Box Office Blockbusters: Using Hollywood Films to Illustrate the Foundations of Finance
In today's technological classroom, media is an essential tool to illustrate financial constructs in the
classroom. Various pedagogical methods are available to professors to teach the finance curriculum,
such as review and discussion questions, problem solving in groups, video case studies and real-world
case illustrations. The purpose of this teaching note is to give professors another pedagogical tool to
engage students in discussions of the classical theories of finance. Movies entertain and inform
audiences while occasionally teaching lessons. This paper utilizes Hollywood's modern and classic films
and documentaries to reinforce the existence and application of major fundamental finance principles
through drama, comedy and romance movies.
I. Description of the Primary Issues
In order to keep the younger generation engaged and interested in learning about the business world,
educators must access the prolific culture of media, games and technology. The film-making industry
has capitalized monetarily on the entertainment aspect of story-telling. It is appropriate that
professional educators use these expensive avenues that are freely and immediately available on the
internet to access the younger mentality.
The finance classroom is no longer the pulpit of instruction, but is now considered a stage where the
professor must engage and "entertain" the student, captivating interest in basic topics of corporate
finance, investments, real estate, risk and insurance, financial institutions and ethics through a variety of
formats. Serva and Fuller (2004) argue that current methods of evaluating learning and instructions have
not kept pace with changes in learning theory or with the changing technology structure of the modern
classroom. They demonstrate how effective media use can play a large role in explaining student
perceptions of instructional performance.
In the beginning stages of finance education, students often do not know enough about the financial
world around them to contribute to a discussion and be "engaged" in the dialogue. The clips and films
give educators inroads to student thought patterns through the appeal of Hollywood showmanship and
popular actors. Most of us remember our early days in education when our teachers pulled out the
movie projector to watch a filmstrip. The entertainment factor continues to rule the classroom in 2011.
II. Review of the Literature
Wilmingham (2009) asks a simple question, "Why do students remember everything that is on television
and forget what we lecture?" The answer he suggests is because visual media helps students retain
concepts and ideas. Research on brain functioning has documented that the left-brain specializes in
digital, deductive tasks that characterize oral and written media while the right-brain specializes in
iconic, intuitive tasks that characterize visual media, especially the visual and sound characteristics of
film ( Cassidy and Knowlton, 1983; Springer and Deutsch, 1988). The optimal classroom instruction will
engage both sides of a person's brain to evoke maximum cognitive processes resulting in learning.
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Another line of research suggests that people use different cognitive systems to process verbal and
visual media while other evidence suggests people learn abstract and novel concepts more easily when
presented in both verbal and visual form (Salomon, 1970, 1979). Other empirical research shows that
learning and recall is improved when visual and verbal media is used compared to text media (Cowen,
1984). The conclusion of both brain and cognitive research indicate a strong argument for using
multimedia in a variety of classroom instruction styles (Champoux, 1999).
Since the 1970s, experienced educators have successfully used films as a teaching tool and have
encouraged others to do so as well. A broad range of disciplines such as political science, American
studies, economics, French, group dynamics, science and anthropology have documented the utility of
popular media as meaningful classroom accessories to illustrate points necessary in understanding
theoretical constructs of each discipline (Champoux, 1999).
In the business arena, the management literature provides ideas for successfully incorporating popular
films as anecdotal evidence illustrating topics in organizational behavior (Kernodle, 2009). Showing a
film before class discussion can help students recall what they have already read in the text and
integrate the facts with observed behaviors in film-based appropriate management settings. Repeating
similar scenes in other films helps students identify management styles and encourages students to
suggest problem-solving strategies that have previously worked in other films.
Recent economic literature suggests film clips can be used to teach public choice economics. Mateer
and Stephenson (2011) discuss advantages and make suggestions for instructors to more effectively
integrate film clips into their class discussions. Their hints include utilizing free data sources such as you
tube and subscription-based providers, such as Netflix, to give students easy access to the clips outside
the classroom. They then illustrate the major components of the course and how selected films fit each
important topic discussed during the semester.
III. Description of the Data and Method
Building upon prior work, this paper contributes to the literature by identifying and selecting popular
films to visually depict specific aspects of finance lecture topics. Given a topic, a professor could use this
information as a springboard to engage students in further discussion. Selecting from blockbuster films
and documentaries since the depression era, the movies selected are evaluated and arranged by topic
area to best fit within a traditional finance curriculum.
Traditional finance curriculums are often divided into six major categories of study: corporate finance,
investments, real estate, risk and insurance, financial institutions and ethics. Accordingly, this paper will
identify movies that depict one if not more of these varied areas. The clips identified serve as useful
inserts to facilitate and direct class discussions. For the specific clips identified by frame number, this
paper serves as a useful tool to quickly identify certain points in a lengthy film and use provided
discussion questions to illustrate the traditional constructs of the finance curriculum. The questions
provided for each film will be useful to further probe discussion illustrating fine points often overlooked
in a cursory read of a textbook.
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Following Champoux's lead in his series of texts for the Organizational Behavior field in management,
this work is a preliminary approach in addressing what could become a similarly large body of
information. Engaging students in classroom discussion and current events will be facilitated by the use
of this convenient topical multimedia source.
Proposed Films to be Evaluated:
The Solid Gold Cadillac, 1956
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, 1987
Trading Places, 1983
Wall Street, 1987
Other People's Money, 1991
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, 2005
Mad Money, 2008
The Social Network, 2010
Inside Job, 2010
The Company Men, 2010
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 2010
Too Big to Fail, 2011
Margin Call, 2011
For the Love of Money: The Bank, The Bust, The World
For the Love of Money: The Age of Risk
For the Love of Money: Back from the Brink
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