contemporary Culture Creates Sexist Men (Extended Preview) ChallengingMedia 2012-01-04 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=246In MEF's powerful new release, The Bro Code, filmmaker Thomas Keith takes aim at the forces in male culture that condition boys and men to dehumanize and disrespect women. Keith breaks down a range of contemporary media forms that are saturated with sexism -- movies and music videos that glamorize misogyny; pornography that trades in the brutalization of women; comedy routines that make fun of sexual assault; and a slate of men's magazines and cable TV shows whose sole purpose is to revel in reactionary myths of American manhood. The message he uncovers in virtually every corner of our entertainment culture is clear: It's not only normal -- but cool -- for boys and men to control and humiliate women. By showing how there's nothing natural or inevitable about this mentality, and by setting it against the terrible reality of men's violence against women in the real world, The Bro Code challenges young people to step up and fight back against the idea that being a real man means disrespecting women.Featuring interviews with Michael Kimmel, Robert Jensen, Shira Tarrant, J.W. Wiley, Douglas Rushkoff, Eric Anderson, and Neal King.DR. THOMAS KEITH | Director, Writer, ProducerDr. Thomas Keith teaches philosophy at California State University, Long Beach and California Polytechnic University. He specializes in American philosophy and pragmatism with an emphasis on issues of race, class, and gender. In 2008, Dr. Keith directed and produced the bestselling film, Generation M: Misogyny in Media & Culture, which is used in classrooms around the world.
The Purity Myth (2011) Trailer ChallengingMedia 2011-12-07 | Now Available on DVDhttp://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=247Produced & Distributed by the Media Education FoundationFeaturing Jessica ValentiIn this video adaptation of her bestselling book, pioneering feminist blogger Jessica Valenti trains her sights on "the virginity movement" -- an unholy alliance of evangelical Christians, right-wing politicians, and conservative policy intellectuals who have been exploiting irrational fears about women's sexuality to roll back women's rights. From dad-and-daughter "purity balls," taxpayer-funded abstinence-only curricula, and political attacks on Planned Parenthood, to recent attempts by legislators to de-fund women's reproductive health care and narrow the legal definition of rape, Valenti identifies a single, unifying assumption: the myth that the worth of a woman depends on what she does -- or does not do -- sexually. In the end, Valenti argues that the health and well-being of women are too important to be left to ideologues bent on vilifying feminism and undermining women's autonomy.
Screen-Free Week: April 18-24, 2011 ChallengingMedia 2011-04-18 | presented by Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/index.html endorsed by the Media Education Foundation http://www.mediaed.org
Returning Fire - Trailer - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2011-03-07 | http://www.mediaed.org Returning Fire Interventions in Video Game Culture a film by Roger Stahl Video games like Call of Duty, America's Army, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield are part of an exploding market of war games whose revenues now far outpace even the biggest Hollywood blockbusters. The sophistication of these games is undeniable, offering users a stunningly realistic experience of ground combat and a glimpse into the increasingly virtual world of long-distance, push-button warfare. Far less clear, though, is what these games are doing to users, our political culture, and our capacity to empathize with people directly affected by the actual trauma of war. For the culture-jamming activists featured in this film, these uncertainties were a call to action. In three separate vignettes, we see how Anne-Marie Schleiner, Wafaa Bilal, and Joseph Delappe moved dissent from the streets to our screens, infiltrating war games in an attempt to break the hypnotic spell of "militainment." Their work forces all of us -- gamers and non-gamers alike -- to think critically about what it means when the clinical tools of real-world killing become forms of consumer play.
Understanding Hookup Culture - Preview - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2011-02-21 | http://www.mediaed.org Understanding Hookup Culture What's Really Happening on College Campuses A Lecture by Paula England When it comes to intimacy and sex, young people today are apparently doing away with the old rules of romance and cutting straight to the chase. If recent reports are to be believed, the rise of hookup culture on college campuses is in the process of killing off dating and courtship, radically altering some of our most basic assumptions about heterosexual sex and gender. But for all the speculation, there's been little beyond anecdotal evidence to back any of these claims up. This lecture by Stanford University's Paula England, a leading researcher in the sociology of gender, aims to clarify what's actually going on. England mobilizes a wealth of data to begin to chart whether the phenomenon of hooking up represents some kind of fundamental change, or whether we're simply seeing age-old gender patterns dressed up in new social forms. Paula England is Professor of Sociology and an affiliate of the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University. Her research focuses on gender inequality in labor markets, and on how changes in family life are affected by the gender and class systems. She is a former editor of the American Sociological Review.
