Jay's Film History Research Paper Festival

Students Explore the Real-Life Drama behind Their Favorite Historical Films

I ask students to choose films  that emphasize a significant event, person, idea in world history.     Students compare what they see on the screen to what they research in the campus databases.   Below I share my Mind Map for a research paper about Bonnie and Clyde.  80 years later, they are still making movies and writing songs about them.  Why? Well, you will have to read my essay! 

Movie Poster Analysis: Imagery to Get the Conversation Rolling

 

 As a warm-up exercise, I asked my students to search online for a representative movie poster to initiate their discussions.

We explored the ideas, arguments, or implications these images presented. The more we researched, the more meaning we discovered. Several of my students wrote about Jim Crow laws.  The began with films like Hidden Figures, The Help, and 42.  They ended their papers with historical perspective for today's voter suppression laws. 

Above  you will see a poster that embodies the spirit of Jackie Robinson, the first Black player to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball.    That's Jackie on the left.  That's Pee Wee Reese on the right.  Together they stood united against the fierce racism of their own teammates and fans.   

Jay’s Tip to My Students:  Please go for what you know. Use what you have. Write what you want.  Try to concentrate on descriptive details – think shape, size, position, pattern, letters.  What are the first visual elements to catch the eye?  What is something that is not so obvious?  What is the relationship between the image and any text that might accompany it?   Refer to your research articles.   You will see.  Your ability to capture any historical  message will add important dimension to your  research  papers.

Note from the Editor: Why We Write Film History Research Papers

Estimada Campus Community, 

Below this post - "Note from the Editor" - I  provide a place for my students to share their best writing.

Each semester I try my best to create a project to help students master the standards of the course.  In our Zoom workshops, we devote ample time to effective research techniques and MLA documentation.    Along the way, we work together to develop our theses, summarize our articles, paraphrase our authors, voice our own ideas.  In the following posts, you will see excerpts from student  film history research papers.  If you want to see the complete essays, you can click on the links that follow.  Or,  search the individual essay links in our sidebar under “STUDENT RESEARCH PAPERS.”

Why do we write about historical films?  To the left, you will see a picture of my mother - author and poet. She is 92-years-old.   Here she is shown at a recent literary event in her senior citizens center. Because of COVID and increasing physical challenges, I don’t think she leaves the building very often.  When I call her on the phone, we run out of things to talk about.

This is when I interject historical films into the conversation, and I sense a level of excitement on the other end of the line.  We often discuss Bette Davis, Humphry Bogart, and Marilyn Monroe.  My mother’s favorite film in Cabaret.  The story combines a picture of the Jazz Age with the rapid deteriorating political and economic conditions of Adolf Hitler’s Germany.

Our conversations are lively, and they often become deeply personal.  For the films we discuss, my mother has important insight and knowledge to share.  Her parents fled Jewish persecution in Eastern Europe to immigrate to this country in the early part of the twentieth century.  For many of the historic events we discuss, she has lived right through them.

I think the best way to support my students is to provide them topics that bring out their curiosity and excitement.  In their film history research papers, they write about Frida Kahlo, Pearl Harbor, the Chicano Movement, Racial Discrimination.  They often choose topics they study in other classes.  We search out the story behind the story.  I introduce my students ot the college databases.  We look for information from a variety of resources.   

Lastly, I encourage them to discuss their ideas with their parents.  Sometimes you won't have to travel very far to find the best resources.  My students  may not know this, but the people closest to them have been waiting a long time to share important ideas and information with them.

It works for me.

Paz,

Jay Lewenstein - Adjunct English Professor

 

Jackie Robinson: The Baseball Player Who Broke the Color Barrier in a World of Segregation - Film History Research Paper (Excerpt) - by Monique Gil

One day in every Major League Baseball season, everyone – on every team - wears the number 42.  This is to comemorate the greatess of Jackie Robinson, not only for his achievements on the field but also for his leadership in Civil Rights.  Monique focused her research paper on a man who broke the Major League color barrier at the height of the Jim Crow era. Especially in this day and age,  I’m encouraged to see students recognize the importance of integration and social justice in our society.  We are living in difficult times.  Monique writes with both appreciation and understanding of an important event in our nation’s history.

