4.8 Tasks and activities for films: Real Women Have Curves Christiane Peck Intercultural learning and the film Real Women Have Curves (Las mujeres de verdad tienen curvas) by Patricia Cardoso (2002) About the film In 2002 Real Women Have Curves received several international awards, such as a reward at the Sundance Festival and at the film festival of San Sebastián. The film lasts 83 minutes and has been approved for general audience. English is spoken in the film, with occasional scenes in Spanish. The film is available on a DVD, either with English subtitles when the protagonists speak Spanish, or with Spanish subtitles for the English text. Useful Internet addresses if you want some more information on the film: http://www.hbo.com/films/realwomen/
Introductory Didactic Notes Real Women Have Curves (Las mujeres de verdad tienen curvas) can be used in English or Spanish lessons for students at the secondary or university level, particularly when discussing the topic of Hispanics in the USA (Hispanos en EEUU) or acculturation in general. The film is especially useful for these target-groups as the main character Ana is in the same situation as the students, and is thus easy to identify with: having finished high school she is faced with decisions about her future. The film deals with very personal questions about studying and choosing a profession, about family relationships and the necessity to sometimes break with them, with constructing one's personal identity, cultural identity, love and friendship. At the same time the film explores questions of social integration, and shows how Mexican immigrants live in Los Angeles and how they feel in the country of their choice. Another issue closely linked to the previous topic is the exploitation of Hispanic immigrants at an American company. Suggestions for activities with the film with particular focus on intercultural learning The suggestions mentioned below have to be seen as a list of possibilities. Teachers should choose the ones that are particularly suitable for their teaching context. The length of the pre-viewing, while-viewing and post-viewing activities cannot be estimated because it depends on the number and level of the students and their knowledge and experience. Before each activity, there are notes on suggested modes of working, interaction patterns, teaching materials and aids. The tasks for the students are written in frames.
Where necessary, there are additional notes or further suggestions for
the teacher. I. Pre-viewing activities The students shouldn't know the title of the film yet. I.1 Associations: The main character (Ana) Interaction: pairwork or groupwork Tasks (instructions for the students): I.2 Associations: Photos of the main characters, and the plot Interaction: individual work or pairwork Task: I.3 Associations: The title I.3.1 Tasks: One after the other, students come to the front of the class, and read both sentences. Then they put them up in two columns on the board or pinboard. After that, the statements can be clustered according to number or similarity of content. Finally, there may be a discussion in small groups or as a whole class activity about male and female stereotypes. I.3.2 Task: I.3.3 Task: II. While-viewing-activities: analysing several sequences A choice of sequences will be shown chronologically. II.1 Exposition: Ana and her family (Scene 1) (0'25 - 2'24) Ana is cleaning windows. Her sister Estela calls her because their mother wants to talk to her. Not really willingly, Ana follows Estela into the mother's room where all the family is gathering. She speaks to her mother and leaves the room angrily. II.1.1 Task: => Exposition: the conflict between mother and daughter, living in two different cultures. II.1.2 Task: => Ana's grandfather and father are speaking Spanish most of the time.