The Billionaires Tea Party - Trailer - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2011-02-21 | http://www.mediaed.org The Billionaires' Tea Party How Corporate America is Faking a Grassroots Revolution In the summer of 2009, shortly after Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress swept to power promising a new era of hope and change, a citizens protest movement emerged out of nowhere threatening to derail their agenda. Some said this uprising was the epitome of grassroots democracy. Others said it was a classic example of 'astroturfing' -- an elaborate corporate public relations effort designed to create the impression of a spontaneous uprising. Curious to find out for himself, Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham goes undercover into the heart of the movement. He visits raucous health care town hall meetings where irate voters parrot insurance industry PR; learns that home-grown "citizen groups" challenging the science behind climate change are funded by big oil companies; and infiltrates a tea party movement whose anti-government rage turns out to be less the product of populist rage than of corporate strategy. in the end, The Billionaire's Tea Party offers a terrifying look at how corporate elites are exploiting the anxieties of ordinary Americans -- capitalizing on anger, resentment, and paranoia to advance a narrow, often anti-democratic, agenda. (Educational version of [Astro] Turf Wars)
Not Just A Game - Trailer #1 - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-11-10 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just a Game Power, Politics & American Sports We've been told again and again that sports and politics don't mix, that games are just games and athletes should just "shut up and play." But according to Nation magazine sports editor Dave Zirin, this notion is just flat-out wrong. Not Just a Game, the powerful new documentary based on Zirin's bestselling book The People's History of Sports, argues that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, American sports have long been at the center of some of the major political debates and struggles of our time. In a fascinating tour of the good, the bad, and the ugly of American sports culture, Zirin first traces how American sports have glamorized militarism, racism, sexism, and homophobia, then excavates a largely forgotten history of rebel athletes who stood up to power and fought for social justice beyond the field of play. The result is as deeply moving as it is exhilarating: nothing less than an alternative history of political struggle in the United States as seen through the games its people have played. Dave Zirin Dave Zirin is the bestselling author of five books, the sports editor of The Nation magazine, and the host of Sirius XM Satellite's popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. His blog The Edge of Sports is read each week by thousands of people across the country. He is also a columnist for SLAM Magazine, The Progressive, and Sports Illustrated online, and his writing has appeared in numerous other publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Zirin has also brought his blend of sports and politics to multiple television programs, including ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, MSNBC's Morning Joe, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. His latest book, Bad Sports: How Owners are Ruining the Games We Love - which Naomi Klein described as an "original and scathing look at how America works" - has just been released from Scribner.
Not Just A Game - Jackie Robinson Teaser - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-29 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring Dave Zirin We've been brought up to believe that sports and politics don't mix -- that games are games and athletes should just "shut up and play." In the view of iconoclastic sportswriter Dave Zirin, this mentality cheapens both. In Not Just a Game, Zirin shows that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, sports have also reflected, and at times played a role in shaping, the political tensions and social struggles at the heart of American society. The film takes an uncompromising look at how sports culture has glamorized militarism, commercialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. But it also excavates a largely forgotten tradition of rebel athletes and sports writers to show how American sports culture, at its best, has modeled forms of courage, resistance, and perseverance that have enriched American life. Dave Zirin Named one of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for The Nation and is host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist for SLAM, The Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports and What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. His newest book release, A People's History of Sports in the United States, is part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. Zirin has appeared on ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN Radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and others.
This Land Is Our Land - Trailer - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-28 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=146 This Land is Our Land: The Fight to Reclaim the Commons A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring David Bollier For more than three decades, transnational corporations have been busy buying up what used to be known as the commons -- everything from our forests and our oceans to our broadcast airwaves and our most important intellectual and cultural works. In This Land is Our Land, acclaimed author David Bollier, a leading figure in the global movement to reclaim the commons, bucks the rising tide of anti-government extremism and free market ideology to show how commercial interests are undermining our collective interests. Placing the commons squarely within the American tradition of community engagement and the free exchange of ideas and information, Bollier shows how a bold new international movement steeped in democratic principles is trying to reclaim our common wealth by modeling practical alternatives to the restrictive monopoly powers of corporate elites. David Bollier David Bollier is an author, activist, blogger and consultant who has spent the past ten years exploring the commons as a new paradigm of economics, politics and culture. He has pursued this work in collaboration with a variety of international and domestic partners. He speaks widely about the commons, and recently co-founded a new international organization, Commons Strategies, dedicated to developing and promoting commons-based public policies and initiatives. In 2010, Bollier taught a course on the topic as the Croxton Lecturer at Amherst College. Bollier's latest book, Viral Spiral: How the Commoners Built a Digital Republic of Their Own (2009), describes the rise of free software, free culture, and the commons-based movements seeking to advance open business models, open science and open educational resources. His first book on the commons, Silent Theft: The Private Plunder of Our Common Wealth (2002), is now widely used in colleges around the world. It surveys the many market enclosures of people's shared resources, from public lands and the airwaves to public spaces, plant and animal genes, and knowledge. Brand Name Bullies: The Quest to Own and Control Culture (2005) documents the vast expansion of copyright and trademark law over the past generation. Bollier has worked with American television writer/producer Norman Lear since 1984, and is Senior Fellow at the Norman Lear Center at the USC Annenberg School for Communication. He is also Co-founder and board member of Public Knowledge, a Washington policy advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the information commons. Bollier lives in Amherst, Massachusetts. Visit David Bollier's site at http://www.bollier.org.
