Nine film reviews

These films come from many genres, including comedy.  Some are available online, some are available in our library.  All are available on Netflix.  Some documentaries

may be available free of charge online at sites like http://topdocumentaryfilms.com.  Your job is to watch them – and then find a way to review them (briefly) that

shows you’re seeing the ethical problems shown in the films.  It should be partly fun – and partly serious education.  Not all the suggested questions will be relevant

to every movie in that category – and are provided only as suggestions to get you started.    Some films contain strong language or violence – use imdb.com to check

for ratings if you’re concerned.  Some movies may appear in more than one category – but you can only count them one time.
Businesses and the behavior of individual employees, interns, underlings.  Customer service ethics.  Watch ONE from this category.    Write on:  1) What factors,

other than money, are playing a role in employees’ behavior?  2) what real world parallels have you observed, in which unhappy employees might make or break

(eventually) a business?    Clerks*;
Do the Right Thing*;
The Aquatic Life of Steve Zissou;
The Big Kahuna;
Wall Street;
Z Channel;
Documentaries or nearly.  Watch TWO from this category.    What role do documentaries play in telling the world what’s really going on?  What is a corporation – based on

what you see in the film?  What are the ethical dilemmas shown?  Besides corporations, what other entities employ people and influence the economy?  Don’t forget that

the film business…is a business.  If you see no corporations in the film – think harder about it.    The Corporation; Supersize Me; Revolution OS;
A Day Without a

Mexican;
McLibel;
Roger & Me;
DIG!;
Maya Lin:  A Strong Clear Vision;
Shooting War: WW2 Combat Cameramen; Voices of Iraq*;
Ethical activism, ethics from outside the corporation.  Watch TWO from this category.    What roles do activists and journalists play in assuring that corporations are

ethical – or at least not evil?  How does an educated population fit into activism?  College reproduces many aspects of broader society when it’s working – what are

those?  Why does the government view some activists as terrorists – and others as acceptable?    Norma Jean;
The China Syndrome; Broken Rainbow;
All the President’s

Men; Higher Learning;
Waco: The Rules of Engagement;
You Can’t Be Neutral on A Moving Train;
Control Room;
This is What Democracy Looks Like;
The Awful Truth Season 2;
T

he War at Home.
History, the individual, the law, social forces. TWO from this category.    What role does leadership play in shaping ethical behavior in a community?  What are

some kinds of leaders?   What role does history play in choosing leaders?  What kind of businesses need highly specialized employees and leadership?    Amarcord; Lone

Star; American History X; The Magnificent Seven; Alexander; Glory; Saving Private Ryan; My Architect: A Son’s Journey; Faster; How to Draw a Bunny;  The War Room; The

Trials of Henry Kissinger; Promised Land
Personal consciousness, meta-perspective.  Watch ONE from this category.

How much is a person expected to know?  If a person has no goal of “being a better

person” how ethical do you think they’ll be?   What kinds of problems are there in ordinary assessments of what makes a “good employee” or a “competent person”?  What

kinds of experiences are organized by business and society for the individual?    Run, Lola, Run;  What the Bleep do we Know?Donnie Darko;  Baraka; Save the Tiger;

Touching the Void;  Riding the Rails;
The Kid Stays in the Picture
Unbannable businesses?  Pseudo-businesses without government oversight?  Watch ONE from this category.    (For Mallrats: List the total number of different businesses

you see in the movie, and why it would be very difficult to ever fully get rid of that type of business including food courts).  For the others, focus on the ways in

which other institutions do what business does – but with very different ethical regulations and concerns.  How are these like business?  How are they different?

Also, look at what occupations seem unbannable – even if there’s no profit to be made.    Mallrats; Grass;
The Smashing Machine;
Up and Down; Magnolia;
At Play in the

Fields of the Lord;
National Geographic: The Photographers.