Films about universities: why the images of universities in our country and in the West differ

What films about universities are really about and why we want to receive a letter from Hogwarts – discussed with Ksenia Romanenko, Academic Supervisor of the Master’s Program in Evidence-Based Development of Education, National Research University Higher School of Economics

We often see the image of the university in books and films, it can be quite real or invented by the author. Usually, the images are not random, and the university as a scene was chosen consciously, since this is followed by a certain development of the storyline (admission to the university, its graduation, relationships within the group, relationships with teachers, the activities of student clubs, etc.) and a number of attributes inherent in it. , visual codes. But have we thought about how this image is built, how reliable it is, and whether the university is the protagonist of the picture or just a decoration?

To discuss how the university is portrayed in films and books, why the images of foreign and domestic universities are so different, and why this should be studied, host Maxim Bulanov invited Ksenia Romanenko, a researcher of universities and modern mass culture, academic director of the Master’s program “Evidence-Based Development of Education” at the National Research University Higher School of Economics .

Highlights from this podcast

The image of the university in films and books is determined by genre conventions. A typical college movie is a film about life on campus, about friendship, finding yourself, becoming, where the story is mostly told by the student. The literature also has its own term for such works, this is a campus novel, that is, a novel whose action takes place in a campus space. Both genres are foreign, and it is difficult to say that either Soviet authors have extensive experience in it.

We have not made and are not making films about the university, since we do not have campuses as such, hence there is no object for representation and no genre. Films were made about high school students (“I ask Klava K. to blame for my death”, “The key without the right to transfer”, “School waltz”), they are often compared with the “Society of Dead Poets”, which is attributed to the college movie, but still it films are not about the university, but about the school, which does not fit into the genre.

There is a study that films can work as soft power. For example, films about Jane Austen increase the attractiveness of British tourism: after watching them, the audience wants to get into the scenery of the picture. It is possible to imagine that films can be used as a means to achieve political goals, but there is no direct state order for films to improve the tourism brand or the image of the university. There is a social order to discuss some pressing topic, but in films, first of all, there is a director’s creative idea, designed to rethink some experience.

To date, there are no studies that would confirm the existence of a direct connection between the motivation to study at a particular university and the fitting of images from films and books dedicated to it. At the same time, there is a visual code of the university (throwing caps, robes for graduation) – this is a complex of visual markers that a person reads when getting acquainted with the image of the university, and if a person focuses on a certain aesthetic demonstrated in a film or described in a book, then he will look for her, to pay attention to her, and he will probably be much more pleasant to be in such places, and he will strive to be in them. Therefore, it is not worth saying that there is no effect from watching movies and books.

For example, there is an easily read aesthetic of the Harry Potter MCU, and its fans would like to be in London, try on robes and receive a letter from Hogwarts, despite the fact that the roof in the dining room is leaking and someone is constantly dying. On the other hand, modern series (“Year of Culture”, “Dyldy”), on the contrary, create the image of a regional university as the worst place a person can be, which does not increase their attractiveness to viewers.

Movies and books about universities can be therapeutic. These are stories about inspiration, about self-support, not only when choosing a path, but also with the fact that there is some kind of formation, difficult periods ahead, and therefore it is possible and necessary to talk about this through the creation of new beauty and traditions around oneself. Often this happens through identification with the hero. This makes films even more significant, in which big social issues (for example, harassment, inequality, power) are often problematized.

These are good examples to be careful about, and read the caveat: if a movie is made with a big budget on this issue, maybe my problem is not unique and I need to take care of myself. Therefore, films and books of this genre are suitable not only for schoolchildren and students, but for every person.

List of films, series and books from Ksenia Romanenko

Movies and series: “Legally Blonde”, the series “The Big Bang Theory”, the series “Community”, “Mona Lisa Smile”, “Dead Poets Society”, the short story “Obsession” in the film “Operation Y and Shurik’s Other Adventures”, “Maggie’s Plan “,” Pretty Women (Bimboland)”, the series “Perception”, the series “How to Get Away with Murder”.

Books: The Secret History by Donna Tart, The Dead Return by Tana French, The Cornish Trilogy by Robertson Davis, Possession and The Maiden in the Garden by Antonia Byatt, The Reef by Alexey Polarinov, Stoner by John Williams, The Wizards by Lev Grossman , Spellmakers by Terry Pratchett, Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov.

What else to read on this topic

• 6 Movie Myths About Studying at American Universities by TImes Higher Education
• Ksenia Romanenko’s article about 5 books with magic schools
• Authors from the University of Texas on what films and series are saying from US universities
• An article by Vitaly Kurennoy on modeling the culture of a research university in The Big Bang Theory