The ID(ology) Decoder Ring

As a film professor, I like to start assessing a movie by running it through what I call my film decoder ring. This is a list of questions I’ve come up with over my years of teaching film studies to university students. Asking questions about the following three things can help us get to the heart of a movie’s meaning quickly:

1) Historical context: What was shaping culture when this film was made?

2) Ethics:  What qualities are considered good within the world of the film? Bad?

3) Problems/Solutions: What are the problems that keep the protagonists from achieving their goals? What are the real or imagined solutions to those problems?  How do those problems and solutions correspond to anxieties and hopes in the real world? 

Once you’ve answered those questions, you can answer the big question:

4) Message: What does this film imply we should think, feel, or do in our own lives?

I want this to be a conversation! Do you agree with the interpretations in my reviews? Anything you would add or amend? Let me know in the comments!