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Using 5 Films To Teach Character


An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)  

Best way to use the clip

This clip can be shown at any time to emphasize that working together and helping a teammate should always come before helping yourself.

Synopsis of Movie:

Zack Mayo is a young man who has signed up for NavyFlightSchool. He is a Navy brat who has a bad attitude problem. Sgt. Foley is there to train and evaluate him and will clearly find Zack wanting. Zack meets Paula, a girl who has little beyond family and must decide what it is he wants to do with his life.


Highlights:


  • Zack Mayo is taking an endurance test and a colleague fails to get over the wall.  She says, "Go on! Go on without me!" but he refuses, saying something like, "I won't leave you here!" before helping her over the wall.


1:28:00-1:30:45


Teachers & Students


Message: Help one another before helping yourself











Any Given Sunday (1999) 

Best way to use the clip

This clip is appropriate for teachers. Use this clip to inspire hard work and dedication during a trying/difficult time during the school year.

Synopsis of Movie:

When a devastating hit knocks a professional football legend and quarterback Cap Rooney (Denis Quaid) out of the game, a young, unknown third-stringer is called in to replace him. Having ridden the bench for years because of a string of bad luck stories and perhaps insufficient character, Willie Beaman (Jamie Foxx) seizes what may be his last chance, and lights up the field with a raw display of athletic prowess. His stunning performance over several games is so outstanding and fresh it seems to augur a new era in the history of this Miami franchise, and forces aging coach Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) to reevaluate his time-tested values and strategies and begin to confront the fact that the game, as well as post-modern life may be passing him by. Adding to the pressure on D'Amato to win at any cost is the aggressive young President/Co-owner of the team, Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), now coming into her own after her father's death. Christina's driving desire to prove herself in a male dominated world is intensified by her focus on the marketing and business of football, in which all coaches and players are merely properties.


Highlights:


  •  “Inches Speech.” Tony D’Amato delivers the “inches” speech to his fractured football team. Some key quotes:  “You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch...Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the f*ing difference between winning and losing!"



1:55:20-1:59:52

Teachers

Winning isn’t easy – must fight to win.






Apollo 13 (1995) 

Best way to use the clip

Message: You must use the tools you have in front of you to succeed.

Synopsis of Movie:

Based on the true story of the ill-fated 13th Apollo mission bound for the moon. Astronauts Lovell, Haise and Swigert were scheduled to fly Apollo 14, but are moved up to 13. It's 1970, and America have already achieved their lunar landing goal, so there's little interest in this "routine" flight, until that is, things go very wrong, and prospects of a safe return fade.


Highlights:

  • [Several technicians dump boxes containing the same equipment and tools that the astronauts have with them onto a table]
    Technician: We've got to find a way to make this
    [square CSM LiOH canister]
    Technician: fit into the hole for this
    [round LEM canister]
    Technician: ... using nothing but that.




1:20:30-1:21:00

Teachers: “You have to figure out how to fit the square peg in the round hole” – instead of failure or frustration, you must use the tools and resources you have to succeed





 

Braveheart (1995)

Best way to use the clip

This clip can be shown to boost morale, or motivate teachers, as it shows the “underdogs” rallying to overcome those with more resources and power.

Synopsis of Movie

William Wallace is a Scottish rebel who leads an uprising against the cruel English ruler Edward the Longshanks, who wishes to inherit the crown of Scotland for himself. When he was a young boy, William Wallace's father and brother, along with many others, lost their lives trying to free Scotland. Once he loses another of his loved ones, William Wallace begins his long quest to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the assistance of Robert the Bruce.


Highlights:

  • Wallace gives motivation speech to Scotsmen before battle.

William Wallace: And if this is your army, why does it go?
Soldier: We didn't come here to fight for them.
Second Soldier: Home, the English are too many!
William Wallace: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.
Second Soldier: William Wallace is seven feet tall!
William Wallace: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.
[Scottish army laughs]
William Wallace: I AM William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my country men, here, in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?
Soldier: Against that? No, we'll run, and we'll live.
William Wallace: Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least for a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!


1:16:50 – 1:18:50.

Teachers

You might be “outnumbered” but you must fight for what is right









Coach Carter (2005) 

Best way to use the clip

Teamwork, respect and integrity are central themes in this film. Show to both students and teachers

Synopsis of Movie:

In 1999, Ken Carter, a successful sporting goods store owner, accepts the job of basketball coach for his old high school in a poor area of Richmond, CA, where he was a champion athlete. As much dismayed by the poor attitudes of his players as well as their dismal play performance, Carter sets about to change both. He immediately imposes a strict regime typified in written contracts that include stipulations for respectful behavior, a dress code and good grades as requisites to being allowed to participate. The initial resistance from the boys is soon dispelled as the team under Carter's tutelage becomes an undefeated competitor in the games. However, when the overconfident team's behavior begins to stray and Carter learns that too many players are doing poorly in class, he takes immediate action. To the outrage of the team, the school and the community, Carter cancels all team activities and locks the court until the team shows acceptable academic improvement. In the ensuing debate, Carter fights to keep his methods, determined to show the boys that they need to rely on more than sports for their futures and eventually finds he has affected them more profoundly than he ever expected.

Highlights:


  • Coach sets up that everyone will be addressed as “sir” as a sign of respect


10:11-10:50 



Teachers and Students

Message: Respect at all times



  • One student “came up short” and owes 80 suicides and 500 push-ups. Another student offers to do the push-ups for him, sending the message that if one person struggles, all struggle. If one person triumphs, all triumph.

Jason Lyle: You said we're a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.



41:19-43:21

Teachers and Students

Message: Team over individual


  • Message to boys to stop the showboating. Coach mocks them during practice – starts thumping his chest about tying his shoe.

45:41-47:55

Teachers and Students

Message: Just because you’re good, doesn’t mean you can show off.



What other films have you watched that communicate good character lessons?

www.lulu.com/alastingwill - Classroom Resources For All


This post first appeared on Linspiration, please read the originial post: here

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Using 5 Films To Teach Character

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