Women's Movie Series summary

Goals: To teach through the example of teaching stories found in Fairy Tales, Mythology, and Religion of how every youth must transverse the wasteland of their lives to adulthood and them selves. By using popular media I help to teach these ancient stories through technology adapted for our modern audience. The youths will learn to find more than style and gags from movies to lead their lives by, but lessons addressed by the hero’s. Youths will learn the road to redemption, justification, salvation, and justice by the power of their own self. Audio, visual, and written teaching methods will be applied. Special emphasis will be put on personal empowerment and understanding the roots of a co-dependant relationship.

The cell: Day One
Duration: One and Half Hours
Preparation: TV, VCR/DVD, Seating, and cheap sources of sugar to stimulate those with low blood sugar and ADD.

In this lecture we will discuss main scenes from the movie The Cell in which Jennifer Lopez stars as a psychologist entering the mind of a serial Killer to find the location of his last victim before she dies. This movie will illustrate the various Jungian Archetypes found within the subconsciousness and how they act out when broken into pieces. We will see the inner child, the shadow, the anima/fairy god mother, and the bipolar aggressive/passive ego. This movie shows empowerment of a non Caucasian woman to save the day and her own life. We will discuss the fairy tale of Bluebeard and how it relates to their life choices, CO-dependence, shame and guilt, and to find the seed of their problems. To steal back the golden eggs of their soul from their evil stepmother/father ogres.Themselve! To no longer address the symptoms but the disease.

Company of Wolves: Day Two lecture
Duration: Two and Half Hours
Preparation: TV,VCR/DVD, seating, and cheap sources of sugar to stimulate those with low blood sugar and ADD.

In this lecture we will watch the movie Company of Wolves based on the acclaimed novel by Angela Carter; The Bloody Chamber. In this movie and book are addressed fairy tales that keep their Jungian archetypes but put the stories into a feminist view point of empowerment. It is the story of the dreams of a young lady on the verge of adulthood and her place in the world. Fairy Tale elements are depicted here like the inner wild child coming out of the well of the subconscious, straying from the trail of society, danger of men in sheep’s clothing, and the removal of the witch from the mind. It is a movie on a young woman’s journey to adulthood. Class is asked to take readings home on Jungian and fairy tale archetypes and read handouts on fairy tales from Carter and Pinkola-Estes. From there the class is asked to write an essay on the hardest thing about their teenage years using the information gained in the lecture and readings.

Beauty and the Beast: Day Three Lecture
Duration: Two and Half Hours
Preparation: TV, VCR/DVD, Seating, and cheap sources of sugar to stimulate those with low blood sugar and ADD.

In this lecture we will watch the original black and white movie by Jean Cocteau of Beauty and the Beast. This will pick up on the readings of Bluebeard and develop those themes further. But this time, what happens when the mother is gone when a child goes through puberty. How she chooses her mates and gets caught in the grips of a father who will not let go of his daughter out of fear of losing her. The idea of double characters will be developed to illustrate the dual nature of the men women date. The best worst person. Themes of independence, and self caring will be developed. Class will be asked to write an essay on how the people they dated are just like or totally opposite from their fathers. Can they be caring for them and themselves at the same time?

Wizard of Oz: Day Four Lecture
Duration: Two and Half Hours
Preparation: TV, VCR/DVD, Seating, and cheap sources of sugar to stimulate those with low blood sugar and ADD.

In this lecture this lecture we will find out if a little girl can bring the country out of the Great Depression, we all can take our own lives into our own hands and save them. Frank Baum wrote the Wizard of Oz as a tale about a young girl who is going to walk silver shoes on a golden brick road to Washington to tell the man behind the curtain he should take the country off the gold standard and put us on the silver. On the way she will meet the farmer who thinks he has no brain, the factory worker who thinks he lost his heart in the city, and the local politician that means well, promises large, and thinks he has no courage to stand up to the senators and presidents. They will find out that everything they felt they were lacking was within their power all along. Dorothy will also confront the negative and healthy sides of her dead mother, in the Good Witch of the North and the Wicked Witch of the East. The dual character theme again. This movie will show how a woman can empower herself and take power to fix a community or a world, back from spin doctors and fake leaders who only hide behind curtains. Also we will see how the healthy image of Aunty Em removes the witch in her mind as Dorothy throws water on the Wicked Witch, putting her back into the subconscious. This movie teachers women they can overcome their past and become heroes, it has always been within them to do so. Just click their heals, they can work on getting home. On this last day suggestions for future readings, movies, and audios will be mentioned for self education.

Day Five: The Return
Duration: Two Hours
Preparation: Request sheets filled and fulfilled, Plates and utensils, Extra Garbage cans, seating with round 36” tables, and T.V.,
VCR/DVD.

Four months later I will return to see how the students are doing on their journey. We will recap on the previous lectures. Tell each other our lives stories since the last time we met. Find our growth and blockades. We will watch the movie Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood. In this movie we will learn about a text book example about the borderline mom, the passive father, and the daughter always playing the savior. Some sort of reward will be requested for this day for the students like Pizza. Or each student before returning to this last lecture will fill out a last request sheet. A last favorite meal to honor their old life and commemorate their new one upon their journey to their self. Or something that could only be acquired from the outside world.*

 

* After the fifth lecture in any of these series, the students are welcome to personal counseling if they so desire. To promote and create friendships from advisor to peers. Hopefully one day, to teachers.