07.03.07
Writing Superheroes: Tenth Post (Media Sources)
Ok, Dyson kind of pissed me off at the end of her chapter looking at the practical pedagogy of all that she’s been examining in the book. She states that the cultural sources the children had been playing with in their writing, theater and games wasn’t stuff that would make anyone’s ‘recommended list’. I had gotten throughout the book that she didn’t think very highly of any of the media the kids discussed, but that statement really crystallized for me how poorly she regarded them - despite her pointing out the class issues involved in doing so. A lot of the media the kids played with is actually very good and should be respected. The X-Men have an incredibly complex story that makes for great reading or watching and is often very worth recommending. Aladdin is an extremely high quality film in terms of storytelling, acting, animation, music and just about everything else. The kids she observed even had reasonably good taste in video games! Sonic the Hedgehog is totally classic and actually a pretty good game. It regularly makes “top games” lists. I think Dyson, and likely many of her colleagues, need to open their minds and really look at the media these kids chose to interact with most - they might be surprised. But I doubt that will ever happen.