Series · Prime Video · 2023

School Spirits

A mystery with a real question. The afterlife is a hallway, not a judgment.

The useful part is that a death in a school is not a mood. Someone did something, or failed to, and the story is willing to be about that. The thin part is the theology: they are stuck because the plot needs them stuck.

Fine for older teenagers who can hear that the afterlife on offer is a device.

The eight

Industry
3/10
School is where they are stuck. It is not where anyone learns a trade.
Household
4/10
A mother on the other side of the veil, and friends who become the house.
Piety
2/10
Death without a heaven. The spirits are detained, not answered.
Courage
5/10
She keeps asking. The asking is the courage.
Republic
3/10
A school that failed to notice. That failure is the quiet accusation.
Temperance
5/10
It is sadder than it is sensational.
Truth
6/10
The mystery is about a fact, not a vibe.
Stewardship
3/10
The dead do not get to repair what they left.

Live historicallyIf a school near you has had a real harm, do not use this as the conversation. Use a person.

Series · Prime Video · 2006

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team

The work is real. The public judging of bodies is the product. Do not let a daughter take the cut list as a measure.

Making the Team shows hours of practice, which is more than the stadium shows. It also lines women up to be kept or discarded by a panel while you watch. One episode can teach a teenager that a performance is labor. A season can teach her that a panel is the judge of a body.

Prefer the practice. Refuse the panel as a household authority.

The eight

Industry
7/10
Rehearsal, stamina, a standard of execution. It is a job and they train.
Household
3/10
Families appear as support. The squad is the house the show cares about.
Piety
2/10
None.
Courage
5/10
They try out in public, which takes nerve and also takes a certain compliance.
Republic
3/10
A famous institution. The civic content is a brand.
Temperance
3/10
The gaze is the point of the uniform. The show does not apologize.
Truth
5/10
It is candid that most of them will be cut, and that the cut is a look as much as a kick.
Stewardship
3/10
What a girl might copy is the cut, not the discipline.

Live historicallyIf a girl in your house dances, praise the rehearsal. Never read her a list of who got cut.