The popularity of adolescent fantasy movies about cosmic war and the enjoyment of military adventures that we find in World War II movies suggest the unique importance of war-themed culture in fostering solidarity in large, complex, and factionalized societies. War movies offset the power of sub-cultural movements by emphasizing the togetherness…

This article aims at taking a look at a genre that is popular with both children and adults, yet mostly neglected in curricula: animated films. As a study conducted in a German secondary school demonstrated, the potential of this genre for Teaching English as a Foreign Language lies mostly in its strong visual language as well as its connection to…

This paper examines how student teachers and language learners might learn to question perspectives and develop critical literacy through critiquing of texts. Focusing on work in an in-service teacher education course, the discussion explores how to help English language learners to read text representations critically, in order to identify…

Popular culture, especially movie culture, is the arena where the struggles of the diverse cultures belonging to age groups are carried out. "Moonrise Kingdom" is an unusual movie, different from the usual summer or coming of age movies. In such movies, different theories of youth are displayed, providing tools for constructing the…

Movies that treat the imagined future and that deal with issues of adolescence coming to adulthood are represented by "The Hunger Games." The role of movies that present a dystopic view of the future in our actual attempts to deal with contemporary adolescence is discussed in this article. The use of images of the future as…

Although mounting evidence in Western nations indicates that entertainment media influence young people's sexual socialisation, virtually no research has addressed the topic in sub-Saharan Africa. The present study employed 14 focus groups of Ugandan high school students to identify media through which they were exposed to sexual content, how they…

"Princess Mononoke," "Akira," and "Cowboy Bebop" may not be household names. But in the world of anime, or Japanese animation, they are among the top 10 films ever made. With its complex plots and moral messages, anime is as intelligent as some of the best feature films. From the epic fantasy "Ninja Scroll"…

An authority on the history of American children and families, Steven Mintz is a professor of history at Columbia University, where he also directs the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Teaching Center. Previously, he was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Moores Professor of…

The question is not whether literacy practices are present in contemporary popular culture--it is hard not to find a movie or program without some representation of literacy in it. The more important and useful question is, How do we in the audience interpret the literacy practices we find in popular culture? What do such representations tell us…

Background: Teenagers experience wars not only in the actual war zones but also in the home, school, and street fronts. Sometimes they are the innocent victims of bullying. Often confused, they do not know how to survive in bullying situations. Adults such as movie makers and educators have taken on the responsibility of helping teenagers. The…

This article describes the formation and enactment of a student and teacher-generated framework for re-authoring a troubling representation of Black masculinity in a popular culture narrative. This data-driven framework highlights the ways students and teacher provided a means for literacies to serve students' desire to re-author images and words…

The book aims to change the conversation about sexuality education for adolescents, making it consistent with a democratic cultural politics that is attuned to changes in youth and popular culture. Traditional sex education is nearly obsolete; sexuality curriculum is now primarily learned through popular culture and youth culture, which teach…

This paper focuses on the wildly successful blockbuster "American Pie" teenpics, especially "American Pie 3--The Wedding". I argue that these films are specifically designed to appeal to teenage male audiences, and to provide lessons in sex and romance. Movies like this are especially important as they are experienced by far more teenagers than,…

Investigates Darth Vader's character from the "Star Wars" movies, stimulated by the psychiatric treatment of a schizophrenic male with the delusion that he was Darth Vader. Discusses the temptations and threats from Darth Vader, which coincide with themes and fantasies of childhood and adolescence. Suggests that Darth Vader's sacrifice…

Anticipatory organizational socialization begins in childhood as girls and boys are exposed to various messages from a range of sources. One of these sources is the film. The following study examines eighteen films, released between 2000 and early 2004, targeting teenage girls to explore messages that they receive about gender and possible…