Wednesday, February 17, 2010

The Sexuality of a Back

For an end of the year treat, my co-teacher and I decided to show a movie for the last English class. I posted online, requesting that my friends/fellow teachers recommend things that worked best for them in the past. Resoundingly, people suggested Mr. Bean because much the humor is possible to understand without words (ie slapstick) and the vocabulary is fairly basic so that you even need to use subtitles. The kids loved it! However, my co-teacher ended up asking me not to play one of the episodes again for the next class because it showed a naked back, not the butt, just from the waist to the head. In the scene, Mr. Bean is in an art class and is very embarrassed by the nudity, which we never see, only his comic aversion to it. My co-teacher's comment was that public schools are very conservative and that the parents might complain.  I think this might be over kill but I wonder what the standards are in general between different countries.

In other words, I'm desk warming for the afternoon while the students are in a graduation rehersal. I have already laminated about a hundred flash cards. I want to go home!

Spaz update: aside from running out of real coffee this morning, none.

5 comments:

Kyle Crum said...

I wonder what they would say if you played the the KPop video "Abaracadabara". Seeing as my pre-school kids already have the dance memorized, I'm guessing their parents let them watch it. That thing is way more sexual than anything Mr. Bean has ever done.

Alex said...

....this is after the fact that last night I watched the students do the dance to 'bo peep' and 'ding ding.' To say nothing of the super sexy dance that the Mother's Association put on.

Anonymous said...

She is really over-reacting and making it sound like Koreans are pure or something. These kids know exactly what is going on in the Hermit kingdom. She can dilude herself all she wants.

Within 3 blocks from your school in any direction you will find tea rooms,dalamjujums,special noraebangs, sports massage(happy ending more like it) and at least one love hotel. She should be more worried about the above than Mr. Bean's art class.

Quote this to her and watch her reaction.

Alex said...

Well yes, I could say those things to her but in the effort of keeping a healthy working relationship and keeping the notion of Korean 'saving face' I feel it is important not to enter into conflict unless I feel the issue is vital to the quality of education that the children are receiving. I agree that it's absolutely absurd given the degree of sexuality in other aspects of the culture but in the end it is her opinion that matters most in the classroom, especially as she would be held responsible if the parents complained.

Salsa Boy said...

Looks like your gonna have to get rid of those body flagcards of the bare backs...