How was student agency depicted in the film you watched? You might describe and react to student agency in the film or compare characters in the film and whether/what kinds of agenda they possess. Feel free to also suggest topics for discussion when we meet to discuss.
Blanca Maldonado- I watched "The Breakfast Club,". What the agency means is having the ability to make decisions and act independently. In the movie, a lot of the characters "fought" against the labels they were given and tried to defend themselves. the brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal, but throughout the film, they begin to make their own choices and express who they really are.
ReplyDeleteErica Leia- I watched the Breakfast Club shows student agency because you had a group of students that couldn't be more different but all seemed to connect with each other. They broke out of the labels they were given and gained a new sense of independence.
DeleteLizzie Dorsey - I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I would say that the three main characters in the movie, Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane, all have different levels of agency. Ferris has the most, as the one leading their day and taking charge of almost every scene in the movie. Cameron has a middling level of agency, he does what Ferris asks of him for the most part, but it is aknowledged by both him and Ferris that he could put a stop to their activities if he really wanted to. Sloane has the least agency of the three, she is pulled out of school by Ferris and Cameron under the impression that her grandmother has passed and doesn't know the truth until they pick her up, and she goes along with their plans throughout the day. If Sloane wanted to influence the story she most likely could have, as Ferris cares for her very much, but she really doesn't contribute much to the overall plot besides the occasional joke or conversation, usually had to only tell us more about the male characters.
ReplyDeleteMarissa Miyoko C. Ogo- I watched the movie Honor Society and it depicted an interesting take on student agency. Honor felt like she had no student agency, she wanted to go to Harvard so she had to take things into her own hands. She had to get good grades, but also a letter of recommendation. She knew she didn’t have the freedom to just go to Harvard based off of academics or extracurriculars so she used Mr. Calvin as a way in.
ReplyDeleteImani Williams - I watched the movie Clueless. I first noticed student agency in the film when the main character Cher uses her social status in school to transform Tai. This backfires when Tai asserts her own independence later on. Additionally, Cher went on a journey of self-awareness and went from controlling others to making thoughtful choices instead.
ReplyDeleteLee Stribling - I watched Honor Society, and the first mention to student's agency in the film was Honor's want to be accepted into Harvard University. The first half of the movie followed Honor on her mission to sabotage all other potential applicants that were in Mr. Calvin's "top four choices" to apply to the university. From Honor's flirty remarks and attitude toward Mr. Calvin, and the way they interact, I can tell that Honor has gone so far as to seduce her way into getting a better chance of being chosen to be the one who her teacher sends a recommendation for. Teacher-student relations in this movie are, at times, very close. Too close, one could say. For one, the teacher practically dangles the idea of Honor going to this prestigious school, but only if she sleeps with him. When it comes to the teacher-student relationship between Honor and Mr. Calvin, she entices and avoids Mr. Calvin's advances in order to better her chances of being picked. Honor's agency evolves over the course of the movie, as well. She has created a name for herself as being involved with the popular girls in school, acting almost as a Regina George to her lackeys; they get her information on whoever she needs, and they continue to be friends. She shows a manipulative side to her agency at the beginning, using her friends as messengers of information, explaining to the audience how and why she is going to get her rivals distracted, in order to further her agenda. By the midway into the movie, Honor has made progress with her checklist; she joins the school's theater program to get closer to Kennedy, pushing her to be more engaged behind-the-scenes, and hoping to ultimately get her so distracted with work that she doesn't have time to study for midterms. She goes a similar route with the Michael, flirting with his to get him distracted as well. This is effective, however, Kennedy shows engagement and genuine enjoyment of the theater program. She's gained friends, is no longer an outcast, and Honor pushed her to further her excitement within creating costumes, developing the big play, etc. Kennedy's agency was initially to cut out all distractions, and push toward getting into a big school, no time for friends or nothing. Her agency positively develops over the course of the movie, as she moreso wants to engage with her peers and have fun, living up in her youth. Honor's agency as well, she discovers that her true purpose in senior year of high school is to also have fun, and enjoy those around her.
