Do movies really educate us, or are they only being used as a tool and method to inculcate habits that are harmful for our personal and societal growth?

1. The Connection between Watching Movies and Education
People have long been fascinated by movies and the stories that they project in building their
perception, stereotypes and perspectives about anything or event. Ranging from their first sex tutorial
to the unfolding of a global conspiracy or event movies influence people from all age brackets uniformly
in helping them construct or deconstruct an opinion about something. But apart from teaching students
ways through which they get their first girlfriend or can have a one night stand with her films intend to
teach students way lots of other things that help them serve an educational purpose.
Many of such films which are based on history or biographical accounts of people or leaders of their
time help students educate themselves regarding the different events that took place in history, and
about which they were largely ignorant about. One of such movies was The Passion of the Christ. Even
though the movie received much controversy and ignited large scale protests, it was well received by
the film fraternity. The key aspect of the movie was the different aspect of history that it provided to
people to think upon. It helped them think out of the box and self-aware themselves about the facts
that were concealed from them for so long.
But since the movie squarely blamed Jews and Romans as being the perpetrators of Christ crucifixion,
the reason for protests became more or less understandable. Another movie that was based on similar
lines as Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington, considered being one of the earliest
works in the media industry on HIV, the film intended to educate people regarding the difference
between developing HIV and getting infected with AIDS.
Also, it provided an educational overview on a subject that was a matter of extreme societal controversy
when cases of AIDS began to emerge in the US. Even to this day the movie is considered to be
precedence when writing a custom assignment on the subject of HIV or AIDS. Hence, it can be said that
films play an integral role in terms of educating their viewer, only if the viewer really wants to think
beyond the boundaries of films like American Pie.