II.2 Ana's way to school in Beverly Hills, Part I (Scene 2) (2'24-4'00) II.2.1 Chicano-culture: culture in the street, part I Interaction: pairwork: observer/reporter Tasks: II.2.2 "Soy una chica difícil, pero yo valgo la pena" (Scene 2) Part I: Interaction: individual work und pairwork Tasks: Part II: Interaction: individual work, pairwork, eventually discussion Tasks: If there's a positive atmosphere, the students will find it easier to confide to each other, and exchange their ideas about their respective ideals. It would be interesting to see if there are differences between the genders. II.3 Plans for the future (Scenes 3 a - 3 d) (4'00 - 10'10) The following sequences contrast Ana's professional and private plans for her life after she graduates from high-school with the plans her parents have for her. II.3.1 Pre-viewing activity, Creative Writing Interaction: pairwork or groupwork, presentation Tasks: II.3.2 Post-viewing activities II.3.2.1 Ana's plans for her future The students are divided into 4 groups, each group getting different viewing-listening tasks for the following sequences. After having seen the sequences twice, they write a brief summary of one of the four scenes. Afterwards they present their version to the others. Interaction: individual work, pairwork or groupwork, discussion Task: a) Scene in the classroom with Ana, Jimmy and their English teacher (Scene
3a) (4'00-5'00) b) Scene in the fastfood-restaurant (Scene 3 b) (5'00-5'22) c) Ana comes home and is surprised by her family with a party. (Scene
3 c) (5'22-9'00) d) The conversation between Ana's parents in their bedroom (Scene 3 d) (9'00-10'10) II.3.2.2 The future plans of the students Interaction: discussion in small groups Tasks: II.3.3 The question of language choice (Scene 3c) (5'22-9'00) Interaction: individual work, discussion Task: => Ana's grandfather, her cousins and her father speak mostly Spanish. The students whose parents are immigrants afterwards can tell the others if and when they tend to switch into their mother tongue. Questions that may help to start the conversation: - Can you write in your mothertongue or do you master II.4 Ana's essay for the scholarship at
the college Ana meets her English teacher at school. He wants to help her to get a scholarship at a college. Ana has to write an essay in order to apply for the scholarship. Interaction: individual work, groupwork or pairwork Tasks: II.5 Ana's first date, Part I (Scene
5) (24'15-25'20) When Ana is leaving the schoolbuilding, her classmate Jimmy stops her and starts a conversation. He finally gives her his telephone number. Interaction: pairwork, presentation, discussion Tasks: Note for Spanish speaking groups: The tasks for groups A and B can additionally be used as a language exercise. Examples: Having finished the creative writing, pairs of group A and B compare
their results. Finally, the results will be discussed in the plenary. II.6 Ana's first date, Part II (Scene 6) (42'00-45'52) Interaction: classroom discussion After the activities mentioned in II.5, the students are shown Ana's and Jimmy's first date (Scene 6). They will first give a brief summary of the scene and then comment on it comparing Ana's and Jimmy's behaviour with the advice the students had worked out for them. Finally, the students might make speculations about the following love story in the film. II.7 Ana's appearance at Estela's factory II.7.1 The way to the factory: culture in the street, Part II (Scene 7) (10'20-12'00) On Ana's first working day, the father is taking Ana and her mother to Estela's sewing-factory. Interaction: pairwork: observer/reporter Tasks: II.7.2 Ana, her mother and the working women (Scene 8) (12'00-20'10) Ana doesn't really want to work in her sister's factory. The Latina working women soon disapprove of her behaviour. Finally, there develops a conflict between Ana and her mother, so that Ana leaves the factory angrily. Her mother runs after her bursting into tears on the street, telling her why she is so worried about Ana's life. A black policeman comes and tries to calm them down. Feeling sorry, Ana returns to the factory with her mother. Interaction: teacher-student-discussion Tasks: => The background information to the last question dealing with the
hierarchy in US American society might not be clear for the students.
