How to Experience movies

 

Inquiry Toolkit — help people ask better questions (copy-paste friendly)

Intro blurb (paste at top of a film page)

We don’t tell you what to think. We give you questions to help you think for yourself. Use these prompts to investigate a film, explore its context, and decide for yourself whether it is useful, harmful, or something in between.

Open-ended inquiry prompts (use these under each trailer or film summary)

1. What feelings does the trailer or poster try to create in me?

2. Who is shown as human and who is shown as background or absent?

3. Which voices or perspectives might be missing from this story?

4. What repeated symbols or aesthetics stand out (e.g., mythic, tribal, victimhood)?

5. Who produced and funded this film — what other projects are they known for?

6. Where did people first start talking about this film, and who amplified it?

7. What behaviors could someone imitate after watching this scene?

8. If this film were used as an argument, what would that argument look like?

9. What questions would a neighborask about this film (not a critic)?

10. What small, real-world action would show whether the film’s message helps or harms a community?

Research starter fields (for people who want fast facts)

• Director / Writer / Lead Producers

• Production companies & funders (list)

• Release date / Distributor

• Short synopsis (1 sentence)

• Two reputable headlines about the film’s reception (link + headline)

• One academic or longform analysis (if available)

• One representative social post example (screenshot or quote + date/source)

• Box office / streaming reach (if public)

• Suggested companion viewing (documentary, counter-narrative, or neutral historical piece)

How to present this on your site (minimal, non-prescriptive)

• Show: poster, one-line synopsis, and the Intro blurb above.

• Then list the Open-ended inquiry prompts (no answers). Let visitors click a prompt to reveal the Research starter fields (so they can learn how to find the facts themselves).

• Include a small “Build your own inquiry” button that opens a blank template where someone can fill in the Research starter fields and save/print — it’s theirs.

Tiny copy for a “Build your own inquiry” button

“Build my inquiry — save the facts and questions I want to explore.”

A gentle moderation rule you can show publicly (one line)

We publish facts and questions, not directives. This is a space for curiosity and careful remembering.