family sue school over brokeback movie...

spiral out · May 2007

NMyTree wrote:

But do you think Brokeback Mountain is the appropriate or correct vehicle for teaching homosexuality, to 12 year olds?

I honsetly don't believe that movie is a proper educational tool for teaching the subject matter.

No i don't think it was correct to show that movie to those children at all.

Showing DVDs to kids happenes all to often in the school i work at here in london so it was no shock to me.

I can see the place of some films, and i think now days some teachers are trying to reach the kids with a media they may well be more interested in, films and music. But it depends on the school and the children being taught.

iluvcats · May 2007

here is a diff. article, I don't think the one in the original post has where they are from:

Suit: Sub showed 'Brokeback' in class
The Associated Press

CHICAGO --
A girl and her grandparents have sued the Chicago Board of Education, alleging that a substitute teacher showed the R-rated film "Brokeback Mountain" in class.

The lawsuit claims that Jessica Turner, 12, suffered psychological distress after viewing the movie in her eighth-grade class at Ashburn Community Elementary School last year.

The film, which won three Oscars, depicts two cowboys who conceal their homosexual affair.

Turner and her grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson, are seeking around $500,000 in damages.

"It is very important to me that my children not be exposed to this," said Kenneth Richardson, Turner's guardian. "The teacher knew she was not supposed to do this."

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the video was shown without permission from the students' parents and guardians. Richardson had previously complained to school officials about reading material he said contained curse words.

"This was the last straw," he said. "I feel the lawsuit was necessary because of the warning I had already given them on the literature they were giving out to children to read."

Messages left over the weekend with school district officials were not immediately returned.

was class was this shown in? psychology? sex ed?

spiral out · May 2007

bootlegger10 wrote:

There is no other reason for showing the movie.

Come on why do you think the teacher was trying to promote homosexuallity, i really don't think thats the case at all.

Anyway you can't teach kids to be gay they either are aren't.

iluvcats · May 2007

spiral out wrote:

Do you not get taught sex education over there either?

we did. I think we were in 5th grade, that would be about 10 years old. But that was around 1970! we mostly learned how our parts work and exercises for cramps.

even flow? · May 2007

What kind of bubble does this fucking family live in? I am emotionally scared from watching schools get shot up on the news. Maybe I should sue somebody. Can't get rich the proper way in America? Sue somebody!

I went to a catholic school growing up and seeing a man on the cross scared me. Come on.

Rather pathetic that a kid can learn about some dude getting smacked around until dead on a cross but this movie is too much for a twelve year old to handle. OK

NMyTree · May 2007

even flow? wrote:

What kind of bubble does this fucking family live in? I am emotionally scared from watching schools get shot up on the news. Maybe I should sue somebody. Can't get rich the proper way in America? Sue somebody!

I went to a catholic school growing up and seeing a man on the cross scared me. Come on.

Rather pathetic that a kid can learn about some dude getting smacked around until dead on a cross but this movie is too much for a twelve year old to handle. OK

Of course this is yet another issue with this whole thing and yeah, I agree 1000%!

I don't believe this movie or any movie should be shown in any schools, unless the movie is in an educational format.

I would be angry and definitely express myself to the school board, but this guy is completely out of his mind with greed. An opportunistic parasite, he is.

But we all know how it is here in America. There are a million jackels awaiting an opportunity to pounce and sue.

Violence=acceptable (especially if there's a phoney patriotic theme behind it).

Tit, Vagina, Penis, Naked Humans, Sex=Unacceptable (throws the American public into a fit of outrage): See Janet Jackson's nipple for reference.

moeaholic · May 2007

spiral out wrote:

While i agree it was a dumb idea to show a bunch of twelve years olds this film, i can't see how being made aware of homosexuality is a bad thing it's a part of life (hell some of them will be homosexuals) it's not going to go away and children should be taught about it, just as they are taught about different religion's.

Igonrance just breed's ignorance and thats not benifical to anyone.