The teacher might want to tell them that in many predominantly white regions
the Latinos are considered to be at the bottom of the social ladder. Ana has calmed down; she still works at Estela's factory. She knows that her sister gets only a very small part of the money the intricately sewn dresses are sold for at the department store. In addition to that, Estela is being pressurized by the middle woman, so that she cannot meet her deadline and cannot pay her employees on time. Ana is very upset about that. Interaction: teacher-student discussion Task: II.7.4 Ana plucks up the courage (Scene 10) (38'30 - 39'12 - 40'45) Ana convinces Estela to talk to her employer Mrs. Glass in order to get
a postponement. Together they go to the office, but both, the secretary
and the employer, treat them very rudely. Finally it becomes obvious that
Mrs. Glass has Latin roots herself. Tasks: II.8 The end of the film: Creative Writing Interaction: individual work, pairwork, groupwork, presentation Tasks: Afterwards the students are shown the end of the film. III. Post viewing activities III.1 Personal opinion about the film Interaction: "Four-corners-discussion": Tasks: III.2 Summary of the film Interaction: individual work Tasks: "This is the story of Ana, a first generation Mexican-American teenager on the verge of becoming a woman. She lives in the predominantely Latino community of East Los Angeles. Freshly graduated from high school, Ana receives a full scholarship to Columbia University. Her very traditional, old-world parents feel that now is the time for Ana to help provide for the family, not the time for college. Torn between her mainstream ambitions and her cultural heritage she agrees to work with her mother at her sister's downtown LA sewing factory. Over the summer she learns to admire the hardworking team of women
who teach her solidarity and teamwork. Still at odds with what her mother
expects of her, Ana realizes that leaving home to continue her education
is essential to finding her place proudly in the world as an American
and Chicana. ( Text from http://www.realwomenhavecurves.com/story.html - site no longer operational) "Ana a 18 ans. Un avenir brillant l'attend, elle va être
reçue dans une grande école et c'est la première
fois dans l'histoire familiale que quelqu'un envisage de faire de hautes
études. Hélas, l'argent nécessaire est impossible
à trouver. Alors Ana accepte de travailler dans l'atelier de couture
de sa soeur, là, avec sa mère et les femmes du quartier,
elle va travailler de longues heures pour faire des robes comme elle ne
pourra jamais en porter. (Text on the backside of the Swiss Version of the DVD, Warner 2003) "Ana tiene 18 años y un futuro brillante. Está a punto de acabar los estudios de secundaria y ha conocido a un chico al que le gusta tal como es. Ana es la primera de su familia que puede atreverse a soñar con ir a la Universidad, pero su educación modesta en un barrio del Este de Los Angeles, y la lealtad que siente por su familia la retienen. Carmen, su madre, trabaja en un taller de costura. Ha tenido una vida muy dura y pone todas sus eperanzas en Ana para que ésta le dé los nietos que ella cree merecer. Carmen tiene buenas intenciones, pero subestima el carácter de Ana y sus ganas de cambiar de vida." (Text on the backside of the DVD cameo media 2004) "In ihrer ersten Filmrolle bringt die vielversprechende Schauspielerin America Ferrera eine Glanzleistung auf die Leinwand. Wärme, Realität, Emotionen und Selbstsicherheit vermischen sich dermassen, dass wir das Kino in bester Laune und versöhnt mit uns und unseren eventuell zu vielen Kilos verlassen. Ana, die 18jährige Tochter einer mexikanisch-amerikanischen Familie in Los Angeles, könnte ans College - wären die finanziellen Mittel und allem voran das kulturelle Verständnis ihrer Eltern vorhanden. Um Geld zu verdienen, beginnt sie im Schneideratelier ihrer Schwester zu arbeiten. Zusammen mit ihrer Mutter und den Frauen des Quartiers muss sie Kleider nähen, die sie selber nie tragen könnte. Ana gelingt es mit ihrer dynamischen und weltoffenen Art, die Arbeiterinnen dazu zu bringen, ihre Körper und Kurven zu lieben." (Text on the backside of the Swiss version of the DVD, Warner 2003) "Ana è una giovane di origine messicana, studentessa di un liceo di Beverly Hills e con ottime possiblità di vincere una borsa di studio per l'Università... c'è solo un problema: la madre..." (Text on the backside of the Swiss version of the DVD, Warner 2003) III.3 Topics of the film Interaction: pairwork, whole class activity Tasks: => Here is an example of a provocative statement: III.4 Final discussion about the main topics of the film Interaction: double circle Tasks: If the students didn't do the task mentioned in III.3, the teacher should give them various provocative statements (stereotyped formulas), such as:
III.5 Ana's life after one year at the
college Interaction: individual work Tasks: IV. Bibliography Allan, Margaret: Teaching English with Video. Longman Handbooks for Language Teachers. Bath 1985. Geddes, Marion; Sturtridge, Gill (ed.): Practical Language Teaching no. 7. Video in the Language Classroom. Heinemann Educational Books. London 1982. Liebelt, Wolf: Anregungen für den Umgang mit Video im Fremdsprachenunterricht. In: Praxis des neusprachlichen Unterricht 1989 (36), 250 - 261. See more film titles in several languages in the bibliography under Further reading, viewing and singing. next chapter: 4.9 Guidelines songs |