This week I ended up very far from where I started. But that is A-OKAY! I am really excited about the progress I have made and the topic I have chosen. This topic is... Children's movies.
Specifically, I would like to research what elements or themes allow adults to also relate to children's movies. That being said, this is the direction I would like to go and it is subject to change.
I started with basically nothing this week. I knew I was going for film but was still having trouble envisioning where I could take this. However, with amazing feedback I was able to decide that I wanted to focus on how films make people feel or think. A recent interest of mine has been children's films/ tv shows. Particularly when I watched The Little Prince, I was attached to the story, related to the characters, and deeply moved by the end. I wondered why is it that I felt so strongly about an imaginative, adventurous kid's movie?
Right now, I want to refine my topic by honing in on either a director, animations studio, or something else. Or if it is an option, I would like to choose maybe a few movies that seem particularly respected by both adults and children.
My biggest problem right now though, is that I am not finding sources very related to the direction I would like to go. For instance, most sources I find are deconstructions of Disney movies that conclude a sexist or racist story. However, I fail to believe a child would interpret a movie this way. I also read one source in which college students were interviewed about Disney Princess movies, and they reported feeling little or no influence of the movies onto their lives.
While I want to find a research topic that is unique, I still feel lost in that I am still trying to find a basis for my project. My plan going forward is to continue to play with advanced searches to find more sources. I would also like to narrow "children's movies" by finding an intriguing director or company. I am trying to be open minded on where my initial idea of children's movies will take me, so that I can find a more clear academic conversation with room for my project.
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Grace, I feel like you sound a bit lost in your post, so I want to assure you that those feelings are normal and okay. No one expects you, in the second week, to have everything figured out.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading your post I thought of some interesting things. One, Disney movies are clearly made for children, but I feel like there's a huge population of adult-Disney people. Perhaps look into the effect of movies watched in childhood on adults. I know you found the one study that said that, but there are a myriad of others that I read that seem to say the opposite.
I also would make use of Dr. Helmers as a resource. Perhaps he can give you some direction and focus (not meant to be punny!).
You’re in an ok spot, Grace. If you ever need consolation, look at my project, and then you can feel better.
ReplyDeleteReiterating one of the ideas brought up today, you could analyze the responses to a movie that people haven’t watched in a long time and, after showing it to them again, gauge their response. Then, you could compare these responses to the deconstructionist responses. After all, deconstructionist responses are usually more entertaining but much less optimistic about life. So this way you can examine how a person’s view of a movie changes over time and whether their world view changes.
I don’t know whether the Little Prince contains easter eggs, but I do know Pixar and Disney films have quite a few adult quips or images hidden, which contribute to the adult movie-going experience so much more. So, you could look at these hidden tidbits as part of examining what adults got from the movie-going experience. For example, in Despicable Me, one of my favorite childhood movies (if not my most favorite), the Bank of Supervillains was subtitled, “Formerly Lehman Bros,” which was one of the banks that started the recession of ’08. There are also saucier examples that a Google search would reveal.
Another area of interest is to see what adults and children take out of the movie from the same movie-going experience. So adults and children watch a film and report what they think. This might be interesting.
Eric, I love your recommendations!
Delete^Eric I'm dying right now with your opening statement. You are totally right in that you need to hone in and narrow your topic. Pick a director, studio, or specific films sharing and theme and you can combine this by picking a specific time period to focus on. You could even focus on sequels, which could limit your analysis to around two movies. Another think I was thinking of when I was reading your post is the labeling of these movies as children's movies. I was watching the trailer for The Little Prince, and in my opinion it looked marketed more for adults than children. Are these movies purely labeled as children's because of the rating, but in actuality created for adults. I feel like I'm rambling now, hopefully you understand what I'm trying to convey. I was also wondering on what route you are going to research? Are you going to use surveys or deconstruct a movie? Maybe deciding the route you would like to resarch would help you figure out what you want to research. I feel like you are almost at a research topic and compared to last week you are in a lot better shape.
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