Because of how the human brain functions, the world can be viewed as one big fill-in-the-blank project: our mental coding automatically creates categories and groups to help organize chaos into order. Sorting people into “us” and “them” is perfectly normal…up to a point. But when does this natural tendency toward categorization become prejudice? Them and Us explores the reality of how our inherent thinking patterns—further shaped by a combination of cultural norms and personal upbringing—can lead to hidden assumptions that may reflect biases or prejudices. Here, viewers are encouraged to identify and question their own assumptions, as the program looks at more neutral examples (such as people who are left-handed), appropriately mixing live-action footage with illustrative graphics, all the while maintaining a nonjudgmental and informative approach. Powerfully driving home the point that every “us” is somebody else's “them,” Them and Us is highly recommended. Aud: J, H, P. (E. Gieschen)
Them and Us
(2007) 22 min. DVD or VHS: $99 (teacher’s guide included). Learning Seed. PPR. Closed captioned. ISBN: 1-55740-832-7 (dvd), 1-55740-833-5 (vhs). Volume 23, Issue 6
Them and Us
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