Much has been made in the last few days contrasting how the Canadian media reported on the shootings in Ottawa vs the coverage by the American media. These two articles do a particularly good job of describing the difference between reporting with an agenda of providing information and reporting focused on creating an emotional response:
Thinking beyond how the media has covered violent sensational news to consider the underlying reasons for the decisions news reports and organizations make can be a great opportunity to provide instruction in inference, critical literacy and build a recognition of how the economics of the media influence the content of reporting. This assignment attempts to challenge students to think along these lines: Information vs Emotion in News Reporting.
The films "Our Man in Tehran" and "Argo" both tell the story behind the smuggling of six American diplomats out of Iran in 1980. One is a documentary that was featured at the Toronto International Film Festival and played on pay television, the other was also featured at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to win the Academy awards for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and editing.
It would be great to read the books these films are based and watch the resulting films with students and analyze the choices the filmmakers made in adapting them, but that would require a significant time investment... instead we could accomplish many of the same curriculum outcomes with the study of the trailers for the two films.
For close reading, Slate article about the accuracy of "Argo": "How Accurate is Argo?" Some key questions we could consider with students:
Referring to specific details in the two trailers thoughtfully explain how the fictional version of the story (Argo) differs from the documentary version of the story (Our Man in Tehran).
How might a Canadian audience respond differently from an American audience when watching these two versions of the events in Tehran? Refer to specific details in how the films are being promoted that you think might be perceived differently from the points of view of Canadians and Americans.
The film Argo was a huge financial success. Identify the elements apparent in the trailer that you believe may have contributed to the film’s popularity?
Why do you think documentary films are rarely presented at the local Cineplex?
And finally...
One of the most commercially successful documentaries was Bowling for Columbine. It earned nearly $21 million. Watch the trailer for it and explain why you think it was more popular than Our Man in Tehran.
