Particular Topics in Sociology
Movie Permission Slip
Throughout this course we will be viewing movies that illustrate important current social problems. Each of
the films was selected because they either help to convey an important concept and point of view, or, because
of their box office popularity, it is important to examine the accuracy of the film. Some of the films I will be
showing are rated R and your permission is necessary to allow your student to view the film in class. A list of
some of the films that I may be showing is listed below. Please note that every one of the films listed below
will not necessarily be viewed, time constraints will prevent this. Films may be shown in their entirety or in
short bits.
Crash: A 2005 film that deals with a variety of prejudices in a multi-racial/ethnic America. A powerful film told
through the eyes of 12 different characters.
This film is rated R for language, sexual content, and violence.
Black Hawk Down: A 2001 film following U.S. troops in a warlord-dominated Somalia in 1993.
This film is rated R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, & for language.
Sometimes in April: A 2005 film depicting the Rwandan Genocide on the early 1990s. This film contains
several violent scenes & subtitles.
This film is not yet rated.
City of God: A 2002 film that captures the life and death situations in the world’s most famous slum outside
of Rio de Janeiro. This film contains several violent scenes, very strong language & subtitles.
This film is rated R for strong language, adult situations & violent/graphic scenes.
Born into Brothels: A 2004 documentary that follows the lives of children of prostitutes, who work in
Calcutta’s notorious red light district in India. Contains subtitles.
This film is rated R for some sequences of strong language.
Blood Diamond: A 2006 film that shows the grueling effects of the illegal trade of diamonds in the war torn
country of Sierra Leone in 1999. The film also illustrates the effects of child soldiers who become involved in a
civil war that they know nothing about.
This film is rated R for strong language and violence.
Last Days: Five Jewish Hungarians, now U.S. citizens, tell their stories: before March, 1944, when Nazis began
to exterminate Hungarian Jews, months in concentration camps, and visiting childhood homes more than 50
years later.
Rated PG-13 for graphic images and descriptions of Holocaust atrocities
Juno: Faced with an unplanned pregnancy, an offbeat young woman makes an unusual decision regarding her
unborn child.
Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language
Scared Straight: The filmed depiction of a program where convicts tell troubled kids about the horrors of
prison life.
This documentary film is not rated but includes strong language
When a Man Loves a Woman: A 1994 movie about an airline pilot and his wife who are forced to face the
consequences of her alcoholism when her addictions threaten her life and their daughter's safety. While the
woman enters detox, her husband must face the truth of his enabling behavior.
Rated R for language
The Gods Must be Crazy: A 1980 movie that is a comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters
modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
Rated 'PG' for Violence, Cultural Nudity, and Brief Language
Pursuit of Happyness: Based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. As Gardner tries to
figure out how to sell his invention, his wife leaves him, he loses his house, his bank account, and credit cards.
Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner is now desperate to find a steady job; he takes on a job
as a stockbroker, but before he can receive pay, he needs to go through 6 months of training, and to sell his
devices.
Rated PG-13 for some language
The Insider: This film describes the efforts of a former tobacco company executive (Jeffrey Wigand) and of a
producer for the CBS news program 60 Minutes (Lowell Bergman) to bring tobacco company crimes to the
attention of the public. The movie also describes the interference with the exposé by the FBI and CBS
management and how the producer had to intimidate the FBI to make it back off and go around CBS
management to break the story.
Rated R for language
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: Set in the 1960s, this movie tells of a dinner party given by a bride's parents
to meet her fiancé (a doctor, no less) and his parents. The bride's white parents are astonished to find that the
groom is black and the groom's parents are none too happy when they discover that the bride is a white girl.
This Film is not rated.
Contagion: This movie describes a fictional influenza pandemic: the origin of the virus, the human toll, the
response of the public health agencies, and the various reactions of people to a public health emergency. The
film is a reasonable prediction of what would occur in the event of a moderately lethal influenza pandemic.
PG-13 for disturbing content and some language
Particular Topics in Sociology
Movie Permission Slip
_______ I permit my son/daughter to watch the above mentioned films in Social Problems this year.
_______ I would rather my son/daughter not watch some of the films in this course. I do realize that by
checking this, my son/daughter will have to complete an alternative assignment in order to receive credit for
any given assignments.
Please list titles of movies that you do no want your student to see.
Student’s Name ______________________________________________________
Parent’s Signature _____________________________________________________
Date: ________________________________________________________________
Please return this slip to Mrs. Koosmann by Friday, September67, 2013.