Could a child learn everything just from watching Hollywood movies and TV shows?
Could a child learn everything just from watching Hollywood movies and TV shows?
On one hand I am always amazed at what kids can learn at latch onto on the weirdest ways. So I have no doubt that a lot can be learned through context. Watching movies can absolutely demonstrate a seemingly endless scenarios in a way that can be understood.
However, as someone raising a child, let me tell you how often I have to stop and explain that certain things are not real just because there’s a video of it. Or how many words are being used incorrectly because they were heard in one context that was misunderstood.
I think a child who only had media to teach them, with no one to correct things, would have an endless amount of misunderstandings - nevermind the amount of things they’d believe that are entirely fictional. Basically, no, this kid would be screwed.
There are a lot of cultural things to learn from Hollywood, but very little actual academic content comes out of Hollywood. If any.
Add public TV to that mix and the academic content level goes WAY up. I don't think of public TV as Hollywood so I'm unsure if OP is including it.
Seems that youtube has much more content that I would call educational. I would go there for an education before Hollywood.
So then I have a different question:
Could a child learn everything they need to know just from watching YouTube without any other sources of education?
I would want to research before saying for certain. But I think so.
It would be interesting to see if you could get everything required for High School graduation there on yt.
I believe there was a documentary on just this topic called “Galaxy Quest…”
Seriously, though, Hollywood is not in the business of offering verifiable facts, they want to entertain people and hold their attention. However, the actual humans that write the scripts do pull inspiration from their own lives and real life events, and even the most fantastical of stories may be rooted in something from reality.
How many scientists and engineers over the years have cited Star Trek as their inspiration to pursue their careers? They may not learn much actual science from the media, but they spark their inspiration from it, and that’s just as important. Something has to capture their imagination first. Otherwise all those scientists may have ended up doing much more boring things for a living.