Not Just A Game - Preview - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-28 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring Dave Zirin We've been brought up to believe that sports and politics don't mix -- that games are games and athletes should just "shut up and play." In the view of iconoclastic sportswriter Dave Zirin, this mentality cheapens both. In Not Just a Game, Zirin shows that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, sports have also reflected, and at times played a role in shaping, the political tensions and social struggles at the heart of American society. The film takes an uncompromising look at how sports culture has glamorized militarism, commercialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. But it also excavates a largely forgotten tradition of rebel athletes and sports writers to show how American sports culture, at its best, has modeled forms of courage, resistance, and perseverance that have enriched American life. Dave Zirin Named one of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for The Nation and is host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist for SLAM, The Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports and What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. His newest book release, A People's History of Sports in the United States, is part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. Zirin has appeared on ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN Radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and others.
Not Just A Game - Muhammad Ali Teaser - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-28 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring Dave Zirin We've been brought up to believe that sports and politics don't mix -- that games are games and athletes should just "shut up and play." In the view of iconoclastic sportswriter Dave Zirin, this mentality cheapens both. In Not Just a Game, Zirin shows that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, sports have also reflected, and at times played a role in shaping, the political tensions and social struggles at the heart of American society. The film takes an uncompromising look at how sports culture has glamorized militarism, commercialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. But it also excavates a largely forgotten tradition of rebel athletes and sports writers to show how American sports culture, at its best, has modeled forms of courage, resistance, and perseverance that have enriched American life. Dave Zirin Named one of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for The Nation and is host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist for SLAM, The Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports and What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. His newest book release, A People's History of Sports in the United States, is part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. Zirin has appeared on ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN Radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and others.
Not Just A Game - Billie Jean King Teaser - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-28 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring Dave Zirin We've been brought up to believe that sports and politics don't mix -- that games are games and athletes should just "shut up and play." In the view of iconoclastic sportswriter Dave Zirin, this mentality cheapens both. In Not Just a Game, Zirin shows that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, sports have also reflected, and at times played a role in shaping, the political tensions and social struggles at the heart of American society. The film takes an uncompromising look at how sports culture has glamorized militarism, commercialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. But it also excavates a largely forgotten tradition of rebel athletes and sports writers to show how American sports culture, at its best, has modeled forms of courage, resistance, and perseverance that have enriched American life. Dave Zirin Named one of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for The Nation and is host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist for SLAM, The Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports and What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. His newest book release, A People's History of Sports in the United States, is part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. Zirin has appeared on ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN Radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and others.
Not Just A Game - Trailer #2 - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-10-28 | http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=151 Not Just A Game: Power, Politics & American Sports A Film by the Media Education Foundation Featuring Dave Zirin We've been brought up to believe that sports and politics don't mix -- that games are games and athletes should just "shut up and play." In the view of iconoclastic sportswriter Dave Zirin, this mentality cheapens both. In Not Just a Game, Zirin shows that far from providing merely escapist entertainment, sports have also reflected, and at times played a role in shaping, the political tensions and social struggles at the heart of American society. The film takes an uncompromising look at how sports culture has glamorized militarism, commercialism, racism, sexism, and homophobia. But it also excavates a largely forgotten tradition of rebel athletes and sports writers to show how American sports culture, at its best, has modeled forms of courage, resistance, and perseverance that have enriched American life. Dave Zirin Named one of the UTNE Reader's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World," Dave Zirin writes about the politics of sports for The Nation and is host of Sirius XM Radio's popular weekly show Edge of Sports Radio. Press Action's 2005 and 2006 Sportswriter of the Year, he is a columnist for SLAM, The Progressive, and a regular op-ed writer for the Los Angeles Times. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, New York Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, the Houston Chronicle, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Pittsburgh Courier, The Source, and numerous other publications. Zirin is the author of Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports and What's My Name, Fool? Sports and Resistance in the United States. His newest book release, A People's History of Sports in the United States, is part of Howard Zinn's People's History series for the New Press. Zirin has appeared on ESPN's Outside the Lines, MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, ESPN Classic, MSNBC's Morning Joe, CNN's The Campbell Brown Show, MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, Comcast Sports Network's Washington Post Live, Al-Jazeera's The Riz Khan Show, C-SPAN's BookTV, and Democracy Now with Amy Goodman. He has also been on numerous national radio programs including National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation and All Things Considered; Air America's 'On the Real' with Chuck D; The Laura Flanders Show; ESPN Radio; Stars and Stripes Radio; The Joe Madison Show; Pacifica's Hard Knock Radio, and others.
