No one ever said every conservative was a brainiac.
No idea what that means.
I’ll tell you what I tell others who ask how to compete with video games, etc, for kids’ minds in lit class.
In story telling, when the kids have to read classic lit, but it includes current events and contemporary stories and ones of recent history, like this one, introduce them to the characters. how do they all relate to the central action or the central character.
What motivates them? In a good story, the motivations and behaviors and decision making will be consistent with his character, his growth, either to the good or bad, if he’s a main character, or will be predictable or reasonable if he’s not a main character, and will assist the action in a logical way.
No one, not kids, have to be a braniac to follow a story, and that’s all it is.
They don’t ask, ‘oh, for what purpose toward the theme of man versus the world did he make that decision?’. They ask, what did he do that for? Why is he doing that? Why didn’t he shoot that guy?, why did he let them kill that guy? What does he see in her? Why is he friends with him? etc.
My kids watch superhero movies. They know which ones are a waste of their time and which ones capture their attention. And they are very sophisticated about it, sharing ideas with other superhero nerds.
Superhero stories are simple, logical, with a lot of added characters of good and evil. They are greek myths, essentially, which were devised to make sense of the world.
Kids watch them to make sense of the world. THey don’t know that, but they do.
This Zamperini story is wonderful. It’s a true story of heroism. Kids would love it.
This Coen Brothers movie doesn’t tell his story. No motivations. No other characters, no growth, little decision making. They leave out the most interesting tale of moral dilemma which kept the kids who read it talking for many conversations.