Bonnie L. Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
 
Office: 393 Old Main    Phone: (610) 683 - 4459    Email: rosenbla@kutztown.edu

(The Only) Approved Movies for Term Project

Bend it Like Beckham  (2003).  Jess, a teen-age Indian girl living in London, dreams of playing soccer professionally like her hero, David Beckham.  Her unorthodox ambitions are opposed by her parents.  Meanwhile, Jess's sister, Pinky, prepares for her own traditional Indian wedding and the conventional lifestyle it implies.  Key social psychological issues include:  Norms and values, social perception, stereotypes. (Fox Searchlight, 112 minutes).

The Caine Mutiny  (1954).  The story of shipboard conflict and mutiny aboard a WWII naval destroyer, and the subsequent court-martial of the ship's captain, Lt. Comdr. Queeg (Humphrey Bogart).  Queeg is a battle-worn, no-nonsense naval officer determined to turn the ship's slovenly crew into proper sailors.  His efforts engender resentment, and his own insecurities help  fuel to the fire.  Key social psychological issues include: Leadership, obedience to authority; conformity, stress.  (Columbia/TriStar, 125 minutes).

Defending Your Life (1991).  Meryl Streep and Albert Brooks star in this comedy about two recently deceased souls called upon to defend their lives in order to be sent to heaven.  Key social psychological issues include: Attribution theory, social comparison, and interpersonal attraction.  (Paramount, 112 minutes).

Do the Right Thing (1989).  Director Spike Lee dives head-first into a maelstrom of racial and social ills, using as his springboard the hottest day of the year on one block in Brooklyn, NY.  Also starring are Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez, and John Turturro.  Two Academy Award Nominations.   Key social psychological issues include: Stereotyping, prejudice, conflict.  (Universal/Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, 120 minutes).

Europa, Europa  (1983).  A foreign film based on a true story about a 13-year-old Jewish boy's fight to escape from the Nazi's during World War II.  Highly acclaimed.  Key social psychological issues include: Prejudice and discrimination, attitude change, cognitive dissonance.  (Orion, 115 minutes).

Finding Forrester (2000).  The story of an unlikely bond that develops between an aging, reclusive novelist named Forrester (Sean Connery) and Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a 16-year-old African American with a hidden desire to be a writer.  Key social psychological issues include: Stereotyping, social identity, ingroup/outgroup bias, leadership, authority.  (Columbia, 133 minutes).

Hard Promises  (1992)   On the eve of her wedding day, a woman's former husband returns to their hometown and tries to win her back.  A romantic comedy staring William Petersen and Sissy Spacek.  Key social psychological issues include: Attraction, equity and exchange theory, attributional models of relationships.  (Columbia/TriStar, 100 minutes).

Lords of Discipline (1986).  Davis Keith stars in this drama that chronicles the operations of a secret society within a young men's military academy.  Key social psychological issues include: Conformity and obedience, hostility and aggression, intergroup conflict.   (Paramount, 116 minutes).

The War of the Buttons (1994).   In this allegorical anti-war film, rival groups of boys from two neighboring Irish villages engage in a running battle.  Boys from Ballydowse exchange insults with boys from nearby Carricksdowse.  One day, the Bally gang cuts the buttons off the clothes of a bully in the Carricks gang, and the Carricks retaliate by swiping the buttons from the clothes of the leader of the Bally boys.  The conflict builds from there, and both towns are engulfed.  Key social psychological issues include: Conflict escalation, ingroup/outgroup bias; conformity and obedience to authority, leadership.  (Warner Bros., 90 minutes).