The Mean World Syndrome Preview ChallengingMedia 2010-09-24 | Now Available on DVD @ http://www.mediaed.org The Mean World Syndrome Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear A new film based on the late George Gerbner's groundbreaking analysis of media influence and media violence. Featuring George Gerbner and Michael Morgan For years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally.
The Mean World Syndrome Trailer 1 ChallengingMedia 2010-09-16 | Now Available on DVD @ http://www.mediaed.orgThe Mean World SyndromeMedia Violence & the Cultivation of FearA new film based on the late George Gerbner's groundbreaking analysis of media influence and media violence.Featuring George Gerbner and Michael MorganFor years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally.
The Mean World Syndrome Clip ChallengingMedia 2010-09-16 | Now Available on DVD @ http://www.mediaed.orgThe Mean World SyndromeMedia Violence & the Cultivation of FearA new film based on the late George Gerbner's groundbreaking analysis of media influence and media violence.Featuring George Gerbner and Michael MorganFor years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally.
Asking For It - The Ethics & Erotics of Sexual Consent [Clip] - Coming Soon to DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-08-04 | http://www.mediaed.orgAsking For ItThe Ethics & Erotics of Sexual ConsentThe line between sexual consent and sexual coercion is not always as clear as it seems -- and according to Harry Brod, this is exactly why we should approach our sexual interactions with great care. Brod, a professor of philosophy and leader in the pro-feminist men's movement, offers a unique take on the problem of sexual assault, one that complicates the issue even as it clarifies the bottom-line principle that consent must always be explicitly granted, never simply assumed. In a nonthreatening, non-hectoring discussion that ranges from the meanings of "yes" and "no" to the indeterminacy of silence to the way alcohol affects our ethical responsibilities, Brod challenges young people to envision a model of sexual interaction that is most erotic precisely when it is most thoughtful and empathetic. Ideal for classes in gender studies, communication, and sociology, and especially useful for extracurricular programs and workshops.Harry Brod is Professor of Philosophy and Humanities at the University of Northern Iowa. He is the author of White Men Challenging Racism: 35 Personal Stories, Theorizing Masculinities, Hegel's Philosophy of Politics: Idealism, Identity and Modernity, A Mensch Among Men: Explorations in Jewish Masculinity, and The Making of Masculinities: The New Men's Studies.
The Gloucester 18 [Trailer] - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-08-04 | http://www.mediaed.org The Gloucester 18 The Realities of Teen Pregnancy In 2008, eighteen high school girls from Gloucester, Massachusetts, were accused of making a pact to become pregnant. The mainstream media perpetuated and sensationalized the story, with reporters flying in from as far away as Australia, the UK, and Brazil. The Gloucester 18 looks behind all the headlines and hype to tell the real stories of these girls, and in the process puts a human face on a startling statistic: that the United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the developed world. The filmmakers draw on interviews with the girls, their families, high school counselors, physicians, and media personalities to unpack what really happened, and explore the complicated emotional and practical challenges faced by teens on the brink of motherhood. An excellent resource for high school health classes, teen pregnancy prevention programs, and courses in psychology, adolescent development, public health, and education. Directed by John Michael Williams
Killing Us Softly 4: Advertisings Image of Women [Trailer] - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-03-12 | Correction: This video contains the image of Giselle Bundchen incorrectly identified as Ana Carolina Reston. An updated video is available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWKXit_3rpQ&feature=youtu.behttp://www.mediaed.orgIn this new, highly anticipated update of her pioneering Killing Us Softly series, the first in more than a decade, Jean Kilbourne takes a fresh look at how advertising traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity. The film marshals a range of new print and television advertisements to lay bare a stunning pattern of damaging gender stereotypes -- images and messages that too often reinforce unrealistic, and unhealthy, perceptions of beauty, perfection, and sexuality. By bringing Kilbourne's groundbreaking analysis up to date, Killing Us Softly 4 stands to challenge a new generation of students to take advertising seriously, and to think critically about popular culture and its relationship to sexism, eating disorders, and gender violence.Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D. is internationally recognized for her groundbreaking work on the image of women in advertising and for her critical studies of alcohol and tobacco advertising. In the late 1960s she began her exploration of the connection between advertising and several public health issues, including violence against women, eating disorders, and addiction, and launched a movement to promote media literacy as a way to prevent these problems. A radical and original idea at the time, this approach is now mainstream and an integral part of most prevention programs. Her films, lectures and television appearances have been seen by millions of people throughout the world. Kilbourne was named by The New York Times Magazine as one of the three most popular speakers on college campuses. She is the creator of the renowned Killing Us Softly: Advertising's Image of Women film series and the author of the award-winning book Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel and co-author of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.
