# College student objects to films shown in class **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 24, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600 "2011-04-24T23:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/141 "2011-05-01T01:19:56Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > You can educate without belittling her values. Though I agree this college environment is not for her, but it’s not your place to drive her away. Says who? If she reserves the right to belittle MY values (assuming that I was the instructor), why am I not reserved the same right? And people will be driving her away through belittling of her values throughout her life. Until she learns courage of her convictions so that petty belittling in every situation does NOT drive her away. In other words, SHE bears the responsibility for being “driven” away. “There is only one basic human right in the world, and that is to do as you damned well please. And with it comes the only real responsibility; to take the consequences.” ~ PJ O’Rourke ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/142 "2011-05-01T01:31:26Z")
Marc Xenos writes: \> SOME students have even taken a failing grade in a class to court, and had it \> overturned by legal ruling. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/143 "2011-05-01T01:45:48Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > Says who? If she reserves the right to belittle MY values (assuming that I was the instructor), why am I not reserved the same right? > > And people will be driving her away through belittling of her values throughout her life. Until she learns courage of her convictions so that petty belittling in every situation does NOT drive her away. In other words, SHE bears the responsibility for being “driven” away. > > “There is only one basic human right in the world, and that is to do as you damned well please. And with it comes the only real responsibility; to take the consequences.” ~ PJ O’Rourke My point is, while it’s likely (and better for all concerned) that she’ll end up at a Mormon school, you don’t have the right to make her miserable while she’s there. (though I concede you’re going to anyway, and enjoy doing so) ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/144 "2011-05-01T02:10:43Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > My point is, while it’s likely (and better for all concerned) that she’ll end up at a Mormon school, you don’t have the right to make her miserable while she’s there. (though I concede you’re going to anyway, and enjoy doing so) She came there for an education. She doesn’t get to dictate the terms of what she’ll allow her professors to attempt to teach her. Sometimes a person has to be thrown into the water to learn to swim. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/145 "2011-05-01T04:07:18Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > I would link everyone to the actual campus newspaper story if their website were up and running. It isn’t. I could scan the article for you and put the photos on Photobucket but someone would probably claim it’s all fake. Whatever. All I know is that it did happen, I know the dept. heads and deans involved, if not the student and professor, and I just had a very similar incident happen to me. > > ``` > I am not in the Bible Belt. I am in So. Cal. > > And is it really so hard to believe that this could happen, not just with a movie, but with a book or story assignment? I'm sure there are students out there objecting to all sorts of books for all sorts of reasons. > > ``` I’m not arguing that what you state isn’t plausible, I’m asking, if it is true. You took more time on this post than it would take for you to post the specifics. A campus newspaper in California isn’t available online? When did this happen? 1995? Frankly, I’m mostly upset that a non-cinema course would spend significant time watching movies. My first reaction is that the professor has given up teaching and instead become a babysitter for arrested adolescents. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/146 "2011-05-01T04:48:08Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Marc Xenos writes: > > \> SOME students have even taken a failing grade in a class to court, and had it > \> overturned by legal ruling. > > Cite? So you want ME to do the research for YOU in compiling a list of court cases? Believe as you will. All the effort will not illuminate you further nor will it make me more famous for it. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/147 "2011-05-01T05:00:15Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > So you want ME to do the research for YOU in compiling a list of court cases? You’re going to make a claim, you should be prepared to back it up. Proving you right is not our job. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/148 "2011-05-01T05:07:04Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > My point is, while it’s likely (and better for all concerned) that she’ll end up at a Mormon school, you don’t have the right to make her miserable while she’s there. (though I concede you’re going to anyway, and enjoy doing so) I’m not following… The “right” to make her miserable…? She is miserable by HER personal decision to BE miserable. People have to learn to take responsibility for their own reactions to Life’s little problems. They can’t cop out by saying somebody else made them that way. No more than a wife-beater can tell his wife, “See what you MADE me do!” ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/149 "2011-05-01T05:14:18Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#): > > You’re going to make a claim, you should be prepared to back it up. Proving you right is not our job. And I suppose you’re going to say that it’s so preposterous in out litigious society that you just can’t accept such a premise? Gee, I’m absolutely crushed. My life is over. No one has ever doubted me before. Oh, where, oh where can I possibly find the evidence to salvage my destroyed reputation? Oh, gee, such an easy thing to do, just use Google: [http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/08/us-student-lawsuit-idUSN0725021320070208](http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/02/08/us-student-lawsuit-idUSN0725021320070208) That one’s from 2007. But as the article says, while rare, there have been others. While most lose, there’s an occasional one that wins. Now, since I’ve backed it up, what are you going to give ME in return for doing your work for you, even as easy as it was? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/150 "2011-05-01T10:06:06Z")
Saying “Cite?” is the standard way of asking for someone to back up a claim on the SDMB. The news story you give doesn’t back up your claim. It says that ‘Brian Marquis, 50, said on Wednesday that he filed the lawsuit against the University of Massachusetts last week after receiving a “C” instead of the “A minus” he had expected.’ You said that some students have had their grades overturned by a court. In fact, the court immediately dismissed the lawsuit in that case, so it didn’t even go to trial: [http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/04/student\_takes\_his\_c\_to\_federal\_court/](http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/10/04/student_takes_his_c_to_federal_court/) It’s almost a rule anymore that if a lawsuit is interesting enough to appear in a lot of news stories, it’s a bad case, so it will be dismissed immediately. Are there any cases where someone successfully sued over a grade? I didn’t doubt that someone had tried such a lawsuit. I was just questioning whether anyone has ever succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/151 "2011-05-01T12:19:04Z")
