Villainize Yourself!

Ask students if they know what a photo filter is. Make sure they understand that this is an app (or a feature of a photo/video app like Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok) that changes what you look like: for instance there are filters that make you look like an anime character, ones that give you cat ears or a dog nose, ones that stretch your face, and so on.

Have students access the student chapter Villainize Yourself! or display it on a scren or digital whiteboard. Explain to students that they will be designing a filter that you can use in a photo or video to make someone look more like a media villain.

• If you want, you can download the printable version of the Villainize Yourself! activity and distribute it to students.

Based on your conversation in class, they should think of at least three things the filter will let you add on top of the image and three things the filter will let you change about the image.

Have students draw and label icons representing these.

Younger students can explain their choices to you or the class or using the Reflection Recorder; older students can write a short explanation of their choices.

If you wish, you can have students create a before/after artwork where they take a photo or another image and show what it would look like .

Reflection: Have students reflect on the following questions, either in class discussion or in writing as an exit ticket:

• Many of the more recent Disney movies, such as Moana and Encanto, do not have characters who are clear villains. Why do you think that is?
• Why are villains more important to other genres (like superhero movies) than to Disney movies?