The movies you should have seen to be a fully educated adult
These movies "should be part of the education of every Australian" according to the syllabus for the Higher School Certificate:
1 The Fellowship of the Ring
The syllabus says it lets us "examine alternative worlds, which challenge and provoke controversy and debate about possibilities in human experience".
2 Rabbit-proof Fence
Students will be "challenged by the contrasting contemporary views on Aboriginality and how Australians are embracing reconciliation".
3 Contact
This science fiction film lets students "explore the worlds of science, politics and economics and religion and consider the impact they have on their lives".
4 Billy Elliott
Students can "consider their own cultural values, attitudes, roles, stereotyping, goals and expectations and how we can be limited by our world views".
5. Memento
The film explores "the concept of memory and how it affects the creation and interpretation of one's personal history and sense of self".
6. SeaChange
"The television series presents the value systems, lifestyle choices and possibilities of its characters and raises questions about contemporary urban and country, seaside living and family life students will have opportunities to examine the judicial and legal system and the consequences for individuals of their actions."
Those are the most recent additions to the syllabus, being tested for the first time this year. A bunch of other films and TV series have been HSC options throughout this decade. If they wanted to study "retreat from the global", students could look at The Castle; for "telling the truth", they had the satirical series Frontline; for "transformations", they could compare Clueless with Emma, and Brave New World with Blade Runner - Director's cut.
For "the inner journey", they could choose Life Is Beautiful, while another Italian film, Cinema Paradiso, joins Strictly Ballroom and The Truman Show under the heading "Telling Stories - image"; for "genre: revenge tragedy", they could choose High Noon, while "genre: crime fiction" offered The Big Sleep - Director's cut; for "critical study of text", they had Citizen Kane and Witness; for "postmodernism", Orlando; and for "gendered language", Elizabeth.
Via The Tribal Mind
