What the Butler Saw: Lee Daniels's Studies in Biography and History

The movie Lee Daniels’ The Butler is an example of a work that is meant not only to entertain but to convey an important attitude and offer important viewpoints. The movie deals with a deep issue in the history of movies and the history of the country: racial inequality. Three issues are discussed in this article: (a) African Americans in movies, (b) the contradictions of the servant role, and (c) the generational conflict between fathers and sons.     

The Dark Knight Rises: In 42 Jackie Robinson Saves the American Dream

The movie 42 shows memorable events that have faded from our view in recent years. The events are important to the evolution of a multicultural society in America because of the importance of baseball to the common national culture that all the American people have created. Jackie Robinson's significance as a cultural hero is shown by the respect with which we do not explain him away.     

Flight of the Blackbird: Red Tails and Fighting for American Legitimacy

Red Tails, a recent movie about the Tuskegee Airmen in battle, is the latest in a line of movies that seem to petition for admission to the fellowship of the mainstream American society by showing stories of groups overcoming discrimination and proving their strength and their patriotism. As the most excluded and longest-lasting pariah group, African Americans have enacted this scenario in real life and in the popular culture many times. Movies about war and the military are a powerful means of showing minority group worthiness. Those who will risk their lives in battle on behalf of the homeland and will fight with extraordinary skill should be worthy applicants for inclusion.     

Cold,Cold Heart: Who's Afraid of No Country for Old Men?

Stories of people killing people are a central part of culture and contain profound statements about important human issues. Senseless killings are particularly problematic. The long history of senseless killings in movies leads up to the 2007 movie, No Country for Old Men, in which senselessness has been raised to a peak. Although it is not a great commercial success, the movie has been recognized as deep, powerful, and important. In particular, the senseless killer has been judged to be one of the most frightening in movie history. The meaning of this fear may be found in examining the social and cultural context of contemporary life.     

Song of the South Side: A Fine Romance in Southside with You

Love stories are important tools for building cultural communities. Paying attention to the culturally established process by which new members are initiated in a group is a way of keeping loyalty to and satisfaction with the group. The recent movie Southside with You depicts the beginning of the love story of Michelle and Barack Obama. It differs from the usual movie biographies of important people. Their future importance is not emphasized, and the usual devices of serious conflict, exciting action, and sentimental love scenes are absent. The happy couple do not even end up together in love. But the themes alluded to and the audience attitudes aroused are cultural achievements that are useful to cultural communities.     

One False Step: Detroit,Step and Movies of Rising and Falling

Detroit and Step are two recent movies in the context of urban riots in protest of police brutality. They refer to time periods separated by half a century, but there are common themes in the two that seem appropriate to both times. The movies are not primarily concerned with the riot events, but the riot is a major motivating force in both; Detroit is pessimistic, while Step is hopeful. Together, they define alternative possibilities of African American community life. One is eternally sought, and the other is always a dreadful possibility.     

Conceptualizing adverse childhood experiences as a latent factor: Tests of measurement invariance across five racial and ethnic groups

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are conventionally measured using a cumulative-risk index without consideration of distinct measurement properties across racial and ethnic groups. Drawing from the 2018–2020 National Survey of Children's Health (N = 93,759; 48% female; average age: 9.52 years), we assess the measurement invariance of a latent-factor ACE model across five groups: Hispanic children (14%) and non-Hispanic White (73%), Black (7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (5%), and American Indian/Alaskan Native (1%) children. Results support configural and full metric invariance across groups. However, several ACE item thresholds differed across groups. Findings highlight the potential utility of a latent factor approach and underscore the need to assess differences across racial and ethnic groups in terms of the optimal conceptualization and measurement of ACEs.     

Evaluating Rural Preschool Speech‐Language Services: consumer satisfaction

Consumer satisfaction with the delivery of preschool speech‐language services in a sparsely populated rural region of Canada was investigated. A 22‐item questionnaire was developed to evaluate parent satisfaction for seven targeted service themes. Of the 152 parents identified for study, 79 (52%) completed and returned the questionnaire. Although results indicated generally positive levels of parent satisfaction for the services provided significant differences emerged for four service themes: intervention format, parent support, parent satisfaction, and service convenience. Similar patterns were found for two service themes (i.e., intervention format and parent support), when parent responses were sub‐categorised and analysed according to children's preschool program outcome (i.e., goals reached versus transferred to school). The speech‐language service themes rated the highest by parents included referral process, assessment process, and parent intervention. Parent evaluations were less supportive for three additional service themes: service convenience, parent support, and overall parent satisfaction. Intervention format received the lowest parent rating. The results are suggestive of ways in which the speech‐language service may be enhanced to achieve greater levels of consumer satisfaction.     

Institutional change in a transitional economy: the reform of economics higher education in Mongolia

This paper discusses the problems of implementing a European Union Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States (of the former Soviet Union) (EU/TACIS) project to reform Mongolian Economics Higher Education with the ultimate objective of improving the process of economic policy making. It emphasises the importance of historical, economic and administrative context for the design and implementation of project activities. Project activities are reviewed and the problems of implementation discussed in terms of the aid relationship and the particular circumstances of transition economies. The paper concludes that, while the project's immediate objectives in terms of curriculum reform have been achieved, the sustainable change necessary to deliver the central, long-term objective remains elusive.