Throughout the movie 42, it’s clear to us how white people felt towards the black communities coming into their towns, establishments, and sports. Even with this divide, we also see how some opinions towards them also change, even when it didn’t seem possible. Pee Wee then told Jackie “Maybe tomorrow we’ll all be wearing 42 that way they won't tell us apart” (qtd. in 42). The scene is important because it shows that no matter how different our backgrounds are we can all work together and even be friends. Jackie Robinson struggled to break the color barrier in baseball, specifically during the Jim Crow era. What challenges does Jack Robinson confront as the lone African American player in the major leagues during the Jim Crow era? Because Jackie was the only African American in the Major Leagues, he had no one to turn to for support. He felt pressure from all sides. Even his teammates were racists. Not only did Jackie Robinson face incredible odds to make it into a major league team, he also faced intense racism from the beginning to the end.

 

    The article "Jackie Robinson Wasn’t Welcomed by Phillies or City'' serves as a reminder of the terrible incidents Jackie dealt with while playing baseball (Baseball History). This story serves as a reminder of the terrible incidents Jackie dealt with while playing baseball. Jackie Robinson got life threatening mail, got called many nasty slurs, and he even got a ball thrown to the head. More specifically this article brings up a picture taken of Robinson and Chapman, Phillies manager. In the film it was shown when they took the photo but didn’t talk much about it afterwards. Years later, further information on Robinson's interactions with the Phillies in 1947 became available.  Robinson, who wrote his autobiography,  described how Chapman and other players would shout derogatory remarks at him, such as "Hey, n—, why don't you go back to the cotton fields where you belong?" (par. 12).  In "42," the 2013 movie about Robinson, the scene was graphically portrayed. It is tragic since hearing comments like that in public at the time was typical. This occurred primarily in every state Robinson visited. It was a challenging time since, depending on the state's choice, segregation was still tolerated during the era Jackie got to play. This was only taking place because some people are uneducated and think they are better than others based on the color of their skin; racism is something that is taught, not something that is embedded in you from birth.

 

• To read Monique's complete essay, please click on the following link: 42
• To see historical footage of Jackie, please click on the video below:

 

 

  

Chicano Movement: Adaption to Change - Film History (Excerpt) - by Andre Landeros

This semester Andre may not have been too interested in the calculus taught by Jaime Escalante in the film Stand and Deliver, but he learned a lot about  Mexican-American civil rights movmement of the 1960s.   Andre was inspired to research the massive student demonstration we now know as The East L.A. Blowouts.  According to Andre, students who attended high schools in poor Mexican barrios of Los Angeles did not receive the same education or resources to succeed compared to their white counterparts.  At a certain point, they organized.  15,000 students walked out of their classroom in protest.  Many see this demonstration as the birth of a Chicano Movement.  Andres says  Jaime Escalante, and many teachers like him,  inspired the ganas in their Mexican-American students to achieve their American Dream. 

Chicano Movement: Adaption to Change 

Desire to achieve success was never a doubt for Mr. Escalante. Given all hardships pushed upon him, he dedicated himself to educating the younger generation. Coming to the United States from Bolivia, he aimed to prepare students to try their best to achieve the American Dream. This is mirrored in his iconic phrase, ganas, which he places on his students, “Each year he teaches his new students his favorite word..”(Brecque). Escalante’s rapid-fire curriculum and quick-witted sense of humor captivated the classroom full of uninterested and uninspired teenagers at the verge of failing school and future careers.  In the film Stand and Deliver, his methodology is excellently captured when he quells a rowdy cabal of slackers and wannabe gangsters sitting on tired desks. At that moment, the film sets Escalante as the change that was badly needed to this failing school. 

One thing of note is not only the struggle to teach these struggling students Calculus to save the school’s accreditation, but also came the struggle of fighting the Education Testing Board for accusations of cheating on the AP Calculus examination. In the film, it is revealed that the testing board flagged the high school for suspicious test results on the basis of having nearly the identical error. Why is this a crucial point of the film? This is because in reality, Escalante did in fact have to face this controversy. Controversy being that the school was flagged in due part of it being a barrio school with predominantly Hispanic/Latino students, who had a stigma surrounding them. Facing possible discrimination from the Testing Board, Escalante was fully driven to getting the few students to retake the test to prove the Testing Board wrong. Even if they had only a few days to study once more and prove the board wrong. 

