MovieChat Forums > Maria Full of Grace (2004) Discussion > Any other Teachers show this Movie?

Any other Teachers show this Movie?


I show this movie to my high school law classes. They always gripe when they learn it is with subtitles but soon settle in and really like it. Imagine hooking teenagers with a movie that has no violence (except if you count Lucy) and no chase scenes.

Any other teachers show it? What reactions do you get?

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Not quite the same, but I watched it in my college Spanish class.

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Not to be a b*tch, but out of curiosity, what's your learning goal? I def would not show this in a classroom of teenagers. I totally get that they watch stuff just as graphic (like the scene where the cut the drugs out of the girl's body) on their own time, but my point is...how does it fit into your curriculum? And even if it doesn't fit into the curriculum perfectly, what's your objective in showing it? Just curious.

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Dear Alwaysflaca:

I show this video for a combination of reasons.

1) In my law classes this video relates closely when we study illegal drugs, smuggling, corruption, questions about legalization, consensual crimes, the affects of addiction on the user and society, etc.

2) After the video, my students must review the video, and also answer several tough thinking queestions about what they watched, drug smuggling, legal choices, etc.

3) Well, er, yeah, it gives me some free time to grade papers and due administrative paper work while the student are engaged in the film.

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Thanks for the response.

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I for one applaud your choice-- it sounds like a damn good teaching module that can provoke a lot of good discussion. I think high school kids can handle it.

I saw this film as a part of a college class about the Andean nations. It was a real eye-opener as far as presenting the poverty issues of Columbia, the chain of command in drug society (I mean, I supposed I could have been left with my judgemental attitude about anybody who even touches drugs, but I appreciate understanding some of the dynamic) and the family obligations someone might face in rural Latin America.

My high school Spanish teacher showed us "El Norte" (if you haven't seen it, it follows two illegal immigrants form Guatemala who are fleeing the genocide of indigenous tribes that happened in the 80's). I think it was the perfect time to show it to us-- we were not yet so jaded as to not be capable of empathy.

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Further proof that educational value can be extracted from just about anything. Good job!

"She must suffer to her last breath."
-Kill Bill

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We watched it in my high school Spanish IV class last year, when I was a junior. Some other teachers complained that we were too young to watch it, because there was even an eighth grader in my class, but we watched it anyways. I am trying to get my AP Spanish teacher to let us watch The Skin I Live In this year, but I don't think that is going to happen!

Space may be the final frontier but it's made in a Hollywood basement

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Bunnywithanaxe, #3 was the true response. If a teacher shows this film to their students, particularly in high school, it's because they're giving themselves a little vacation.

No disrespect, but I've had occasion to see this happen many times. I don't think this film is particularly appropriate even for high school. Yet I've known middle school teachers who wouldn't hesitate to show it.

Converse with your students in Spanish, make it enjoyable, but please don't waste the kid's valuable time in school by showing movies.

And if they're in some kind of college law class, come on!

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