Boilerplate Man

Boilerplate Man-

            To be completely honest, I have no idea what to think of this website. I know it is not real because I have never heard of a “Boilerplate Man” disappearing during World War I. Yet I commend the creator of this because he shows very “real” pictures and the stories are almost believable. This kind of reading and graphic novel would have been something I read as a child. The idea of combining history with science fiction is something I love as a recreational hobby. That could be why one of my all-time favorite television shows is Stargate SG-1. Nevertheless, from an educator’s point of view, I actually really appreciate this website.

            As a potential social studies high school teacher, I hear kids tell me how much they hate history. To them, it is boring and they claim they’ll never need to know who signed the Declaration of Independence or what the Magna Carta even was. Perhaps this is true, but using resources like “Boilerplate Man” can get a student interested in history. It is a story about a mechanical man doing his civic duty. The fact that it is fictional perks kids’ interests. It’s a weird way of looking at history. What would have happened in World War I if all the soldiers were actually metal men? Who would have won the war? Obviously this is not how history should be taught all the time, but it is a fun and different way of looking at a “boring” subject.

            Another insight that I found myself thinking about when exploring this sight was the idea of technology. Obviously this is a class designed to get us thinking about this. Yet since I am a social studies teacher, I found myself planning how to use a site like this by talking about technology in the past. Could this have happened? “Boilerplate Man” shows us how far technology has come from past to present in the idea that we do have robots fighting wars. Yet there is also the fact that anyone can Photoshop a picture and create “real” evidence. How do we distinguish truth from fiction? Does technology help make that distinction?

What do you think?
Boilerplate Man