• To read Andre's  complete essay, please click on the following link:  Chicano Movement
• To learn more about the East L.A. Blowouts, please click on the video below:
  
  
  

 

The Warsaw Ghetto: A Place of Torment - Film History Research Paper (Excerpt) - by Cassandra Villanueva Ruiz

      

Paolo Coelho once tweeted, “Forgive but do not forget, or you will be hurt again. Forgiving changes the perspectives. Forgetting loses the lesson.”  Yeah, I’ve heard that.  My Jewish grandparents on both sides of the family escaped Russian persecution of the early twentieth century.  They had everything taken away from them.  In her film history research paper, Cassandra writes about similar circumstances that manifested in the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust.  She writes with great skill and compassion.  I often become emotional when I read these essays, but I believe in the importance our students learning from our past.

From 1939-1945, Germany was facing a historical moment known as the Holocaust. Thousands and thousands of Jews were being targeted by Germans and the Nazi Party and they were being ripped from their normal day-to-day lives. They were separated from their families and forced into concentration camps and ghettos where they lived in horrible health and sanitary conditions. They were starved, tortured, forced to work, gassed, and killed by German soldiers and officers solely because of their beliefs. Jews were not considered human beings during the Holocaust and there are many ways that Germans showed this. “It doesn’t matter,” a nameless German said. He was an official in the electric company. “So there’ll be one less Jew” (qtd. in Clarfield). This was something that a German responded with when a surgeon asked him if he could have a couple of minutes of electricity so he could perform surgery on a Jew. This is a clear embodiment of the German mentality during that time. A Jewish person was a thing, not a human. As can be seen in the quote, Jews had no appropriate and crucially needed medical supplies and with the constant disregard of the Germans, this led to more hardships that Jews sadly had to face. Germans had little to no compassion towards Jews and the lives of those in the camps and ghettos were insignificant.

             How did the Nazi Party utilize the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust to carry out the "Final Solution" and exterminate Jews? At the time, the Nazi Party became blinded by their prejudice and they committed heinous acts towards Jews. The rise of antisemitism, hostility towards Jewish people, caused many people to switch their allegiance to the Nazi Party. Because of this mentality, Jewish people began to be targets for torture and discrimination (“Antisemitism”). During the Holocaust, the Germans rounded the Jews up and placed them in the Warsaw Ghetto- This was to dehumanize them, to treat them like animals, before they killed them.

            The Germans saw the Warsaw Ghetto as a way to control and abuse the Jews. They were beaten, forced to work, and faced several diseases with no access to medicine. Although they were forced to face the horrific conditions inside the ghetto, many did not lose hope that they would one day be free. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which lasted from April 16, 1943, to May 16 of the same year, was an event where Jewish people fought the Germans to resist the deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka, a death camp (Berenbaum). Before the uprising occurred, Germans began to transfer Jews to death camps at Treblinka. Around 265,000 Jews were sent to Treblinka and around 55,000 stayed in the ghetto. The thousands of Jews that stayed in the ghetto formed the Jewish Fighting Organization and began to attack Germans little by little. The Germans stopped the deportation until April, which was when the uprising gained more strength. On April 19, deportations resumed. Germans arrived at the ghetto with weapons and Jews hid in bunkers with their weapons. Jews destroyed German tanks, held off reinforcements that were attempting to enter the ghetto, and killed German troops. Germans retreated but the fight resumed the following day with Germans handling gas and flamethrowers. This continued until Germans decided to burn down the ghetto and liquidate it. Jews held out and hid from the Germans until May 16 when the ammunition Jews used to fight the Germans ran out. This final day marked the end of only one battle between the Germans and the Jews. Although the Jews lost the uprising, they clearly demonstrated their resilience and determination in fighting for their lives.

• To read Cassandra complete essay, please click on the following link:  Warsaw Ghetto
• To hear a survivor's account of the Warsaw Ghetto,  please click on the video below:

Kung Fu: The Story of the Wing Chun and The Grandmaster Ip who Conquered It - Film History Research Paper (Excerpt) - by Alexia Reyes

Alexia once told me of her desire to learn Kung Fu.  I’ve read student essays that argue martial arts are an excellent way to enhance self-discipline.  The focus on the mat can carry over to the  classroom.  In her research paper about Kung Fu, Alexia says Kung Fu style is not about agression; it’s about wisdom.  She writes of how the Grandmaster Ip Man made an “honest man” out of Bruce Lee. Together they took Kung Fu to a higher level.

