Popular Culture and Feature Films

Popular culture is often characterised by feature films and television serials which target a broad audience in an effort to systematically convey social commentary through inviting the perception of the viewer to interpret representations of everyday roles. This concept is central to 'Reel to real: Popular culture and teacher identity', in which Mitchell and Weber (1999) encourage their audience to challenge the status quo of the teacher role as commonly perceived by society. Particularly, the text draws attention to the complex relationship between the 'larger than life' teachers in popular feature films and television serials and the everyday reality of the ‘real classroom’ as defined by cumulative cultural texts. Mitchell and Weber (1999) argue that a cumulative cultural text must have three features; multidimensional, meaning it has popularity; intergenerational, it is timeless and intertextual, material which is continually relevant.

Prospective teachers are a critical demographic amongst the target audience of popular cultural material, as they are invited to readily identify with the ‘larger than life representations’ portrayed in film and television mediums. Identifying with this representation presents a challenge for many prospective teachers, as popular representations may provide a reflection which exposes their own vulnerabilities as educators. Mitchell and Weber (1999) discuss that it is “easier to be critical of fictitious teachers than we could otherwise be of ourselves” (p. 164). Hence, critiquing fictitious teachers deflects the potential to scrutinise their own teaching methods and practices. Therefore, the larger than life teacher in popular feature films and texts allows current and pre-serviced teachers to distant themselves from the reality of methods used, experiences encountered and understanding of knowledge and curriculum within a real classroom (Mitchell & Weber, 1999). Consequently, the relationship between the ‘larger than life