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THERE ARE CLEAR advantages to using feature films in college-level sociology courses (Burton 1988; Demerath 1981; D. Smith 1982), especially as a way to illustrate sociological concepts (Tolich 1992). Popular films have been used in courses teaching race and ethnicity (Loewen 1991; Valdez and Halley 1999), mass media (King 2000), theory (Fails 1980), and medical sociology (Pescosolido 1990). However, the use of film clips during class time necessitates a different teaching strategy from having students view a film on their own time for a written assignment. Allowing students to choose a film from a list of popular movie titles may be problematic because films often distort reality. Students do not easily recognize this fact, and they can mistake what they see as being the truth (Harper and Rogers 1999). Without guidance, viewers "get" only what the film director wants them to see, contributing to the hegemony of individualistic rather than sociological explanations of behavior (Dowd 1999). For many students, film represents their main source of information about minority groups, and it often distorts ideas about older persons (Fischer 1980), ethnic minorities (Loewen 1991), and minority groups whose members are hidden or invisible to the public.
The distortion of images is especially problematic in films about disability (Saran 1998a; 1998b). Among films portraying characters with disabilities, psychiatric disabilities are portrayed more often than any other disability category (Byrd and Elliott 1985), and popular films depicting characters with mental illness often portray their symptoms inaccurately (Fleming and Manveil 1985). Negative images of people with mental illness (PWMI) in visual media such as television and film are ubiquitous (Wahl 1995), and the popularity of "mental patient and asylum" films has been explored (C. Smith 1999). Most disturbing is the linking of mental illness with homicidal behavior, a myth that appears frequently in horror films (Hyler, Gabbard, and Schneider 1991) and the plethora of films about serial killers. Other stereotypical media images suggest that PWMI are likely to be childlike, irresponsible, incompetent, unpredictable, dangerous, and unstable; often they have unusual appearances. These wide-eyed characters, often portrayed with unkempt clothing and wild hair, cannot be taken seriously (Wahl 1995).
I find that these inaccurate or stereotypical film images can be used as classroom assets rather than liabilities, because visual stereotypes...