I agree it would be a douche move to knowingly and actively deceive someone about the rating of a film just to forcefully broaden their horizons. I don’t eat mushrooms: they creep me out for some reason, and if someone who knew that deliberately pureed mushrooms into a dish, waited until I had eaten it, and then pulled a “gotcha ya!” on me, they would be on my douche list forever. That said, if I were a college professor, I can’t see that I would “warn” _adults_ about questionable content: I mean, even “R-rated” means “possibly inappropriate for people under 17”. I wouldn’t be maliciously concealing anything, it just wouldn’t occur to me to mention it, the way I wouldn’t mention in advance that there are cuss words or disturbing scenes in a novel. To continue the mushroom analogy, I don’t expect anyone to go out of their way to warn me if there are mushrooms in something, or to avoid putting them there. ---
**Author:** ![humbleofferings](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@humbleofferings](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/humbleofferings)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/152 "2011-05-01T13:07:05Z")
“However, I can say from experience, that the written word isn’t nearly as effective as film at conveying sexual content (No one reads Playboy for the articles.)” Ummm…then your literary experiences are rather limited. There are hundreds of works which give one person’s very detailed interpretation of a sexual experience. And no, while most people don’t read Penthouse for the words, there is a pretty strong following of Forum readers. For the words. Not the pics. The student is naive. University is for broadening the mind, not tending to frailities. Unless the film is inappropriate for mixed audiences (I once had a prof show a snuff film in a mixed gender class, which was WAY inappropriate on so many levels) then it’s fair game for educational purposes. Suck it up. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/153 "2011-05-01T21:42:40Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I’m not arguing that what you state isn’t plausible, I’m asking, if it is true. You took more time on this post than it would take for you to post the specifics. > > A campus newspaper in California isn’t available online? When did this happen? 1995? > > Frankly, I’m mostly upset that a non-cinema course would spend significant time watching movies. My first reaction is that the professor has given up teaching and instead become a babysitter for arrested adolescents. Ah, got the link: [http://issuu.com/mountaineerprintedition/docs/complete](http://issuu.com/mountaineerprintedition/docs/complete) Now do you believe? ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/154 "2011-05-01T22:04:45Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I didn’t doubt that someone had tried such a lawsuit. I was just questioning whether anyone has ever succeeded. And there is the classic definition of “pendantic”. Someone posted that they could not believe this incident actually occurred, that it sounded like an urban legend. When I mentioned that people have gone to court over a grade on one test, you chose to focus on my remark of its success, not the general statement that people do make a large issue over small incidents. In talking about a forest, you’re not only concentrating on a single tree, but on a chip in the bark of that tree. Sounds like 4th Grade playground… “Oh yeah? Prove it!” And I’m sure you’re already familiar with the rejoinder. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/155 "2011-05-01T22:10:48Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > So, I ask again, you ENDORSE malicious lying? Glad I don’t go to your college! :rolleyes: > > Though, in fairness, “helicopter parents” are a problem, and gay teachers can’t be “fixed”. See the bottom of my post, #131. How is there any deceit if someone can SEE the rating on the screen ? ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/156 "2011-05-01T22:12:07Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > So, I ask again, you ENDORSE malicious lying? Glad I don’t go to your college! :rolleyes: > ". So am I. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/157 "2011-05-01T22:36:52Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I’m not arguing that what you state isn’t plausible, I’m asking, if it is true. You took more time on this post than it would take for you to post the specifics. > > A campus newspaper in California isn’t available online? When did this happen? 1995? > > Frankly, I’m mostly upset that a non-cinema course would spend significant time watching movies. My first reaction is that the professor has given up teaching and instead become a babysitter for arrested adolescents. Showing a few movies, which have an average running time of 100 minutes, does not take up that much time in a course that lasts 16 to 18 weeks. As long as plenty of time is devoted to discussion, essays, exams, and whatever else is required, it’s not an issue. Besides, movies are not generally shown just to eat up time. They are supposed to be part of an assignment. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/158 "2011-05-01T22:43:02Z")
> [@Marc\_Xenos](#): > > [Wendell Wagner: I didn’t doubt that someone had tried such a lawsuit. I was just questioning whether anyone has ever succeeded.] > > And there is the classic definition of “pendantic”. Someone posted that they could not believe this incident actually occurred, that it sounded like an urban legend. When I mentioned that people have gone to court over a grade on one test, you chose to focus on my remark of its success, not the general statement that people do make a large issue over small incidents. > > In talking about a forest, you’re not only concentrating on a single tree, but on a chip in the bark of that tree. > > Sounds like 4th Grade playground… “Oh yeah? Prove it!” And I’m sure you’re already familiar with the rejoinder. That’s not pedantry - it’s a fundamental change to what you said. There’s an enormous difference between your original claim (“SOME students have even taken a failing grade in a class to court, and had it overturned by legal ruling”) and what your cite said. Words have meanings. When _you_ use the wrong words and communicate something that you don’t mean, it’s not _your reader’s_ fault that he doesn’t understand. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/159 "2011-05-01T22:47:22Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > See the bottom of my post, #131. How is there any deceit if someone can SEE the rating on the screen ? It’s misleading because she HAS TO BE IN THE ROOM WHEN THE MOVIE BEGINS!!! :rolleyes: I’m really unclear on how this concept eludes you! What do you gain by being an a@@hole toward this woman? ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600/160 "2011-05-01T23:38:42Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#): > > See the bottom of my post, #131. How is there any deceit if someone can SEE the rating on the screen ? To be fair, the original post he was responded to did advocate actively concealing the rating from her. Does that really seem ok to you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/college-student-objects-to-films-shown-in-class/579600.md?page=9)