Edutainment

Main Entry: ed·u·tain·ment
Function: noun
Etymology: education + entertainment
: entertainment (as by games, films, or shows) that is designed to be educational

This semester of law school has definitely had moments when I ask myself "am I really in law school?" When you think law school, you think esteemed professors standing up infront of the class lecturing and firing questions at the little law students furiously taking notes on their laptops. And while the majority of my classes are like that, we do have unorthodox moments of, what is actually a word, edutainment.

Before you, or my parents, ask where all my tuition money is going, I must say that forms of entertainment really do help explain a lot of concepts. What I learned and remembered the most in my high school and undergraduate careers was from professors who were creative. So I give a lot of credit to my law professors who are doing the same. Thus far this semester we have seen...

1. Chris Rock's stand up show in Criminal Law discuss why some actions that harm people are crimes (ie drugs) and others aren't (ie second hand smoke). He also talked about the difference between wealth and income, which consequently fit into our Property class' discussion about the wealth gap in America.

2. An Inconvenient Truth in Public Law to discuss Massachusetts v. EPA (emissions case). To give us background into the global warming debate and show us the significance of the legislature in the debate, we saw Al Gore's documentary. While some would question the entertainment value of this movie, there was a Simpsons'esque clip explaining global warming that was very funny.

3. School House Rock in Legal Rhetoric to show us once again, how a bill becomes a law. While we were all very familiar with this video, and we all probably know very well how a bill becomes a law, I'm still glad that they find ways to entertain us in very boring lectures about statutory research and legislative intent.

4. Monty Python and the Holy Grail in Public Law since we were discussing if judicial review stands in line with our democratic principles. Behind the absurdity and coconut shells, there is a very good dialogue about Democracy that I have copied and pasted for your education:

ARTHUR: Well, I am king!
DENNIS: Oh king, eh, very nice. And how d'you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By 'anging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever going to be any progress with the--
WOMAN: I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.
DENNIS: You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship. A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes--
DENNIS: I told you. We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting-- By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,-- But by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major--
WOMAN: Well, how did you become king then?
ARTHUR: The Lady of the Lake,... [angels sing] ...her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. [singing stops] That is why I am your king!
DENNIS: Listen, strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.