A Look on Gifted Individuals Through the Movies, Little Man Tate and Gifted


ŞENTÜRK Ş.

Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, vol.37, no.2, pp.107-122, 2018 (Peer-Reviewed Journal) identifier

Abstract

Gifted people are defined as individuals who can learn faster than their peers, who have different fields of interest and sense of humour along with an extraordinary imagination, who have improved sense of justice and a high performance in their actions. Having such extraordinary characteristics, the skills of gifted individuals are misunderstood in society. There are some false myths about gifted individuals such as they have super powers and they are successful in any academic field, they don’t need a special education, they are born with superior abilities and all gifted individuals resemble to one another. One of the main reasons behind these myths is that there isn’t much awareness about being gifted. Moreover, mass media contribute to these false myths by misleading the public. Throughout history, when movies about gifted people are taken into consideration, it can be easily observed that gifted individuals are generally depicted with mental problems, that they are unusual, unhealthy and lonely people who are exposed to pressures from their environment or from an educational system. The main reason for this visual presentation is the commercial concern of producers and investors and thus, gifted individuals are depicted within an unreal context. This leads to misunderstandings about those people in society. From this point of view, this study searches for how gifted children are presented to audience through two different movies named “Little Man Tate (1991)” and “Gifted (2017)”. With this purpose in mind, this research attempts to answer the question: “How are the characteristics of gifted children presented in “Little Man Tate (1991)”and “Gifted (2017)” movies. With an aim to examine the subject without biases and with reality, as one of designs of qualitative research, was used in this research. The research sample was determined with criterion sampling. Accordingly, Little Man Tate (1991) and Gifted (2017) movies are the research sample. The research is based on documental analysis and two movies were analyzed with content analysis and with categories which were supported by three different specialists from different fields (psychology, sociology and education) before the research. Because of literature search, categories were made according to physical, mental, socio-emotional developmental characteristics and taking into consideration the environment factor along with inheritance, inner circle and family variables were added to the categories. To determine which categories are related with gifted children, frequency and percentage transactions about categories were applied. For the validity and reliability of the research, due to categories determined before, it became possible to evaluate movies which have the chance to be watched more than once objectively. The consistency rate which was carried out by the same coder but in two different time periods was 85%. The data was arranged according to digitized codes and present categories and analysed according to characteristics of gifted people. In this research, gifted children are depicted as individuals with an extraordinary memory, with being mature, with an improved sense of justice and humour and with needs of special education. It can be said that in both movies, there are several characteristics of gifted children and misinformation which is adopted by most of the society is tried to be reversed. For example, false myths such as gifted children don’t know that they are different unless they are told to be, they can find their way without help and they are hard to be disciplined, their academic, physical, social and emotional development are equal with their peers, they are too energetic and incompatible in social terms, are reflected in a correct way in both movies. In both movies, children are aware of being different and in the opinion that they are not accepted because of this difference. Children’s problems with social skills and communication, their inability to interact with their peers along with environmental pressures and expectations of their families are given as message movies and with these messages it is obvious that a visual presentation about gifted individuals have a common language. The belief that social and emotional development of gifted children is equal to their intellectual development is correctly in terpreted in both movies. Therefore, in the movies it is underlined that being one step ahead in academic terms from their peers does not mean being one step ahead in emotional terms and there can be incompatible development. Moreover, both movies give the audience the message that one of the most important problems of gifted children is the problem of being accepted into peer groups and that they need special education. As a result, even though the movies don’t reflect the reality, it is a widely kn
Üstün yetenekliler, akranlarına göre hızlı öğrenebilen, farklı ilgi alanlarına, farklı bir mizah anlayışına ve sıra dışı bir hayal gücüne sahip, merak, merhamet, adalet duyguları oldukça gelişmiş, yüksek düzeyde performans gösteren bireyler olarak tanımlanırlar. Bu sıra dışı özellikler nedeniyle beyaz perdeye de zaman zaman konu olan üstün yeteneklilerle ilgili, süper insan oldukları, bütün akademik alanlarda başarılı oldukları, bütün üstün yeteneklilerin birbirine benzer özelliklere sahip olduğu gibi sıra dışı mitler öne sürülmüştür. Bu algıların oluşmasında yetersiz bilgiye sahip olunmasının yanı sıra beyaz perdenin ve medyanın kendine has üslubu da etkili olmuştur. Araştırmada, üstün yetenekli çocukların hayatlarının beyaz perdeye aktarıldığı Little Man Tate ve Gifted isimli filmlerin, üstün yeteneklilerin tipik özellikleri açısından incelenmesi ve filmler üzerinden üstün yeteneklilerin sinemadaki izdüşümlerinin eleştirel olarak ele alınması amaçlanmıştır. Nitel araştırma yaklaşımı kullanılan bu araştırmada doküman inceleme yöntemiyle toplanan veriler, kategoriler oluşturularak ele alınmış ve içerik analizi ile analiz edilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda her iki filmde de çocukların zihinsel kapasiteleri ile ön plana çıkarıldığı, ailenin ve çevrenin öneminin altının çizildiği, akademik üstünlüğün onların birer çocuk olduğu gerçeğini unutturmaması gerektiği mesajlarının verildiği görülmüştür. Filmlerin her ikisinde de çocukların sosyal becerilerde ve iletişimde sorunlar yaşadığı, akranlarla iletişim kuramadığı, çevre ve aile beklentisinin-baskısının sorunları daha da büyüttüğü konusunda ortak bir dil kullanıldığı; üstün yeteneklilerin akademik açıdan akranlarından ileride olmalarının duygusal açıdan da ileride olacakları anlamına gelmediği, uyumsuz gelişimin olabileceği gerçeğinin altı çizilmiştir.