 

The Grandmaster Ip was born in China in a wealthy family. He started to learn Wing Chun from one of his teachers when he was 9 through 13. From there he trained for 3 years before his teacher died due to an illness. When he was 16 he had a friendly sparring match, since he had never lost in a fight he decided to fight only to lose. He was discouraged because he was easily beaten and stopped doing Kung Fu for a while. Later the man he fought with sought him out because he liked the way he fought with him. He encouraged him to get better in Kung Fu. Ip Man once said "The world isn't fair but moral standards apply to us all. The rules isn't always a superior person, and those ruled aren't always inferior. The world doesn't belong to the rich, or even the powerful, but to those of pure heart." Then when he became an adult he then started to train kids with the Wing Chun style. He did not have a school but he trained his students wherever he could. He taught his students to always be honest and to not fight for something that has no value -- to fight Kung Fu correctly and with no cheating. People who are honest and do thing she right way are always rewarded later on life.  Wing Chun is very different from other Kung Fu styles.

What are the steps o techniques that need to be used that make the Wing Chun? There are 3 different steps that make the Wing Chun. The focus is on correct structural integrity, efficiency of movement and the development of the distance of short power. The Wing Chun is different from other Kung Fu styles because of the soft techniques it has. While  other Kung Fu requires power and harness, the Wing Chun requires quick movements and strong legs to defeat the opponents.

• To read Alexia's  complete essay, please click on the following link:  Kung Fu
• To see a simulation of  Wing Chun Master Bruce Lee, please click on the video below:

   

Jeffrey Dahmer: The Man, the Monster, the Epitome of Evil - Film History Research Paper (Excerpt) - Angela Guevara

Some of my students tell me they love HORROR movies.  I’ve seen a lot of mention of Stephen King on our classroom discussion boards. My students try to explain to me stuff like zombie outbreaks to alien infestations.   I think I can safely put Angela in this category.  For her film history research paper, she details the abhorrent behavior and unimaginable acts of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.   I don’t know how she made it to the end of the movie, but I do know how she made it to the end of her essay – she maintains a thoughtful discussion about what it means to be “Evil” and/or “Insane.

        Jeffrey Dahmer was a man full of surprises.  Dahmer was known to have this liking towards bones so he would use acid to get rid of the body's flesh; he would even keep the skulls of his victims and worst part yet, if he wouldn't disintegrate the skin with acid he would cut it off and eat it. You could ask anyone if they know Jeffrey Dahmer, they will not say something positive about him. He was known for his insanely violent crimes and ways of strategizing. He would plan the ways he would kill each of his victims and they were all exceedingly gruesome. In the eyes of writer Greg Kennedy, he saw Dahmer like this: "There is no question in my mind that what Jeffrey Dahmer became was the embodiment of evil. The first thing that we saw was a human head that was in the refrigerator..." (par. 3). Tell anyone this, the action speaks for itself, the man was sick.Just knowing Dahmer had a human head in his refrigerator emphasizes and represents how crazy of a person he was. He got away with such crimes for many years simply because of how good he would lie and manipulate others; he was the epitome of evil.

    How did Jeffrey Dahmer's mental illnesses affect the way people viewed him and most importantly, his future? People who knew Jeffrey Dahmer or had encounters with him were well aware of his weird behavior and lack of social skills. The Mayo Clinic Health Information Library states, “Being a loner and lacking close friends outside of the immediate family Flat emotions or limited or inappropriate emotional responses Persistent and excessive social anxiety Incorrect interpretation of events..." (Mayo Clinic Health Information Library, par. 5). He was a very awkward person. His fast switch between moods and behaviors also made those people realize that he was not one hundred percent normal. Because of his illnesses, police were able to find out about his crimes and send him to jail after years of getting away with it. Even though Jeffrey Dahmer had plenty of illnesses that made him such an evil person, it was not an excuse for him to kill people, he was simply insane. People who felt threatened by him and attacked by him as well confirmed that he was indeed insane. Jeffrey's mental illness created a dark, lonely future filled with violence, murder, and jail time.

• To read Angela's  complete essay, please click on the following link: Dahmer
• To see about Jeffrey's shocking capture, please click on the video below:

 

 

The Rise and Crash of the American Dream - Film History (Excerpt) - by Caryn Aguilar

 

Early in the semester, we read an essay about a young Mexican-American man’s desire to connect with his roots. He has lived in L.A. most of his life, but something has always been missing.   According to Caryn, this essay could have easily been written about Ritchie Valens.  In the fifties, the soon-to-be famous Latino rocker bereached down into his soul for feelings and rhythms that defined him.  The result was “La Bamba!”   Caryn’s film history research paper depicts the rise and fall of his American Dream.

