The movie Fight Club encourages viewers to consider rationality and its effect on their lives. It also urges the viewer to consider the effects of living in an established system of order on their individual creativity and freedom. This is a great example of a film and SSR but you need examples to define how it encourages consideration of rationality and its effects.
The main character is a nameless insomniac that finds his structured, 9 to 5 life so unfulfilling and empty that he starts attending various support groups as a sort of release. Eventually, he starts a fight club where young men go each week to escape the life that they feel society has culturally obligated them to lead.
The point of the film is to initiate in the viewer sustained, self-conscious reflection upon his or her life. The viewer is supposed to reflect on the path they have chosen in life, and what has influenced them to choose this path. How do you define SSR- this just skims the surface, go a little deeper into detail.
Sustained: A steady and consistant characteristic
Self Concious: Purposeful and methodical- how do you mean methodical? self concious is more the idea of self awareness and exploration of new ideas, it may not be an orderly process.
Reflection: To view, assess, and criticize previous events (be careful with too narrowly defining reflection as strictly previous events. Often it's about tying past, present, and future together)
The story of Pocahauntus leaves the audience with an idea to reflect upon. It humanizes Native Americans, impressing upon the audience that the view Colonialism has and continues to be reassesed. Humanization plays a major role in SSR but more detail would really connect your story to the true meaning of SSR. Your definitions are good, but you don't really relate them to your example.
The movie that would be a great example of sustaining, self-conscious reflection is Avatar. Avatar makes you examine the issue of obtaining resources to advance the world by any means necesary. The movie causes you to reflect upon whether it is morally correct or right to go after these resources, in the movie it was "unobtanium", even if it means completely tearing down historic or native cultures that are in the way. Essentialy the movie was a metaphor for many different occurences of this going on in the world today including the oil crisis in the middle east, the destruction of the rainforest, and the advancement of industrialism. We can see an example of the stance we are encouraged to take in the form of the main character. Originally working for the "bad guys" in the movie, he switches to the side of the Avatar after spending time in their presence and being swayed to keep their culture intact. He fights who he was originally working for. Although it is not specifically stated, we are encouraged subconsciously to examine the stance of this man, and the stance we will take in our own world. You draw out a lot of good points and connect them to real world situations but try taking it a step further by directly relating this to SSR. It may sound too obvious or self-explanatory but directly stating how SSR plays a role is the key to a complete answer.
In the movie "Click" with Adam Sandler the main character is given a remote control that allows him to skip through his life. He decides that he wants to skip to the highlights in his life (eg. promotion) but in doing so he misses out on the smaller and finer points of his life (family matters). After losing control of the skipping process he learns that it's not just the big moments that matter. Because he saw how his life was affected by the seemingly small details when ignored them he was able to reflect on the value of his family rather than his career. Summaries are helpful but try not to rely on them for your only explanation of SSR. This movie is a great example but you really need to spend time examining why the viewer is forced to engage in SSR.
In the movie Avatar, the director wants viewers to leave thinking about the importance of living things, as well as respect for nature and other cultures. This is a great start- the essence of SSR. The unobtanium could be seen as a symbol for oil in today's world, and what humans are willing to do to obtain these things. We go to war and kill humans or in the movie living creatures, to obtain a substance that will make them rich. The movie in a way is trying to manipulate you into using SSR, so that viewers have a more conscious outlook.on what?
Sustained-Movies are shown for generations, and therefore influence multiple generations. It is a record of their message.
Self-Conscious-The director makes viewers self-conscious (aware?) of issues that society may have wanted the public to overlook.
Reflection- After watching this movie, people are more conscious of the issue, and may be motivated to act against it in the real world. you begin to pick out the most import part of engaging in SSR here- a willingness to consider. One isn't just motivated to do something; the thinking about the motivation is key, not the act itself.
The definition of SSR you provide is broken down nicely, keep this in mind throughout the term!
An Inconvenient Truth - The images of large cities that would be underwater resonate with the viewers because they are so dramatic. The images made people reflect on how their actions, no matter how small, are contributing to the problem of climate change. This is good but go a little deeper- why, how does this directly tie into SSR?
The pictures of the Pacifc Garbage Patch cause people to become aware of how small actions of a large group of people can quickly multiply into a large disaster. The movie has an impact because it gives concrete images of what is happening to the wildlife in the Garbage Patch. What is the impact? This shows the ideaology of a culture that is largely wasteful and does not place a high value on where its garbage goes.
Harold and Maude
The movie Harold and Maude is an unconventional love story about a young man who falls in love with a much older woman. The woman mentors him in life because he struggles with finding the beauty of the world. Because of the different relationship that the younger person has with an older person, it changes his perspective on life.
It compels the viewer to practice sustained, self-conscious reflection by forcing them to rethink the social boundaries of acceptable romantic relationships. It helps the viewer arrive to the conclusion that truer love can be found when one abandons unnecessary social constraints. Because of the sustained, self-conscious reflection, the viewer in theory has enough open-mindedness to find a romantic relationship most appropriate for himself or herself instead of compromising the quality of the relationship for social acceptability.
You do a nice job of tying your summary into your explanation of SSR and thinking outside the box. However, when you are outside of the box you need to be especially careful about provide concrete details with explanations to make the connection.
Invictus- By Nelson Mandela supporting the South African rugby team to win, he closes the racial barrier between blacks and whites in the country. It will be sustained, for this starts an imporved society.
Because the director chose to focus on the racial unity in South Africa, he was able to bring to light our own racial problems in our society. Examples?
How do you define SSR and how does it relate to this movie- don't be afraid to directly define it.Was this movie meant to provoke SSR in viewers or was it just a story of how Mandela provoked SSR during apartheid? This movie can be used as an example but you need to focus more on specifics.