Why Film and Media Literacy Are No Longer Optional

“It's in our biology to trust what we see with our eyes. This makes living in a carefully edited, overproduced and photoshopped world very dangerous.”
― Brené Brown

When I began teaching, I never imagined that Film and Media Studies would become such a significant part of my career.

In my second year of teaching, I unexpectedly found myself responsible for teaching both subjects. I loved films. I found advertising fascinating. Television had always interested me. But enjoying something and teaching it well are two very different things.

Although I’d studied Media Education as part of my PGCE, I suddenly found myself standing in front of students who were only five years younger than I was. I wanted to teach the subject properly—not simply by following a textbook, but by understanding the ideas, theories and scholarship behind it.

So I enrolled on an evening diploma in Film and Media Education at Birkbeck, University of London. It turned out to be one of the most valuable decisions I have made as a teacher. What I discovered wasn’t simply how to teach Film and Media Studies more effectively.

It changed the way I thought about education itself.

📱 We Are Surrounded by Media

Today’s young people consume more media before breakfast than previous generations encountered in an entire day.

• Social media.

• Streaming platforms.

• News websites.

• YouTube.

• TikTok.

• Podcasts.

• AI-generated images.

Advertising appears almost everywhere, often disguised as entertainment. Algorithms quietly shape what we see, what we believe and sometimes even what we buy. But many students are never explicitly taught how any of it works.

They learn to consume media.

Very few learn to question it.

🔑 Media Literacy Isn’t About Distrusting Everything

Sometimes people assume Media Studies teaches students to criticise film and TV or to find hidden political messages in every advertisement. It doesn’t.

Media literacy is about asking better questions.

• Who created this?

• Why?

• Who is the intended audience?

• Whose voices are represented?

• Whose voices are missing?

• What techniques are being used to persuade me?

Once students begin asking these questions, they rarely look at television, newspapers, films or social media in quite the same way again.

📚 Film Teaches the Same Thinking as Literature

One of the reasons I enjoy teaching Film Studies so much is that it develops many of the same analytical skills as English Literature.

Films are texts. Students still explore character, narrative, symbolism, context and theme. They still support interpretations with evidence. The difference is that the director’s language is visual rather than written.

Once students learn to analyse how meaning is created through camera work, editing, sound and performance, they often become stronger readers too. They begin recognising that every creative text—whether a novel, a poem or a film—is carefully constructed to communicate ideas.

🚪Film Opens Doors

Film has a remarkable ability to introduce students to ideas they might never encounter otherwise.

A single film can spark conversations about history, politics, psychology, geography, sociology, religion or philosophy. It can transport students to another culture, another historical period or another way of seeing the world.

Perhaps that’s why I enjoy teaching it so much.

Film isn’t simply entertainment. At its best, it’s a gateway into understanding people, societies and ideas. Once students discover how to ask thoughtful questions about what they’re watching, they often find themselves asking better questions about the world around them too.

🎥 A Growing Creative Industry

There is another reason Film Studies deserves to be taken seriously.

Britain remains one of the world’s leading centres for film and high-end television production. Major international studios continue to invest billions of pounds in UK productions, creating opportunities across directing, cinematography, visual effects, editing, sound, costume, production design, marketing and countless other specialist roles.

For students considering careers in the creative industries, Film Studies provides an excellent foundation.

But its value extends far beyond employability.

Whether students pursue careers in filmmaking, law, journalism, teaching, politics or business, the ability to analyse information, evaluate evidence, communicate clearly and think critically will always be valuable.

🌍 The Skill That Transfers Everywhere

One of the greatest misconceptions about Film and Media Studies is that they’re niche subjects. In reality, they develop habits of mind that transfer into almost every academic discipline.

Students learn to:

• evaluate evidence

• recognise bias

• construct persuasive arguments

• communicate clearly

• analyse visual information

• support interpretations with evidence

• think independently

These are precisely the skills universities and employers value.

🤖 AI Makes Media Literacy Even More Important

When I first started teaching, the internet was transforming education. Today, artificial intelligence is transforming it again. Students now need to judge whether an image is authentic. (My own children have given me some great pointers on this. Look at the hands!) Whether an article has been generated. Whether statistics are reliable. Whether sources deserve to be trusted. Knowing how to find information is no longer enough. Students need to know how to evaluate it. Media literacy has become one of the defining skills of the twenty-first century.

🤔 It’s Really About Becoming Better Thinkers

Although I continue to love Film and Media Studies as subjects in their own right, I increasingly see them as something bigger. They’re not simply preparation for an examination. They’re preparation for citizenship. For participation. For thoughtful conversation. And for making informed decisions.

That’s why these subjects matter so much. They’re not teaching students what to think. They’re helping them learn how to think for themselves.

Final Thoughts

When I enrolled at Birkbeck all those years ago, I thought I was learning how to teach Film and Media Studies. Looking back, I was learning something much bigger.

I was learning that education isn’t simply about acquiring knowledge. It’s about learning to observe carefully, question thoughtfully and connect ideas across disciplines. That’s why Film Studies has never felt like a niche subject to me. It’s one of the most powerful ways I know to help young people become curious, analytical and informed citizens.

At Nexus Educate, we teach Film and Media because they’re fascinating, creative and academically rigorous. But we also teach them because the world has changed.

In an age of algorithms, misinformation and artificial intelligence, film and media literacy are no longer optional. They’re essential life skills.

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