The Mean World Syndrome - Desensitization & Acceleration (Extra Feature) ChallengingMedia 2010-02-18 | Buy DVD at http://www.mediaed.org The Mean World Syndrome Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear A new film based on the late George Gerbner's groundbreaking analysis of media influence and media violence. Featuring George Gerbner and Michael Morgan For years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally. Also includes three additional short features -- ideal for classroom use -- that take a closer look at Gerbner's analysis and the Mean World Syndrome. 1. Media as Storytellers: "Nothing to Tell but a lot to Sell" -- Explores the significance of commercial media eclipsing religion and art as the great storyteller of our time. (7:32) 2. A Mean World Case Study: Child Abductions -- Provides an in-depth look at how media coverage of child abductions has fed parental anxieties out of proportion with statistical reality. (4:17) 3. Further Effects of the Mean World Syndrome: Desensitization & Acceleration -- Examines how heavy exposure to media violence normalizes violence, numbing some people to real-world violence even as it whets the appetite in others for ever-higher doses. (8:48)
The Mean World Syndrome - Media As Storytellers (Extra Feature) ChallengingMedia 2010-02-18 | Buy DVD at http://www.mediaed.org The Mean World Syndrome Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear A new film based on the late George Gerbner's groundbreaking analysis of media influence and media violence. Featuring George Gerbner and Michael Morgan For years, debates have raged among scholars, politicians, and concerned parents about the effects of media violence on viewers. Too often these debates have descended into simplistic battles between those who claim that media messages directly cause violence and those who argue that activists exaggerate the impact of media exposure altogether. The Mean World Syndrome, based on the groundbreaking work of media scholar George Gerbner, urges us to think about media effects in more nuanced ways. Ranging from Hollywood movies and prime-time dramas to reality programming and the local news, the film examines how media violence forms a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates in heavy viewers, especially, a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. A provocative and accessible introduction to cultivation analysis, media effects research, and the subject of media influence and media violence more generally. Also includes three additional short features -- ideal for classroom use -- that take a closer look at Gerbner's analysis and the Mean World Syndrome. 1. Media as Storytellers: "Nothing to Tell but a lot to Sell" -- Explores the significance of commercial media eclipsing religion and art as the great storyteller of our time. (7:32) 2. A Mean World Case Study: Child Abductions -- Provides an in-depth look at how media coverage of child abductions has fed parental anxieties out of proportion with statistical reality. (4:17) 3. Further Effects of the Mean World Syndrome: Desensitization & Acceleration -- Examines how heavy exposure to media violence normalizes violence, numbing some people to real-world violence even as it whets the appetite in others for ever-higher doses. (8:48)
Plunder: The Crime of Our Time - Trailer - Available on DVD ChallengingMedia 2010-02-18 | Buy DVD at http://www.mediaed.org Exposing the forces responsible for the loss of trillions of dollars, millions of jobs, massive foreclosures and the disappearance of retirement funds, Plunder: The Crime of Our Time investigates the unregulated fraud and theft that led to the market's collapse in fall 2008. Filmmaker Danny Schechter, Emmy Award-winning former ABC News and CNN producer, explores the epidemic of subprime mortgages, predatory lending, insurance scams, and high-risk hedge funds to illustrate the connection between the housing market and the economic collapse that followed. Schechter tells this story by speaking with bankers involved in these activities, respected economists, insider experts, and top journalists, including Paul Krugman, and convicted white-collar criminal Sam Antar. A must for economics, business, and sociology courses, as well as anyone who wants to understand the current financial situation.
![Killing Us Softly 4 - Trailer [Featuring Jean Kilbourne]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jWKXit_3rpQ/maxresdefault.jpg)