Examination of Movies About Gifted Individuals

Abstract

Introduction: The mass media tools, which affect all areas of life, also influence the perceptions of gifted individuals. The perception of the gifted individual drawn by these tools shapes the perspective on gifted individuals and special abilities. Films, among these tools, take an important place in terms of their power to reach socioeconomic audiences of all ages and all levels. The objective of this study is to reveal how gifted characters are presented in films about gifted individuals.Method: The characteristics of characters in demographic and different developmental domains (cognitive, personality, social-emotional, and language) were evaluated by examining 36 films about gifted individuals. Films with a gifted individual in the lead role were included in the study. The 36 films reached by meeting this criterion constitute the research objects of the study. The data of the study, designed with the case study method, were collected by document analysis and analyzed by the descriptive analysis method. A checklist including demographic characteristics and cognitive, social-emotional, language, and personality development characteristics of gifted individuals prepared by the researchers based on the literature was used to analyze the films reached. The characteristics of gifted characters were examined by considering the checklist.Findings: According to the research findings, gifted characters were usually depicted as males in the examined films, and some characters had various diagnoses accompanying their special abilities. Concerning developmental domains, the following dimensions were observed to come to the forefront: strong memory in the domain of cognitive development, self-awareness in the domain of social-emotional development, using the language correctly and fluently in the domain of language development, and self-discipline in the domain of personality development.Conclusion: It is observed that the characteristics of gifted characters are usually reflected in films in a way overlapping with the literature. In this context, it can be recommended that films about gifted individuals should be shot in Turkey by taking the opinions of experts working in the field of gifted education.