Burton Borough Recommended Viewing List
During a recent parent forum a parent made a fantastic suggestion. We were discussing the positive ways we try to encourage students to broaden their horizons and set high expectations for themselves and the BBS reading list came up. We encourage students to try and read a minimum of 6 books a year from the list and it was mentioned that it can be very difficult for some parents to get their children to meet this standard. Most students in years 7 to 11 however do seem to have an ability to pay rapt attention to a screen so would it be possible to have a film list as well as a book list? There are many important, ground-breaking, life-enhancing films out there; surely we can put together something that will achieve some of the same things that a book list can do. So the BBS recommended viewing list was born.
Children are very good at noticing differences. From an early age they can identify from a variety of cartoon character faces they haven’t seen before, who are the “good” and “bad” characters.
This can often be based on their belief that a character looks like another character they’ve seen who is similar. They’ll then make the assumption that a face they’re shown looks like a ‘princess’ or a ‘criminal’.
It’s important that young people not only have a varied world of characters but also that these characters have a wide variety of characteristics. It’s okay for characters to have a non-English accent, but good guys – not just bad guys – should have them too. The heroes can be male and female; non-white characters don’t have to be the sidekick; the villains can be more than one-dimensional representations of evil.
Some films are ground-breaking; they break the mould by showing the complexity and variety of cultures and experiences out there in the world, influencing us to change the way we think and feel. At their best, films show us the world beyond our experience and, in doing so, open our eyes to a reality that we didn’t even know existed.
They do this by being set in space; in 17th century Japan; 1950’s Chicago; the mythical land of Florin. They have characters we can identify with and others we find a challenge to understand. They can make us feel comfortable and happy; they can sometimes be difficult to watch to the end.
If books can take us to places and teach us about lives outside our own then why not films? If books aren’t your thing then take a look at this list. We hope you’ll find something that you’ll not only enjoy but might just open your eyes to a world or experience you never knew existed. You’ll be surprised, elated, saddened, reassured; you’ll be entertained and educated in a way that hopefully you’ll find rewarding.
Happy viewing.