[Air-L] suggestions for movies on communication technology and social change

Wed Jul 13 14:44:01 PDT 2016

All:

This is a list I made for a different project.  Some of it is a little off
topic of the original post but I thought I'd share.  A lot of these also
have communications as a central component or at least the media.  I think
*Network* is also a good move (among many others here) as well as *Surrogates
*in terms of mediated experiences.

Also, here is a searchable database of Sci-Fi movies which is pretty
comprehensive and could be a good resource:

http://www.scifi-movies.com/english/films-alpha-a-1-browse-movies-by-alphabetic-list.htm

As a warning, though, *Ice Spiders *is on this list.  But you can search by
theme as well.

Social Structure
a. *Pleasantville* (1998) (124 mins)
b. *The Truman Show* (1998) (103 mins)
c. *Dark City* (1998) (100 mins)

Social Interaction
a. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) (137 mins)
b. Short Circuit (1986) (98 mins)
c. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (146 mins)
d. Her (2013) (126 mins)
e. Big Hero 6 (2014) (102 mins)

Culture, Media, Communication
c. The Running Man (1987) (101 mins)
d. The Hunger Games (2012) (142 min)
e. Galaxy Quest (1999) (102 mins)

Crime, Deviance, Social Control
a. A Clockwork Orange (1971) (136 mins)
b. Fahrenheit 451 (1966) (112 mins)  Book works too, is better than movie
c. V for Vendetta (2005) (132)  Graphic Novel also accepted

Power, Politics and Social Movements
a. Hackers (1995) (107 mins)
b. The Matrix (1999) (136 mins)
c. Ghost in the Shell (1996) (83 mins)
d. The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014) (105 mins)
e. Rollerball (1975) (125 mins) Most important date on the list.
f. Logan’s Run (1976) (119 mins)
g. Other movies on this list: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls055167700/

Race, Ethnicity & Immigration
a. District 9 (2009) (112 mins)
b. The Time Machine (2002) (96 mins) / (1960) (103 mins)
c. Enemy Mine (1985) (108 mins)
d. Gattaca (1997) (106 mins)
e. Blade Runner (1982) (117 mins)

Gender & Sex
a. Alien / Aliens (1979/1986) (117 mins/137 mins)
b. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) (120 mins)
c. Tank Girl (1995) (104 mins)  Graphic Novel OK too
d. Children of Men (2006) (109 mins)  Book OK too, Movie better

Markets, Organizations & Work / Class & Social Stratification
a. Jurassic World (2015) (124 mins)
b. Robocop (1987) (102 mins) / (2014) (117) -- Older one is easier to make
this argument
c. Resident Evil (2002) (100 mins)
d. Johnny Mnemonic (1995) (96 mins)
e. Repo Men (2010) (111 mins)
f. Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) (98 mins)
g. A.I Artificial Intelligence (2001) (146 mins)

Environment & Health
a. Avatar (2009) (162 mins)
b. Silent Running (1972) (89 mins)
c. Wall-E (2008) (98 mins)
d. Elysium (2013) (109 mins)
e. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) (119 mins)
f. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) (108 mins)
g. Immortal (Ad Vitam) (2004) (103 mins

Hope something on here proves useful,

-Michelle Alexander

On Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 11:00 AM, Beth Corzo-Duchardt <
bcorzo-duchardt at muhlenberg.edu> wrote:

> Looks like we’re generating a great list, I hope someone compiles a master
> list and shares it. The dystopic versions of these stories are particularly
> interesting to me, so I have lots of examples. I’ve included some that
> haven’t yet been mentioned below. But I’d also suggest that in addition to
> giving students a list of 5 or so films (and/or TV shows, I think some have
> already mentioned *Black Mirror* and *Mr. Robot*), you encourage them to
> come up with their own examples. I do a similar assignment and I find that
> students never cease to come up with interesting interpretations of films
> I’d never have considered in those terms. For example, one of my students
> talked about how *Gone Girl* (David Fincher, 2014) makes an argument about
> the power of the news media to guide public opinion.
>
> Some interesting early examples that mirror today’s discussions about
> mediated identity construction and the documentary power of moving images:
> *Hoodoo Ann* (Ingraham, 1916). A girl accidentally shots a gun as she’s
> mimicking a Western star and mistakenly believes she’s killed a man because
> she applies (faulty) movie-logic to interpret the real-life events.
> *A Reckless Romeo* (Fatty Arbuckle, 1917) A philandering husband is caught
> on film and publicly shamed when he appears in a public service newsreel
> entitled “Mashers in our Parks Must be Stopped” (in contemporary parlance,
> to *mash* meant to *come on to* someone who was unwelcoming)
> *Sherlock Jr.* (Buster Keaton, 1924) a boy dreams himself into a movie
> where he becomes a better version of himself. In the end, he wakes up and
> in the film’s final seconds kisses the girl of his dreams after learning
> from the movie exactly what to do.
>
>
> Two films that I often use clips from for in-class examples in advance of
> the assignment are:
> *Idiocracy* (Mike Judge, 2006) A pretty terrible and somewhat racist film
> about a future dystopia where American citizens have become stupefied by
> evermore vapid TV programming and automated living. Despite, or actually,
> because of it’s failings, I find it to be very teachable.
> *Wall-E* (Andrew Stanton, 2008) This popular Disney/Pixar collaboration
> depicts a future of fat, lazy, stupid and disconnected humans that is very
> similar to the world of Idiocracy, though it does have a feel-good
> environmentalist message.
>
> Has anyone mentioned *Tron* (Steven Lisberger, 1982)? It sort of fits the
> digital activism mold, though ironically it was funded by a company a lot
> like the villain on the movie (Disney) to help sell video games.
>
> All Best,
> Beth
>
>
> Beth Corzo-Duchardt, PhD
> Visiting Assistant Professor of Media & Communication
> Muhlenberg College
> bcorzo-duchardt at muhlenberg.edu <mailto:bcorzo-duchardt at muhlenberg.edu>
> bethcorzoduchardt.com <http://bethcorzoduchardt.com/>
>
>
>
>
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