Smallville in Religion class

[wdonovan3]

Just thought I'd share. I'm a religion teacher in a Catholic high school outside Philly. Today I decided to use the S6 episode "subterranean" in my class because we had been talking about illegal immigration. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Not all of them had seen the show or knew what it was (though some did) but I think we may have a few tuning in to see the finale!

I wonder if I could do more with Smallville...

[KneelBeforeSmallville]

Im from Philly!!! I wish i got to watch Smallville during Class!! It tackles alot of issues!! Keep it up!

[RightWingConspirator]

Just thought I'd share. I'm a religion teacher in a Catholic high school outside Philly. Today I decided to use the S6 episode "subterranean" in my class because we had been talking about illegal immigration. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Not all of them had seen the show or knew what it was (though some did) but I think we may have a few tuning in to see the finale!

I wonder if I could do more with Smallville...

My first reaction to this question was "no", given that you are, I assume (and maybe I'm assuming too much) teaching religon from a Catholic POV. I don't see Smallville being conductive to that; religon, at least in recent years, has been treated by the show more or less as superstition. Not something I think the Catholic Church would go along with....
On the other hand, back in the day churches used episodes of the orginal Star Trek series, and Star Trek-The Next Generation to discuss morality, despite the latter's rather harsh treatment of organized religon. So maybe you can. Certaily Clark, Oliver, Lana and others have other the years faced moral decisions and made choices that not everyone would agree with (Chloe murdered a man in an 8th season episode I just watched, and of course Oliver murdered Lex--or at least he and everyone else thinks he did).
Good luck if you try--the results would be interesting!

[KneelBeforeSmallville]

Have you ever heard of Delaware County College? Become a teacher there and play all the smallville you want! Ill pass the class with flying colors

[KalEl016]

Hey, I'm from the Philly area and I graduated from a certain Catholic all boys high school in Wyndmoor, PA.. May you be a religion teacher from there?
Neway, I definitely think that any modern day aspect of pop culture (such as Smallville) could be used to relate religious material to a high school class, as long as the analogies that you make is clear and that there is no religious assumptions/implications that the students can come up with on their own based solely on the plot of the series. And with high school kids, whom you assume are mature enough to comprehend the lesson being taught, it shouldn't be a problem. I remember a sophomore teacher who used The Matrix in our class and it worked very well. It sparked a lot of interesting conversation and gave us the opportunity to observe and discuss a popular movie series in a unique and applicable way. (And it's also a great way to make sure kids are paying attention..)
To add, Superman has always been controversially examined as a Christ symbol, so that could spark interesting conversation in itself.

[RightWingConspirator]

Superman has always been controversially examined as a Christ symbol, so that could spark interesting conversation in itself.

The Superman As Christ idea has been hinted at in Smallville, now that I think of it.

[skully]

Just thought I'd share. I'm a religion teacher in a Catholic high school outside Philly. Today I decided to use the S6 episode "subterranean" in my class because we had been talking about illegal immigration. The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Not all of them had seen the show or knew what it was (though some did) but I think we may have a few tuning in to see the finale!

I wonder if I could do more with Smallville...

Awesome!!!!

[FanoftheMan]

To add, Superman has always been controversially examined as a Christ symbol, so that could spark interesting conversation in itself.

There's reason for this.... in Hebrew (I believe) the name Jor-El is GOD... and Kal-El was the son of GOD. thi sis per readings I saw long ago.. I believe it was Hebrew.

Anyway... the Superman creators were Jewish. They wanted to establish a Jewish Superhero.... in their original concepts and what they started with grew to something much more different.


Quite the interesting read in Wikipedia alone on this... but I do not recall it going as in-depth as some other readings I saw many years ago.


Anyway... yeah Supes has ALWAYS been a Christ-like figure. It just comes down to how close the directors are willing to "go there".

[wdonovan3]

Not everything in the show is compatible with what the Catholic Church teaches. Admittedly I was a bit disappointed when Clark and Lana first slept together. As cheesy as the Lois and Clark show was they at least kept that value in tact (and yes I know in the movie they didn't)

I've done whole lessons on Indiana Jones and Star Wars too. It keeps the kids interested.