Bloodless Coup

I'll admit it, and you won't be that surprised: I love Forrest Gump. I decided to teach Cry Freedom and have the students read some Steve Biko for the discussion week. One of the most powerful classes I took in college was on decolonization where I read Biko and Franz Fanon. I want to pass that along here, since I think WVU is just as sheltered as my undergraduate institution.

Yeah, I know you like Forrest Gump - I strenuously disagree, for reasons largely covered in that run-down.

Well teaching Forrest Gump could lead to getting into a host of discussions: it's don't worry or question, be happy and dumb outlook; the rather grotesque way they treat Jenny (a liberal woman who questions authority); the competing visions of Vietnam; etc.

Other things I'm thinking of as possibilities: Thank You for Smoking (on the one hand that might be too obvious - but it's good, and since we teach so many future attornies they might have thoughtful things to say about it on that front), Dr. Strangelove (obvious discussions of international relations and decision-making), The Designated Mourner (likely too slow - but lots to play with there in terms of idealogies, how the personal conflicts with the political, pragmatism, etc.), Death and the Maiden (the lasting effects of authoritarian states, and what those states do), and Z (the difficulty of organizing against authoritarian forces). Of course I'd also be a bit into teaching a 1940s or 1950s movie so we could get into reading films and how things used to be coded, rather than shown - but I don't think that's what I'll do this time.