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I asked LM_Netters to help suggest some films which would highlight the
themes of Utopia/Dystopia for a Middle School class.

This is for a unit analyzing the books THE GIVER, GATHERING BLUE, and
THE MESSENGER.

Here are the responses I got:

You could use the bit from the movie Big Fish when he finds the town
after walking through the scary woods, where all of their shoes are
hanging from the power line (the name of the town escapes me). 

When I taught 8th grade we did The Giver,  Animal Farm and an Anne
Frank unit.  At the end I had students create their own utopia.  The
original film version of Animal Farm is appropriate for school use.

It is usually discouraged but on occasion after the administration is
notified and the video clip is approved, our school requires a parent
permission form to be signed for each student of the class if they are
viewing anything from a PG-13 movie. 

How about the movies made on the books:  1984 and Animal Farm by George
Orwell and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

I did a similar unit with my ninth graders last year.  I would suggest
using "the Truman Show" or maybe an episode of the X-files called
"Arcadia."  "Truman Show" is PG, but does have a few minor four-letter
words.  The X-files episode has Mulder and Scully going undercover as a
married couple to infiltrate a community in which the neighborhood
association has a little too much control over the residents.  My
students enjoyed both. I hope this helps.

How about the Dr. Seuss book, The Sneetches? I know there's a video of
it.

My 7th & 8th graders are viewing "The Truman Show" as part of the
process while reading these novels.  I also read a number of black &
white picture books to them hoping that them would get the concept.  At
this point about 1/2 of the group has understood the concept in relation
to The Giver.

Thanks for Everyone's Help!

Harry

Harry F. Coffill
hcoffill@egrps.org
Media Center Specialist
East Grand Rapids Middle School

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