Do you not get taught sex education over there either?

being made aware of homosexuality isn't the responsibility of the school. you compare it to being taught about different religions. who is responsible for any religious instruction in a child's life? the parents, not the school. there's so much screaming about keeping religion out of the school system, but complete tolerance of homosexuality. and if you think showing this film in a sex ed class would make it acceptable, you're out of your mind. this movie has nothing to do with sex ed. these kids were 12 years old, the movie was rated R, nobody sent anything home to the parents or guardians about the movie being shown.......complete bullshit. if my son had come home and told me about seeing that movie in school, i'd be pissed. you want to show movies in school, show 'schindler's list'.

spiral out · May 2007

moeaholic wrote:

being made aware of homosexuality isn't the responsibility of the school. you compare it to being taught about different religions. who is responsible for any religious instruction in a child's life? the parents, not the school. there's so much screaming about keeping religion out of the school system, but complete tolerance of homosexuality. and if you think showing this film in a sex ed class would make it acceptable, you're out of your mind. this movie has nothing to do with sex ed. these kids were 12 years old, the movie was rated R, nobody sent anything home to the parents or guardians about the movie being shown.......complete bullshit. if my son had come home and told me about seeing that movie in school, i'd be pissed. you want to show movies in school, show 'schindler's list'.

First i did not say i agree with the movie being shown to a twelve year old, i sure as hell would not show my child (if i had one) this movie at that age.

They show movies when they have supply teachers in, it's just a quick way of shutting the kids up.

It's a fact of life, there are homosexuals. There are also a fair amount of very thick irresponsible people out there who have no right bringing children into the world, and someone has to try and educate thier children as they sure as hell aren't capable. So yes it should be taught to stop homphobia and to help out those kids that may well discover they are gay.

gue_barium · May 2007

moeaholic wrote:

being made aware of homosexuality isn't the responsibility of the school. you compare it to being taught about different religions. who is responsible for any religious instruction in a child's life? the parents, not the school. there's so much screaming about keeping religion out of the school system, but complete tolerance of homosexuality. and if you think showing this film in a sex ed class would make it acceptable, you're out of your mind. this movie has nothing to do with sex ed. these kids were 12 years old, the movie was rated R, nobody sent anything home to the parents or guardians about the movie being shown.......complete bullshit. if my son had come home and told me about seeing that movie in school, i'd be pissed. you want to show movies in school, show 'schindler's list'.

A lot of homosexuals were rounded up in Nazi Germany and killed along with the Jews.

moeaholic · May 2007

spiral out wrote:

First i did not say i agree with the movie being shown to a twelve year old, i sure as hell would not show my child (if i had one) this movie at that age.

They show movies when they have supply teachers in, it's just a quick way of shutting the kids up.

It's a fact of life, there are homosexuals. There are also a fair amount of very thick irresponsible people out there who have no right bringing children into the world, and someone has to try and educate thier children as they sure as hell aren't capable. So yes it should be taught to stop homphobia and to help out those kids that may well discover they are gay.

so because there are "some" parents out there that are lazy when it comes to teaching their children tolerance for homosexuality, then it should be left to the schools? i assume you feel the same for religion too, then? since there are parents out there that aren't exactly going to church with their children every sunday, then every child in school should have some sort of religious instruction?

some of you people are out of your minds. english, history, science, math......that's what school is all about. these other issues are completely private issues, should never be brought into a school setting. "tolerance for homosexuals should be taught in schools because joey's parents haven't talked to him about homosexuality"....unreal some of the stuff i read around here.

gue_barium wrote:

A lot of homosexuals were rounded up in Nazi Germany and killed along with the Jews.

no shit, and it deals with history. what the fuck is brokeback mountain teaching anybody? that hollywood can make a really shitty movie about 2 guys in love? where's the educational value?

RolandTD20Kdrummer · May 2007

NMyTree wrote:

You may want to install an over-head light in that closet. Maybe decorate......a little:D

Exactly the point I was trying to clarify from you.

Thanks, carry on.

CaterinaA · May 2007

NMyTree wrote:

Okay, after cleaning out the closet and reorganizing it, now, let me get back to the original subject matter and issue at hand.

I really don't see why any teacher would show a movie in a classroom, in the first place. Not just this particular movie, but any movie. I don't believe classrooms/schools are an appropriate place for showing movies.

