Wednesday, April 01, 2009
I have chosen to use the popular Shrek 2 cartoon movie as a lesson resource as it is one of the more controversial cartoons that challenges the ideologies of typical fairy tales. By evaluating how stereotypes are challenged in Shrek 2 through a deconstruction of the movie, it is hoped that students will be able to take a more critical stance in analysing texts and images to question the realities depicted by the society.
To start off the lesson, the teacher can ask students to describe how the typical fairy tale characters (Prince, princess, stepmother etc.) usually look like and students would probably give the following responses:
To start off the lesson, the teacher can ask students to describe how the typical fairy tale characters (Prince, princess, stepmother etc.) usually look like and students would probably give the following responses:
Prince - Tall, handsome, strong
Princess - Fair, slim, beautiful, big eyes
Stepmother - Old, evil looking eyes (Slitted eyes)
Hero - Man, brave, big eyes, tall
Villian - Dark, ugly, sharp features, evil looking eyes (Slitted eyes)
Following that, teacher will show the cartoon Shrek 2 (As I can only find the trailer, it will be used to represent the show) and students will be asked if anything has changed, based on how they interpret the gender and racial representation in fairy tales. In this way, students will be able to go through the meaning making process to extract the hidden ideologies and stereotypes that exist within the "innocent-looking" cartoons.
Teacher can get students to think in line with the guidelines below as found from http://www.birchlane.davis.ca.us/library/10quick.htm.
1. Check the Illustrations
- Look for Stereotypes.
- Look for Tokenism.
- Who's Doing What?
2. Check the Story Line
- Standards for Success.
- Resolution of Problems.
- Role of Women.
3. Look at the Lifestyles
4. Weigh the Relationships Between People>
5. Note the Heroes6. Consider the Effect on a Child's Self-Image
7. Consider the Author's or Illustrator's Background
8. Check Out the Author's Perspective
9. Watch for Loaded Words
Examples of meanings that students may make from the video:
Princess Fiona is not the sweet young thing in the movie, instead, she is a feisty kung fu fighting ogress heroine who is nothing like the beautiful and weak princesses in typical fairy tales.
Shrek is also not the handsome looking prince as student were raised to assume, instead, he is shown as an ugly ogre.
Princess Fiona was the heroine when Shrek was caught in a trap, as she fought off the villians with her kung fu.
Lastly, the teacher can get students to rewrite another fairy tale to challenge some of the stereotypes that exist in the story and they can also try to draw pictures to illustrate how the characters may look like in their modified versions.
Labels: Unsworth (2001) article response
8:36 AM
Jess Chen...
