D.C.: Teacher shows bootleg "Passion" to 6th-graders

[Blue_Tires]

WTTG

quote
(03.04.04) — Some parents are furious and a teacher may be in trouble today after showing his students a controversial movie.

The teacher at Malcolm X Elementary School allegedly showed a group of 6th-graders excerpts from the movie "The Passion of the Christ."
unquote



wrong on so many levels...I mean, a bootleg??? cheap AND classless LOL

EDIT: More at WUSA's site
more in depth

[alcuno]

1. How about an elementary teacher showing an "R" rated film.

I KNOW I'd lose my job for that.

[GernBlanston]

2. My son is in 5th grade...

And I would absolutely BREAK a teacher for showing that movie to him in a classroom. Like over my knee, break.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Welcome to DU, Gern

I love the handle! I've used it myself often!

[GernBlanston]

8. Thanks, Finn :)

[newyawker99]

39. Hi Gern Blanston!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[aquart]

4. Proselytizing in class?

As you say, wrong on sooooooo many levels.

Question: How long was the class? How much of the movie was shown? Which parts? WHAT WAS THE LESSON PLAN?

[maggrwaggr]

5. wow, you can't make up something that hypocritical

Showing a bunch of children an R-rated movie that has been obtained illegally.

Is that fucked up or what?

[kichigai usagi]

6. You will also notice

that she only showed selected clips from the movie, which means she could twist it into anything she wanted. And i'm not even going to start on the fact that it was the " Malcom X Elementery school ".

[plurality]

17. yes it could be twisted anyway wanted.

How do you know it wasn't twisted in away that you'd approve of?

And what's wrong with Malcom X Elementary? Would you rather it be J. Edgar Hoover Elementary, or Richard Nixon El.?

[Blue_Tires]

7. the teacher was a history teacher, no less...

You'd probably need a permission slip to show this movie to 12th-graders, much less sixth...

I remember using a permission slip in sixth grade so we could watch Ben Hur...i know, different times, and we used permission slips for a lot of things then...

[LizW]

9. That is so wrong

I don't know where to start.

My middle school age son has to have a permission slip signed for EVERY movie shown at school, and the movies were very mild.

And what the heck was the teacher doing showing this movie at school, anyway? Not to mention that it was a bootleg copy.

You couldn't make this stuff up. :eyes:

[girl gone mad]

10. "But not al parents agree,

"it's not that big a deal, they see much worse things than that," a parent with an opposing view said."


Um... I hope my son hasn't seen worse things than that by the 6th grade. The movie is extremely brutal.

[MountainLaurel]

34. Actually, these kids probably have seen worse

They live in a neighborhood where it's not particularly unusual to find a dead gang member in a park, or to see a drive-by walking to the corner store, or to know a neighbor or family member killed in a violent manner.

Not to mention the indignity of living in third-world poverty a mile from the goddamned Capital building.

[Blue_Tires]

11. ttt n/t

[seabeyond]

12. 11/12 year olds

aaaahhhhhm he would so be in trouble with me

[Az]

13. May be in trouble?

Why is this person still drawing money from our tax pool?

[Muddleoftheroad]

14. Just for clarity

I have defended both religious folks and those who wish to see The Passion. This does NOT fall into the appropriate category.

The teacher in question here should be fired.

[plurality]

18. I think the context of how the film was shown should be considered first.

We have no idea what 'lesson' the teacher was trying to impart.

I imagine quite a few people hear would get up in arms if they found out teachers were requiring students to read 'Mein Kampf', without knowing why the teacher was requiring it. But perhaps they would approve if they found out the teacher was requiring it so that students would be able to recognize fascism when it presents itself.

[seabeyond]

22. not with the visibly presented violence

no. i dont feed my kids that. and that is a parent call. i dont care what the lesson is. i talked to baptist teacher about this, is a form of abuse to put a child to visually see that violence. even with it being jesus

or facism.

there are other ways to teach it and it is not this way

i dont suggest letting kids watching hard porn, to teach them how our culture degrade females, even though that is a worthwhile subject

[plurality]

24. how do you know he/she showed the violent parts?

It says in the article the teacher showed clips, not the whole movie, so how do you know which clips were shown.

Now granted I haven't seen the movie, but I assume there were some scenes that didn't have blood flying all over the place. Isn't it possible that the teacher could have shown these scenes. Considering it doesn't say either way, I think it's only fair to consider every possibility until more facts are presented.

[seabeyond]

26. you are right pularity

if this person took the time to make sure the violent scenes werent there then in my school i couldnt have a lot of issue cause it is a religious school and i well know what i volunteerily enrolled my children into and as a matter of fact, a couple days after talking to teacher telling her my feeling on showing children this movie they showed the whole school clips, and they were the non violent scenes and i left it alone

now if it is a public school, then i go into, what is this teacher doing bringing this subject into a school, again not their place to share their religious beliefs without informing the parents, so the parents have the opportunity to discuss with children what they are being taught and conditioned cause in public school they are not under the same contract of sharing religious beliefs

but then that goes to a whole nother area and i could play all over the place with that one. all sides.

[plurality]

30. religious subjects are allowed to be taught in public schools

It just has to be taught in a non-religious manner. I know that sounds odd, but for instance you can teach about Jesus the historical figure, but not Jesus the son of God. Again in eighth grade, we read the Book of Job in my English class. Most would think reading a religious text in public school is wrong, and it would be if we were reading it in the, this is the word of God manner. But instead we read it as purely a literary work, and that was acceptable.

