Movies for Citizenship in The Community

[ASM915]

Fred,

You are right. The scout should choose the film. But then he needs everyones approval before watching it. If a scout showed up and informed me that he wanted to watch "Mad Max" or "Clockwork Orange", I sure hope as a MBC I would have a few alternative movies to offer up instead of the scout selected movies.

 

Ursus, I'm sure SWING VOTE definitley took some hard hits on the reviews due to alcohol use, language and spoofing the establishment. At least there was no sex and violence, and the main character turned over a new leaf at the end and realized his civic duty.

 

Today, "High Noon" and "Kelly's Heros" would pull at least a PG-13.

As for PG vs PG-13, most of our scouts working on this MB are usually over 13. Plus they need their parents approval first. With PG-13 you definitely need to know the contents of the film. They do run the gamet. Some Billy Graham films from the 70's have pulled an R rating because they deal with going into the streets and trying to minister to the drug crowds.

[GernBlansten]

A Clockwork Orange is a very interesting suggestion. Kinda of a anti-citz movie. Showing the negative side of not being a good citizen. Yes. Except for the rape scene of course.

But if you are going Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove would be tops on my list. B/W (not Bob), and very appropriate for today's climate.

 

I've had several scouts ask for suggestions. We don't demand they see "such and such" but give them some examples of appropriate movies that meet the requirements. Most are lazy and just take those suggestions and head down to BlockBusters. So I use the opportunity to only list classic B/W (not Bob) movies that the kids would never even consider watching. There are great old movies that kids will never be exposed to if it weren't for this MB.

[fgoodwin]

ASM915 writes:If a scout showed up and informed me that he wanted to watch "Mad Max" or "Clockwork Orange", I sure hope as a MBC I would have a few alternative movies to offer up instead of the scout selected movies.Certainly offering up some alternatives is one approach; another would be to discuss your concerns with the boy's suggestions and ask him to come up with some different suggestions.

 

Repeat the process until you arrive at a mutually acceptable movie title.

[Eagletrek]

"Certainly offering up some alternatives is one approach; another would be to discuss your concerns with the boy's suggestions and ask him to come up with some different suggestions.

 

Repeat the process until you arrive at a mutually acceptable movie title."

 

 

Couldn't agree more!!!!

 

 

Now back to the intent of the OP. He asked us for some "valid" suggestions. I don't see how "Dr. Strangelove" would be a valid suggestion considering the requirement is:

 

"With the approval of your counselor and a parent, watch a movie that shows how the actions of one individual or group of individuals can have a positive effect on a community. Discuss with your counselor what you learned from the movie about what it means to be a valuable and concerned member of the community."

 

On second thought, maybe the scout could discuss the actions of Mandrake and LTC Batguano!!!! Only kidding!!!!

(This message has been edited by Eagletrek)

[GernBlansten]

Yes, I was specifically refering to Mandrake's contribution to saving the world, or at least trying to.

[starwolfmom]

re: the requirement "With the approval of your counselor and a parent, watch a movie that shows how the actions of one individual or group of individuals can have a positive effect on a community."

 

In our troop's rather slap-dash way of doing merit badges, the group of boys working on this badge were merely asked, during a troop meeting during which they were working on the badge, to come up with the title of a movie that had watched (in the past) and talk about how it related to the requirement above. (I discovered this when my son told me he had finished the Citizenship in the Community badge and I inquired about the movie requirement--knowing he had never asked me about watching a movie in conjunction with the badge--and he told me, "Oh, we just had to tell about some movie we'd already seen that fit.")

 

I asked him what movie he had picked and why. He chose "Newsies," a musical about a group of newsboys in New York in the late 1800s who successfully organized and went on strike to achieve better working conditions and fair pay for the kids who sold newspapers. I thought that was an excellent choice, actually, but I was none too happy about the lazy way that the MB counselor was going through the badge work with the kids.

 

Elizabeth

[msnowman]

When Nephew did CitC this spring, his MBC had a list of suggested movies. His choice? Braveheart. He liked it so well that he watched it 3 times before his meeting to discuss it w/ his MBC.

 

[backpack]

My son watched Lean on Me. Another is Pay it Forward. There are others, but I feel that these can keep a child's attention. He's 11, and it takes a lot to keep his attention. He was grilled by the MB counselor on the movie, and passed with flying colors.