Giftedness in the eyes of cinema and TV series

A pedagogical reading of representations of talent in audio-visual production

Abstract

Audio-visual language has a narrative, interpretative and significant dimension that is useful for a deep understanding of giftedness, recognising both its characteristic traits and its distorted and stereotyped representations. The dense and growing presence of gifted characters in audio-visual products, supported also by a cultural change that places the giftedness within the pedagogical-special perspective and inclusion, can be used by a competent mentor/tutor to reflect and raise awareness on the issue of exceptionality. In this direction, the contribution presents an analysis of a series of films and TV series that, over the last decade (2011-2021), have brought the theme of giftedness to the big screen, stimulating viewers' reflections and representational images.