Haitian School Children

Images of War

The chapter entitled the Aesthetic Pleasures of War captivated me immediately. I was compelled to read on, wondering if the readers shared my view of how images of war were used as propaganda by the very individuals we entrusted with our freedom and security. However, instead of reflecting on the chapter per se, I will elaborate on how I believe images of war affect the viewer. With the dawn of the television age, war-torn scenes made their way into the very homes of people around the world. However, although at first it may have had shock value, the footage soon became a daily occurrence and lost its power to move. It was no longer that unfathomable to imagine human beings massacring each other. Furthermore, as long as the violence isn’t directly threatening the viewer or the viewer’s wellbeing, detachment occurs. Detachment from the horror. Detachment from the people affected. Detachment from one’s own sense of humanity.

Well, thankfully, I have noticed that although news clips may have lost their edge in terms of unnerving people, movies have been able to step up to the plate. Although many would argue that movies such as The Last King of Scotland, Shake Hands with the Devil, and Blood Diamond are romanticized, they have the ability to pull the viewer in and live vicariously through the characters. Everyone has heard of the saying: "Walk a mile in their shoes." Well, I believe that becoming enveloped in Solomon Vandy's life or Dr. Nicholas Garrigan is the closest we can get to doing that. It challenges us to feel. It forces us out of our comfort zone. It makes us realize that war is far from heroic or necessary or romantic. Like in any case, it is how media is used which is the issue, not media itself. Furthermore, it is a problem that so many individuals, including pre-service teachers, are not media literate and take what they see at face value instead of deconstructing it for deeper meaning. One says teachers should challenge students to be critical thinkers, but first one must become one oneself.

Smile While You're Bleeding

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1. A young girl from Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve in the eastern rain forest of Costa Rica.
2. Two Haitian boys carry water to their classrooms to wash lunch dishes.
3. Town children watching Haitian students play soccer from their balcony.

Photo Album

This photo album, entitled Smile While You're Bleeding, was created in order to demonstrate that many people who are impoverished are often captured as cheerful, giving the viewer the idea that "they're happy despite their poverty." However, behind the smiles do lie struggles- social justice battles, health crises, economic insecurities, etc.

Teaching Media Literacy Through Media Arts

Out of the various approaches one can take to address media literacy, I believe that arts media is probably the most efficient route to take when working with children. It gives students the chance to produce their own media art, which enables them to enter into the sphere of "creator." As the creator, they can evaluate what techniques work in such artistic productions such as television, film, and music, and which methods are less successful. It gives them the opportunity to explore the human psyche and how human beings interpret and absorb messages. From their experiences, they learn directly what influences and persuades them when viewing media, and why. Arts media also makes improving one's media literacy entertaining and tangibly relevant. However, as mentioned in Media Literacy: A Reader (2007) by Donaldo Macedo and Shirley R. Steinberg, media arts education should not simply be an opportunity for students' individualistic self-expression. Media arts should be a vehicle through which teachers dissect and discuss social issues and explore alternative modes of media production.

Which social issues one wants to deconstruct as a teacher may vary upon one's environment. I, for example, plan on eventually teaching in inner-city schools here in Montreal. One of the issues that I will most likely have to deal with is what I have termed "romanticized gangsterism." What I mean by this is the glorification of the thug lifestyle through the rap and hip-hop industry. I am an avid listener of such music; however, I am also critical of its lyrical content and aware of the images being projected at me. I do not simply absorb what I see and hear without deconstructing it for its hidden values and ideas. Essentially, I am media literate. Unfortunately, many children are not media literate, or at least not to any great extent. Therefore, the glocks, rocks, and dolla-dolla bills that permeate rap and hip-hop music become associated with coolness. Making gun signs with one's hands is a sign of strength. Wearing fake diamond-encrusted dollar symbols around one's neck is making a fashion statement. Young students forget that guns kill. They forget that human beings are virtually enslaved to maintain the real diamond industry. This is why teachers need to step in and take advantage of students' interest in media; not because they need to persuade children to stop listening to Notorious B.I.G., but because they need to help students understand why Biggie Smalls grew up in the ghetto, how it influenced his life, why he raps about drugs, guns, and a hardknock life. That is our responsibility. That is our job.

Technologically Handicapped

Technologically handicapped. This is how I used to categorize myself in terms of technological aptitude. As a child and adolescent, I quickly learned to offer this catch phrase as my excuse for not knowing how to work a computer, a cellphone, a digital camera... you name it. People found it endearing that I adamantly refused to join the 21st century, and therefore, I was even more convinced to bask in my ignorance. However, my last stage changed my attitude completely. I began a project with my students that I was very passionate about. It involved them writing their own rap poems, taking photos of themselves, and then recording their voices, as well as adding in instrumental rap beats. I was determined to perfect and complete this endeavor, no matter how impossible it seemed, and so I challenged myself to familiarize myself with my cooperating teacher's iMac laptop and the following programs: iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. I carefully listened to online guides, downloaded, redownloaded, recorded, rerecorded, and asked numerous questions. Eventually, I burned a souvenir DVD for each of my students. Throughout my internship, as I saw my project become a work of art, I continually developed a deeper sense of appreciation for technology. I was no longer simply a skeptical, uninformed adult, but one who could celebrate the many tools offered by computer technology.

However, despite the fact that I see technology's benefits, I am certainly also aware that technology and media institutions can promote idealogies that can be destructive to an individual's personal development. This "cultural critic" perspective has activism as its main goal and tries to fight stereotypes, while also liberating oppressing groups of people. The fact that technology can be misused, like anything else, makes it vital that teachers help their students to become "educated consumers" of the media and technology that surrounds them.