Educational Media Reviews Online

What does democracy mean to me? Perhaps this epitomizes a question that many U. S. citizens often fail to ask of themselves. While realizing that many parts of the world fail to have the freedoms that we possess America at large seems to overlook these social and political infringements on the individual as distant to our life as a citizen of the U.S. To those who fail to have the freedoms we possess we often are portrayed as self-centered and non-feeling. Perhaps this is because as Americans we often associate our benefits as “absolutes” of life. The issues of safety that many around the world face daily are only beginning to be considered in our daily walks of life. These films help portray the social desire to obtain freedom and democracy. These desires may help the viewer to grip the reality of the present state of a large portion of the world and the many peoples that daily search for a better way of life. The viewer may come away from these films with the invigoration that the rights of free speech and free press, as well as the ability to hold free elections are something that we must place highly on our list of values. If so, then perhaps the films have made a valid point. Perhaps viewers may question the strength of these rights to wage against restrictions that often face our fragile balance of concerns for safety while avoiding the propensity to infringe upon freedoms of individuality. These filmmakers use a variety of techniques to spark thought about the fragile state that we in America find ourselves today.

I encourage you to view these shorts. Some are more subtle and some are very outspoken. Regardless, they do have messages of importance. In answering the question presented, “What does democracy mean to me?”