Soci 3043 Think of the Children! Extra Credit Assignment
Due on or before the last day of classes.
One of the things we’ve been talking around all semester is the idea that we, as a society, tend to frame deviance as a threat to children. For this assignment, I want you to pick a movie from your childhood, and examine how it is/is not deviant using the questions below. This 1-2 page paper should be formatted the same way as a normal paper (11 point Calibri or 12 point Times New Roman, 1” margins, double spaced, etc.). I do not expect you to do any outside research or include any references, but you can if you like.
This assignment has several components.
Select a movie you liked as a kid. Go back and watch it.
I want you to go to IMDB and look at the Parents’ Guide for the movie. On the app, it’s under Content & Critics.
I want you to reflect on how the movie is/was/is not/was not deviant, by addressing the following questions.
I want you to briefly tell me what movie/show you are discussing. Just like 2-3 sentences.
Thinking back to when you were a kid, was there anything in the movie that you thought was deviant?
Watching it as an adult, is there anything that you think is deviant now?
How does the IMDB parents’ guide compare to how you felt about the movie?
How does this exercise demonstrate the difficulty in defining what is deviant?
You should address: how deviance is defined, how age affects deviance, and how time affects deviance. You may want to revisit the lecture from the beginning of the semester.
You do not have to, but you may want to incorporate concepts such as: moral entrepreneurs, moral panics, norms, defining deviancy down, etc.
You also might want to talk about why whatever is deviant is not appropriate for a child, but it is for an adult. Or, what you didn’t get as a child, but now would view as deviant for your child.
If you like, you can close by discussing if you would let your child (real, fur, or hypothetical) watch this movie.
This is not simply a participation grade; I will be taking into account how well you address the required parts of this assignment and your overall presentation of the information. This means that if you just write two pages summarizing a show, you will not get full points. Write at least one full page (not including your name and any title or date). If what you give me is less than a page, you won’t get full points.