On edit- The teacher all had us read chapters of the Qu'ran, so it wasn't just an underhanded way of trying to get Christianity into the classroom.

[seabeyond]

32. yup

:thumbsup:

[Az]

35. Yep, as long as they only teach about the historical Jesus

Course, thats problematic as there is no evidence of a historical Jesus. A couple of suggestions but that would be covered in a moment.

[plurality]

38. There's just as much evidence of a historical Jesus as there is...

evidence of a historical Julius Caesar, or Alexander the Great, yet for some reason there's no controversy over whether they really existed or not. And for that matter, do we have any REAL proof that there was a George Washington? After all, there may be some old documents and stuff, but they could have been fabricated just like all the ones that must have been fabricated if there never was a Jesus.

In fact, how do we know for sure that there was ever ANYONE that lived before us? Some things you just have to have faith in I guess.

[seabeyond]

31. you are even more right, lol

as i sat in conversation during shower. need more info, absolutely. i have been seeing the use of this movie solely to bring others to christ. a tool. yet i can equally see someone with children this age using it to show all the different directions our society is going without the attempt to convert. would have to be how he/she present and what was being taught

thank you for this.

has a lot to do with my experience in this movie so far. and what i am listening to from children, as i bring home what they say and then flip it to what we are doing with the movie. if my kids can understand then absolutely good for 11/12 year olds

thanks

[fujiyama]

44. Having seen the movie...

I can tell you, there are FEW parts where blood isn't shown. It's a very brutal, realistically violent film (realistic in the sense, it's not Kill Bill ridiculous gore).

I remember I had to get permission slips for R rated movies during my senior year of high school for God's sakes. The teacher should be fired.

[Jacobin]

15. I'd be pissed. It's rated "R" and its full of

sado masochistic crap, blood, guts and gratuitous obscenity.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

40. So....

You have seen the movie?

[plurality]

16. What context was the film shown in?

I'd like to know that before I jump all over this teachers ass.

The teacher could have been showing the clips as an example of the twisting of history by certain religious groups. And as it was clips and not the whole movie he/she could have shown non-violent parts.

I remember watching "Romeo and Juliet" in eighth grade. It showed bare breasts and pubic hair, which I assumed would have made it rated R. I'm glad no fundamentalists jumped on her ass for showing an R rated movie to us as she was by far the best teacher I ever had.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

19. My question:

what the hell was a teacher doing with a bootleg copy of a copyrighted film?

That's against the law.

Period.

[plurality]

21. maybe it wasn't bootlegged.

The teacher might have asked for and received clips of the movie from the producers.

There's just not enough information in this story to pass judgement in my opinion.

By all means if the teacher was using the film to proselytize and/or it was stolen, then he/she should be punished. But in principle I like to wait for all the facts before I start throwing out punishments.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

28. Having worked in the industry I can tell you...

that was not the case. The only theatrical film footage that is released prior to DVD/VHS is in the form of trailers or clips, and that is strictly for advertising purposes.

There is no way any such footage of a theatrical release film should have been in the hands of a teacher.

[plurality]

33. Generally that is the case

But it seems Mr. Gibson has used some outside the norm methods of marketing his film, so he may have decided to make an exception, however unlikely.

Chances are it is an illegal copy, and if that is the case, I would say appropriate measures should be taken. However, as is the problem with all media attention given to any matters like this, an incomplete account is given, which leads to people jumping to conclusions without all the facts. I on the other hand prefer to know exactly what happened before passing any kind of judgement, it's the only way one can make the corect judgement.

[theHandpuppet]

25. Exactly what I was thinking, too

Evidently the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" was not being taught in this class!

[LeahMira]

45. Better choices exist...

The teacher could have been showing the clips as an example of the twisting of history by certain religious groups.


Plenty of better examples exist, if that's the point you're trying to make. For that matter, s/he could have taped any segment of the 700 Club.

[spanone]

20. R-rated too!!!!!

[PATRICK]

23. Showing any film

version of any reenacted historical event is so prejudicial and flawed that it takes a lot more critique than a sixth grade can bring to bear automatically. Even documentaries are weighted with points of view and prejudice.

Just another level of wrongness, besides the added publicity for a failed film.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

41. Failed film?????

It failed? Geez, if it failed I'd hate to see what a Successful film did in it's first week.

[havocmom]

27. Any bets? Teacher wants early retirement paid for from lawsuit $$

if fired? Wants to go running around claiming persecution due to religious beliefs?

What kind of odds is Bill Bennett giving on this one?

I fear we are in for a lot of people looking to be 'persecuted' by society just like the Christ was. Messiah complexes will be rampant this year.

[dawn]

29. OMG...that is so irresponsible.

I'd be mad if I had a child and he or she was forced to watch that by some wacko teacher.

[bhunt70]

36. should let the parents make that decision.

[lapislzi]

37. Talk about "wrong on so many levels"

...let me count the ways.

Never mind fired. The teacher should be prosecuted. Good thing it wasn't at my daughter's school.

[KharmaTrain]

42. Before You Judge...What If This Were Bowling For Columbine??

I'd like to know more about the context of which this teacher was showing the movie...bootleg or not.

If this was being shown as part of a discussion of comparative religions or cultures or current events, I see nothing wrong with this being shown to 12 year olds.

I'd have a lot more problem if the school was promoting the movie along political or religious lines.

[seabeyond]

43. again with columbine

i think it is a movie that older kids and adults should watch, or would be good for people to watch just to see different angles........but again there is stuff in there i dont think younger kids should see and would have to be a learning non agenda tool and i believe parents would have to be told ahead of time.