Ritchie Valens’ younger sister, Connie, was one of four siblings. As both Ritchie and Connie grew up together, their father was not present in their lives. Therefore, due to a nine-year age difference, Ritchie was more of a father figure to Connie than simply an older brother. Being the second oldest of five children, Ritchie also took care of his two younger sisters, brother, and oftentimes his older brother, Bob, who would often get into trouble. It was evident that Ritchie would want to help his single mother and his siblings in any way possible. Seeing that his family of six was living in a small house, Ritchie took it into his own hands to give them a better life, one that was not so crammed. As Connie shared in an article about her brother’s legacy, “What really drove Ritchie was his desire to get a house for his mother and the family” (Wohlrabe). Ritchie was a family-oriented person who would do anything to support his mother and siblings. This shed some light on what Ritchie’s reasons for continuing his music career were. Instead of wanting fame for the attention, he valued the stability his music success would bring to him and his family.

       How did Ritchie Valens impact the music industry and become a living example of the American Dream? Born as Richard Steven Valenzuela, he grew up in a small town in California. It was here that he developed a love for music and learned to play numerous instruments, but he was most comfortable with playing the guitar. Growing up in a Mexican American society, he found inspiration in many sources, ranging from traditional Mexican music to popular R&B to rock performances (Biography writers). He joined his first musical group at 16 years old known as the Silhouettes where they would perform in local gigs. With determination, hard work, and risk-taking, Ritchie Valens, the poor kid from Pacoima, California, combined Mexican and American styles of music to achieve his American Dream to become a Latino rock n roll superstar.

• To read Caryn's complete essay, please click on the following link: La Bamba
• To hear a sample of Ritchie V. Live please click on the video below:

 

Selena Quintanilla : Setting New Styles, Breaking Old Standards - Film History Research Paper (Excerpt) - by Areli Ayala

Early on in my teaching career, I learned Spanish and began teaching bilingual education in San Diego City Schools. Now that I think about it, this has to be around the same time the movie Selena came out.  It’s the music form this soundtrack, I remember coming out of the houses, shops, and cars. You couldn’t escape the beat.  “Como la Flor” was huge.  “El chico de apartamento 512” was funny.  Every time I heard “Bidi bidi bom bom,” I just had to smile.  I mean everyone else was.  In English 110, Aereli's writing reflects her inspiration for a young woman who followed her dreams.  Areli  believes Selena is, and always will be, a true historical icon – someone we can all learn from in life and death.

 

Selena Quintanilla : Setting New Styles, Breaking Old Standards

 

    In the film Selena's father explains the meaning of “ni de aquí, ni de alla ” (Garcia).  This family has roots on both sides of the border. Although it should be a strength, it can also become a challenge. Selena's father, Abraham, warned her brother A.B. that there was a need for Mexican Americans to be “twice as perfect” in order to please everyone: “We have to be more Mexican than the Mexican and more American than the American, both at the same time! It’s exhausting" (00:59:40 ). That relates so much to me in various ways in the form of fitting in and to be accepted for who you are. I  think it wasn’t Selenas fathers intention to be hard on them in any sort of way, his goal wasn’t for them to just pretend like the usual “fake it ‘til you make it” but to actually know facts behind being an actual American and a Mexican as well. He wanted her to be  prepared for whatever came her way.

 

    How could she have struggled in becoming the Queen of Tejano if she lived in a Mexican-American community? Although Selena grew up in a community of Mexican- Americans she struggled fitting in. Her culture inspired her, but it also hindered her. At the time, it was rare for a young Latina to be in a band, especially in front of a male dominated audience.With her hard work and dedication she managed to get through to them. Far beyond her title as Queen of Tejano Music, Selena should be remembered as an inspirational woman who touched millions of hearts and changed lives. Selena managed to inspire not only millions of people but in particular many young Latinas. Her “Indian beauty” is what impacted them the most , she wasn’t like the rest (Puente).  Selena wasn’t your typical blonde, blue eyed, thin woman. She was curvy, dark skinned and had dark hair. She made most young girls realize that beauty comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. Her goal was to redefine the word “beauty” in other communities and that’s exactly what she did. Selena is more famous than she ver was, now after her death. Her fans were left wanting more from the Tejano Music Queen, they even mentioned that she was a martyr. One specific thing mentioned that I really relate to was, “The Selena phenomenon may persuade Hollywood to tell more stories about Latinos, and not just about musicians, but about a diverse Latino community, a community with deep roots in this country, a community that is here to stay” (Puente).

 

• To read Areli's complete essay, please click on the following link: Selena
• To see a great sample of a Selena "Jumpsuit,"  please click on the video below: