This Christmas, let's go to the movies!
This Christmas you can try to choose a good movie to go to the movies with the whole family. Afterwards, you can go to have a hamburger all together, or a sandwich, sandwich, etc., just after the session. Or sit in a bar to have a drink. The protagonist's adventures, his illusions, etc. they will become the topic of conversation and, guided by you, the children will learn to have criteria.
Nobody doubts that the movie movies they are an instrument of culture, a formative medium, both for children and adolescents and for adults. But the same thing that helps to form certain aspects of the personality of adolescents can also become a "deforming" medium. So you have to try to learn to watch movies because nobody is born knowing how to watch a movie. And more now that with the Christmas holidays there is more time to spend a magical afternoon in front of a huge screen movie.
Going to the cinema has a special charm and already assumes a certain critical spirit (you have to make an effort to decide the movie, buy the ticket, sometimes take a public transport to get to the room ...) that is completely lost before the device of television and before the remote control. It is not the same, it is something that moviegoers affirm, to see a movie in a film that is a video. It can not be compared.
Everyone to the cinema: fostering critical thinking
There is no need to go to the movies, but there is a convenience. Like it is very convenient to read the newspaper. In this society in which we live, visual messages are very important. Perhaps parents are not so accustomed, but children, even as children, receive a great deal of information through sight and audiovisual media.
That's why it's convenient for a teenager to watch movies. But it is even more important that you watch good movies. A boy of that age needs a cultural education and film films usually reflect the environments, the values, the interests very well. Of course, under some points of view sometimes very wrong.
And of this there are many examples. The movie The strength of one It shows a series of values that are very important for an adolescent: fidelity in friendship, the ability to serve to teach the weakest, everything that refers to solidarity.
Example of values: the selection of movies
It is important that the films that our children see have a significant amount of values: audacity, courage, friendship, loyalty, etc. They are human values that enter better through the eyes than with theoretical talks. Sometimes, if they do not have generous friends, the only way to see that value embodied is in the characters in a book or in a movie.
Like books, film films are stories, which does not mean that they are either good or bad. It depends on the story what counts and how it does it. But you have to know how to take advantage of all the positive things that it offers when it comes to a good movie.
Adolescents take everything as an example, the good and the bad, because they usually do not have enough criteria. That is why the heroes of the screen are so important: they must have those qualities that make them identify with those human approaches that we want them to share.
Characters, themes, conflicts ... Criteria when choosing movies on the billboard
The kid will take as one of his points of reference the way in which the hero faces conflicts. For example, if the protagonist confronts his parents with lack of confidence, he shouts at them and only confides his problems to his friends ... what can our son understand?
Most films are made from the parents' point of view. Although there are no films for teenagers, some do have some peculiar characteristics that hook them: when they feel identified with the protagonists, if the characters are of their age, if they go through this situation at home or at school ... and especially if you can understand it.
What we can not try is that our son or daughter never go to the cinema: all his friends go and a good movie is like a good book ... And who is going to prohibit someone who does not read a good book?
Criteria of rating of films
Everyone agrees that it is good for movies to have some kind of qualification that helps to discern parents. What happens is that in Spain this rating is established by the distributor itself. The Ministry has to approve it, but usually does not put any obstacles. The conclusion is clear: do not rely too much on these qualifications because they are often made with commercial criteria.
Parents concerned about the education of their children must be very attentive and know the billboard. It is quite difficult, and for many probably impossible.But at least we have to have on hand some kind of reliable publication that reviews these films and know the movies that clearly should not go to see our children. And, if all the above is not feasible, maybe a friend of ours a little more aware can advise us from time to time.
Freedom of cinematographic tastes
It is clear that we can not restrict the freedom of our son and, in the slightest doubt, not let him go out to the cinema, with the consequent conflicts. It is much better to trust him (without giving up, of course, in those films clearly "deforming"), explaining that there are films that hurt, that there are certain scenes not suitable ... And, after the cinema, it is very important to talk at home from the movie.
Not only are there visual problems in a movie, which are the most obvious ... In films like "Tear Game" there is no scene that hurt any sensitivity, but the whole movie leaves a bitter taste, from the point of view that he adopts That's why you have to know that often what is written about movies is usually technical, and leads to misunderstandings ... For example, the movie "Dracula" is technically very good, but maybe not very suitable for a teenager.
It is very normal for boys and girls to read about cinema. If we provide them with publications, we can help them to have better criteria. In addition, a kid who knows a lot about cinema, who knows how to admire a good movie (criticizing his failures and recognizing his successes) reaches a lot of prestige in his friends and can help his friends to enjoy good movies too.
The family at the cinema
Going to see movies the whole family is very interesting. Occasionally, of course, because it's normal to go with friends. But in certain occasions (parties, birthdays) going together can reinforce the educational value of the story that we are going to see on the screen. Furthermore, if we have taken him to the cinema since he was a child, it is easier for him to have acquired moral and artistic criteria.
How many times can you go to the movies? It depends on the film season, because there are not always good films on the poster. But there is enough good cinema to go frequently, as long as we document ourselves through reliable sources. Maybe at Christmas, with the party atmosphere, they can go a couple of times. Some season you can go once a month, as long as you do not ask us for extra money but save it from your pay.
Ignacio Iturbe
Advice: Jesús María Mínguez. Professor of the School of Visual Arts