ReplyDeleteJordy- In Mean Girls, student agency is shown through how characters navigate social power and identity within high school culture. Cady starts out with little control but gains influence by learning the social “rules,” though she loses herself in the process. Regina’s power seems strong but depends on others’ approval, while Janis and Damian show true agency by staying authentic. The film ultimately suggests that real independence comes from self-awareness and empathy, not popularity or control.
ReplyDeleteNoah Randell - In "Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Ferris represents student agency through his freedom to make his own choices and decide his own fate. He makes decisions based on his own merit instead of just blindly following authority. Cameron's growth throughout the movie shows how gaining confidence can change how a person acts.
ReplyDeleteNadia Stoloff- I watched Clueless. Agency was represented in this move when the Main character, Cher, and her friend decided to make her teachers fall in love with each other, and when they decided to transform the new girl into a popular girl. Cher also has agency with herself and her true love desire, her step brother… instead of setting other people up in relationships she decided to focus on herself and what she wanted.
ReplyDeleteLandon Williams- I watched School of Rock. The students are given a massive amount of agency throughout these movies. They are all a part of a band, and they all have a say in how they want to contribute in the band. Some kids were assigned roles they did not wanna do, so they simply chose a different role and did that instead.
ReplyDeleteKenzie- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: Agency was definitely depicted through the absolute freedom and decisions Bueller made on his day of skipping school. Whereas his friend Cameron had very little agency because he just went along with what Bueller would tell him to do (although later in the film Cameron shows character development). Also, the principal limits Bueller’s agency by trying to get him caught and thinks that he is a bad example to the kids at the school.
ReplyDeleteUzziel Cayetano-When I had watched Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the three most important characters seemed to be Ferris, Cameron, and Sloane. Each one of them showed a variety of levels of agency throughout the entire movie. Ferris is clearly the one that holds the most influence; he seems to control most of the action, the way he orchestrates all of the events throughout the movie and remains in complete control of every problem they run into.
ReplyDeleteCameron to me seems to fall somewhere in the center. He definitely tends to follow Ferris’s lead, him and Ferris definitely acknowledge the fact that he has the influence to end everything that was going on if he truly wanted to. Though a lot of his compliance feels very voluntary, I also think that there is some sort of underlying factor that drives most of his decisions that hold a lot of weight especially as he becomes more emotionally aware by the end of the movie.
On the other hand Sloane had displayed the least amount of agency in my opinion. She gets dragged into the day’s events when she was lied to about the fact her grandmother had passed away which is kinda crazy in opinion and then only learns that it wasn't true when she gets picked up from school. To be entirely honest from that point on she just tags along with Ferris and Cameron she doesn't really have much influence over a lot of the choices or direction of what they do. While it’s very probable that she could have had more voice on what the group did, especially when you count the fact that Ferris has some sort of feelings for her, she definitely just serves as a supporting role.
Jana - I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off and as far as agency goes Ferris obviously is the ringleader and has the highest "level" of it in a sense. Cameron and Sloane follow his lead for the essentially the entire movie, never truly having a backbone or sticking up to him about things they aren't comfortable with (taking Cameron's dads car, going to the fancy restaurant, or even standing his ground when he is upset with Ferris). They both could've very well had more impact or influence in their decisions or choices if they wanted to. Unrelated but is it not absolutely insane that the principal left school early to a student's house (and proceed to break in)?
ReplyDeleteBrandon- I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off and agency is shown the most by Ferris because he makes all the decisions and has all the ideas on how to make sure he doesn't get caught. Cameron shows the second most agency but only towards the end when he realized that he was going to get caught out by his dad for using his car.
ReplyDeleteMax - I watched "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" for the first time and noticed a few underlying themes regarding student agency. In the introduction to the movie, Ferris mentions how he has a test on European Socialism and how irrelevant that is to him. Throughout the movie, the camera also cuts back and forth between Ferris' day off and the classroom that he is supposed to be in. In the classroom, the kids seem bored out of their minds and completely uninterested in what the teacher is trying to tell them. This highlights how the education system is designed to teach one specific educational path rather than allowing students to branch out and learn about things that interest them personally. Education isn't a one-size fit system and should allow students more freedom to learn what they want to.
