Week One

This weekend I watched a video made by one of the students at Phillips Community Television:

http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm05/

Doing an internship with PCT is an option for the Service Learning course my brother and I took during our time as undergraduates, though neither of us took advantage of it. The video this particular student made, “Battleground Minnesota,” was really fascinating. He conducted interviews with many politicians, lawmakers and others associated with the upcoming election.

What interested me most about the film was the way this student chose to draw his interviewees into his own experience as a young person, rather than ask his subjects to immerse him in the life of a politician. The scene where he gives Mark Dayton some “bling” comes to mind, as well as the use of rap music throughout. His intent with the meetings with Minnesota lawmakers is to introduce the priorities and interests of young people like himself, as well as to introduce the political process to his viewers.

As a viewer who doesn’t have a lot in common with the filmmaker, this struck me as an unorthodox way of creating a “get involved” documentary. My expectation was for the filmmaker to try to make the political process more accessible to young people. I thought his interviews would involve more questions and fewer scenes with uncomfortable politicians. But once I got over feeling uncomfortable with them, I understood that the filmmaker chose to make the people with the power feel awkward so young people like him could gain a little power.

I know that Phillips Community Television’s program has many of the same goals discussed in Chapter 1 of the Beach textbook. For example, this filmmaker uses the music and filmmaking skills from his “bedroom culture” to make this project. In addition, the film itself indirectly comments on the lack of voice young people have in the political process and in the media, and encourages other young people to be engaged. Without education in media literacy and the opportunity to express lessons learned through media, I don’t think the filmmaker could have made the connections he did with this project. Watching his film, I think, is a good argument against the statements of the Eden Prairie school board member, because I think important learning did take place.