And no, I don't believe Brokeback Mountain should be shown to 12 year olds. If it was my kid, in his school; I'd be pissed off that they were showing movies instead of ....you know......." TEACHING! " I wouldn't be suing, but I'd sure have some things to say to the principle and teacher.

Of course there are exceptions and there are true educational films that are designed and created for educational purposes. But Brokeback Mountian isn't one of them. Neither is Star Wars .........or Die Hard ......or Finding Nemo .....or Lord Of The Rings.....or any other of these commercial/entertainment movies.

As for Brokeback Mountain, I liked the movie.

I didn't think it was some masterpiece work a of art, but I enjoyed the movie. I never buy into the reviews and hype of a movie and always try to keep myself at no expectations. See "The Blair Witch Project" for reference:rolleyes:

I know damn well that what other people consider "GREAT" or "CRAP", usually has very little to do with how I will like and percieve the movie.

One of the storylines I enjoyed in the movie was their relationships and lives with their wives and kids. Which I thought they could have done a better job with and dedicated more storyline/time to, but I found that interesting, nonetheless.

I thought Ennis Del Mar's struggles with himself ( his homosexuality ), with the realtionship with Jack and his wife......was also interesting. But again, I thought they could have done a better job with that.

I pretty much agree about this post. My first thought when I read the article was: why are they showing movies during class time? When I was in school (long time ago

) we never saw a movie, except for the reproduction documentary...However, if a teacher wants to show an R rated movie I guess she/he should ask for parents' permission first...Either way, those parents are way out of line with the lawsuit (sp?)

About the movie I trully liked it, great filming, excellent editing, beautiful musical score (not because Santaolalla is Argentine, it was actually brilliant and captured the mood of the film). Even though the main story revolved around a homosexual love, the message was broader for me, it dealt with tolerance, bad communication, etc. Ennis Del Mar characher was fascinating for me, all his contradictions, and differences with Gyllenhal's character (more willing to come out of closet).

SPOILER HERE FOR THOSE THAT HAVE NOT SEEN IT AND WANT TO

Actually for me the most moving scene of the movie is not when Ennis finds Jack's shirt, but the final one where Ennis' daughter visits him and tell him she's getting married (or something big) and he for the first time puts his duties behind and stays with daughter for a toast.

gue_barium · May 2007

moeaholic wrote:

so because there are "some" parents out there that are lazy when it comes to teaching their children tolerance for homosexuality, then it should be left to the schools? i assume you feel the same for religion too, then? since there are parents out there that aren't exactly going to church with their children every sunday, then every child in school should have some sort of religious instruction?

some of you people are out of your minds. english, history, science, math......that's what school is all about. these other issues are completely private issues, should never be brought into a school setting. "tolerance for homosexuals should be taught in schools because joey's parents haven't talked to him about homosexuality"....unreal some of the stuff i read around here.

no shit, and it deals with history. what the fuck is brokeback mountain teaching anybody? that hollywood can make a really shitty movie about 2 guys in love? where's the educational value?

I've asked a couple of times what this movie is about. I know about the two gay guys, but there must be more to it than that.

gue_barium · May 2007

moeaholic wrote:

so because there are "some" parents out there that are lazy when it comes to teaching their children tolerance for homosexuality, then it should be left to the schools? i assume you feel the same for religion too, then? since there are parents out there that aren't exactly going to church with their children every sunday, then every child in school should have some sort of religious instruction?

some of you people are out of your minds. english, history, science, math......that's what school is all about. these other issues are completely private issues, should never be brought into a school setting. "tolerance for homosexuals should be taught in schools because joey's parents haven't talked to him about homosexuality"....unreal some of the stuff i read around here.

no shit, and it deals with history. what the fuck is brokeback mountain teaching anybody? that hollywood can make a really shitty movie about 2 guys in love? where's the educational value?

What is history but the past being told in context with today?

Anyhoo...

I kind of understand where you're coming from. Did your parents teach you the "facts" of life, too?

norm · May 2007

gue_barium wrote:

I've asked a couple of times what this movie is about. I know about the two gay guys, but there must be more to it than that.