ReplyDeleteKennedy- I watched The Breakfast Club where the students had all of the agency. Throughout the movie you can see them be independent and communicate without having a teacher step in. They had labels that the school or society had forced them to take on. They end up working together to break those stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteDakota - I watched Election, and I think that Mr McAllister had the most agency because he had the most power, if that is what is meant by agency. He tore up votes and manipulated the election. But, if you mean by agency you mean ambition and drive, then Tracy does. She wins in the end over the other candidates.
ReplyDeleteNadra - In Clueless, Cher exhibits the most agency. She uses it not only to argue or sway her way into better positions but also to get the people around her to look and behave the way she thinks they should. The first being her teachers, whom she puts together to get herself a better grade. The second major one is Tai. She believes that Tai is clueless, naive, and directionless. She labels her a "project" to Dion and uses her as a means to an end at the beginning of the movie. Her use of agency changes towards the end of the movie. She goes from using it for her own selfish gains to becoming a better person.
ReplyDeleteI watched election. I think in terms of agency, the movie pushes you to think that Mr. McAllister has the agency. But when all of his actions start piling up on him, it shifts to Tracy having the agency, though in my opinion she is just a naive kid who is trying her best. I think in the end of it all, neither of them have the agency and it is actually more given to Paul, who is able to really control his own life and he doesn’t seem to worry very much about the results or the impact that this has had on everyone else.
ReplyDeleteFinn
DeleteParker—I watched Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think agency was depicted in multiple ways throughout the film, but the most obvious way it was shown was by Ferris and his need to be in control of what happened that day. He shows it by creating an elaborate plan to skip school and convince his best friend and girlfriend to go along with him.
ReplyDeleteMicayla - I watched "the breakfast club." I think where agency was most depicted was when the "criminal" was running through the hallways being loud when they weren't supposed to and messing with Claire. I feel like they really wanted his character to act out but in reality his home life was just as bad as everyone. A lot of the characters were talking about how their home lives weren't as good as people might assume from them be seeing them from the outside in. I feel like they all didn't agree with the labels they were given by society.
ReplyDeleteCheylsi - I watched Mean Girls. In this film, I think the girls depicted through how the students in the movie move through the "social hiearchies" in public high school. In Cady's perspective, she began with little student agency coming from across the world where she had been homeschooled all the life. She didnt know the first thing about making friends, or the "unspoken" rules of high school. Because of her naiveness, she becomes accustomed to the ways of the "Plastics". She lacks her own mind, easily influenced by the actions of her friends(who werent her real friends in the first place.)
ReplyDeleteOn top of this, her friend Regina represents false agency. She depended on her "hot boyfriend", her minions, and her flashy body to control others. once this was eliminated, her agency vanished.
Victoria - In Mean Girls, student agency is shown through the ways characters make choices and influence their social environment. Cady Heron navigates the high school hierarchy, initially following Regina George’s lead but later taking control of her actions—sometimes manipulatively, sometimes authentically. Regina exercises strong but self-serving agency, using social power to control others, while Janis and Damian show alternative forms of agency through humor, creativity, and friendship. The film highlights how peer pressure, social cliques, and personal values shape how students act, showing that agency can be used for dominance, self-expression, or positive change.
ReplyDeleteJasper - The students in Clueless show agency in an interesting way. A lot less of their agency if focuses around doing well in school and more focused on being popular/respected by their peers. While some scenes do show them focusing on classwork, the majority of the scenes within the school show students slacking off and not really paying attention to the teachers.
ReplyDeleteChris B- I watched "Breakfast Club" where the different characters were originally trapped within the stereo types which were assigned to them. Eventually their agency is shown by how they were able to build temportary relationships but communicating and interacting freely in the film.
ReplyDeleteKaila- I think Honor from Honor Society had agency throughout the movie as she was going great lengths throughout the movie to be chosen to go to Harvard and rule out her competitors. I know she had agency because she took initiative to be the best candidate by having the highest grades, being a part of clubs, and volunteering. Throughout the movie she is consumed by trying to get rid of her competitors and in a way that takes away from her agency and freedom.
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