Dreamworlds 3

"...An intelligent meditation on the severely limited and limiting images of women (and men) in the reigning music videos."

"A scathing examination of pop video's use and abuse of women."

"Young adults are exposed to a barrage of media, including music videos, and they should be encouraged to critically evaluate the messages implicit within the medium. If this is one of your goals in the classroom, Dreamworlds 3 can serve you admirably. When we showed it to our Psychology of Women class, the film resonated particularly with black women, some of who expressed a general frustration and ambivalence toward hip hop portrayals of women. Several young women, as well as men, stated that the film has helped them to better articulate their own reactions to music videos. The film does not demand that the audience adopt Jhally's conclusions, but instead asks that viewers begin to develop their own critical eyes."

"An invaluable teaching tool. Does a superb job of presenting difficult truths about our hypersexualized, hypermasculinized culture. Never has it been more important for us to confront those truths."

"There exists widespread cultural sensitivity to fairness and tolerance, any many significantly-noted eruptions of bigotry or misogyny seem to be met with the disclaimer that the issue might somehow open a cultural debate." Arguably, though, the debate never really occurs, and few serious outlets have investigated the cultural and pop-cultural causes and relationships of these issues and overall social consciousness. Of these few serious studies that offer useful, logical information while providing a forum for debate is Sut Jhally's Dreamworlds 3: Desire, Sex & Power in Music Video. A follow-up to Dreamworlds and Dreamworlds 2 (1991 and 1995, respectively), Dreamworlds 3 continues the investigation of the social constructs of music videos and how they draw from, reinforce, and shape cultural ideas and ideals about masculinity, femininity, and individualism... Dreamworlds 3 is an important and useful work. For its study of the interplay between the larger culture and music videos, it is highly recommended for collections that focus on pop-culture; for its investigation on the objectification of people, it is essential for women's or gender studies; for the deconstruction of narrative and film techniques, it is important in film and media studies; and for anyone at all invested in the debate regarding the media's influence on culture, it is highly recommended overall."

"Dreamworlds 3 is a powerful and sobering piece of filmmaking, taking a mundane and familiar subject and presenting in it to shocking effect. The calm background music and the soothing voice of the narrator only add to the tension of the film. All young people, raised today on a steady diet of media and music, should be made to watch and discuss the movie, and scholars of popular culture, of gender, and of violence must pay attention to it. Happily, there are excellent support materials available, including a complete transcript, a study guide, and a more comprehensive curriculum for Teaching Writing, Teaching Media which references the film. The film should also be watched in conjunction with Mean World Syndrome, another Media Education Foundation work, since music videos are an important contributor to the mean-world experience. Finally, Dreamworlds 3 is a great production, and I look forward to -- and also in a way dread -- Dreamworlds 4."

"After watching Dreamworlds 3, students may continue to look at music videos, but they will never see them the same way again."