A raw, powerful story of two young men, a Wyoming ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who meet in the summer of 1963 sheepherding in the harsh, high grasslands of contemporary Wyoming and form an unorthodox yet life-long bond--by turns ecstatic, bitter and conflicted. Written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana

In 1963,two young men hire on as ranch hands in the Wyoming mountains.During the long months of isolation,an unusual bond starts to develop between them, one which they are only vaguely aware of--until one night when it rises to the surface in a passionate encounter.When the season ends,they part ways,only to realize the true depth of their feelings.Thus begins a decades-long affair that the two of them desperately try to hide from those around them--one which will prove simultaneously beautiful and devastating. Written by LOTUS73

In the Summer of 1963 Wyoming, two young men, Ennis a ranch hand and Jack an aspiring rodeo bull rider, are sent to work together herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain, and what had otherwise been anticipated to be a rather uneventful venture, will soon turn into an affair of love, of lust, and complications that will spand through 19 years of their lives. Through marriage, through children, and through the mighty grip of societal confines and the expectations of what it is to be a man. Written by JamaicaSugar

Set against the sweeping vistas of Alberta's Rocky Mountains, this film tells the story of two young men - a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - who meet in the summer of 1963 and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of love. Written by focus features

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/plotsummary

I Am Gone · May 2007

It was wrong for the teacher to show this film, not because it is about homosexuals, but because it is not aiding the teaching of the childrens curriculum. Furthermore, i'm fairly sure that it is not rated as a suitable film to show 12 year olds.

But to take the teacher/school/whatever to school over it is just plain bullshit. There is clearly only one motive here, and that is money, possibly fueled by lack of tolerance for gays.

If your child was shown this film, would you be annoyed? possibly. You may take it up with the school. But would you take them to a court to claim a cash settlement because your child was traumatised by the sight of two men tgether? No. The fact this child is 'traumatised' says more to me about the way she has been raised, to be intolerant of homosexuals, than the inappropriateness of a film.

What i find most disturbing about this whole scenario is not just that it is happening, but that in this day and age, the parents will probably win.

Ahnimus · May 2007

$400,000 USD? It's only worth 15 years of full-time work at my job.

moeaholic · May 2007

gue_barium wrote:

What is history but the past being told in context with today?

Anyhoo...

I kind of understand where you're coming from. Did your parents teach you the "facts" of life, too?

honestly, i don't remember. my mind is clogged with hops and bong resin. i'm pretty sure my dad had a small talk with me about sex, but i'm positive there was never any talks about homosexuality. then again, it was a different time when i was 12. it's pushing almost 25 years ago. not quite, but almost. personally, i haven't really gotten in depth with my oldest about sex and homosexuality, but i know those talks are coming. i have no idea what i'm going to say to him, i don't have it all planned out. but when i was in college, if i had to write a paper...once i got started, i could keep going and going and going. he's going to get bored with me rattling on.

good conversation, gue. you know, before i had kids, a story like this probably wouldn't have even received a reaction from me. having kids now, one of which is only 2 years younger than the class that watched this movie...it upsets me. hits a little closer to home, you know?

DeetroitBaasketball · May 2007

gue_barium wrote:

Maybe if you tell us what the movie was about it might help explain your position better. I saw lots of dumb movies when I was in school. It's no big deal.

There is a reason for movies being rated. How graphic is the sex? Is there any violence in the movie? If he edited stuff out, then I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it. But parents would need to approve before hand.

I can remember seeing more historical movies that fit with the education plan that were rated "R". But there was approval and it was educational... mostly.

spiral out · May 2007

moeaholic wrote:

so because there are "some" parents out there that are lazy when it comes to teaching their children tolerance for homosexuality, then it should be left to the schools? i assume you feel the same for religion too, then? since there are parents out there that aren't exactly going to church with their children every sunday, then every child in school should have some sort of religious instruction?

some of you people are out of your minds. english, history, science, math......that's what school is all about. these other issues are completely private issues, should never be brought into a school setting. "tolerance for homosexuals should be taught in schools because joey's parents haven't talked to him about homosexuality"....unreal some of the stuff i read around here.

So teachers can mention marriage but shouldn't mention civil partnerships because thats for gay people?

As for teaching about the different religions, yes the school should. Should there be religious schools? No

I can't see whats so bad about teaching these things could you explain?

family sue school over brokeback movie...

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