Share something about the film you watched that you hope to discuss in class. Reply to the comments that name your film so that all of the comments for each film are grouped together. Try to include something from what we have discussed so far in this course (e.g, purposes of school, individualism, opportunity, class and race, teacher and/or student agency, the limits of the art form, etc.).
To Sir, With Love (1967)
ReplyDeleteDakota C - To Sir, With Love was very interesting to me because it sort of switched around the white savior trope. The teacher who was "saving" and teaching the rowdy students was black, while the students were white. The teacher treats his students like adults and shows them the respect they never got from the rest of the school.
DeleteI watched the movie stand and the movie was about a group of underprivileged students overcoming the hardships of going to an underfunded school and overcoming them with the help of their dedicated teacher. This movie shows the importance of teachers in our society and how much of a difference they make.
DeleteStand and Deliver (1987)
ReplyDeleteJordy- I watched Stand and Deliver. The movie showed how the students were underestimated because of their neighborhood and background. Mr. Escalante pushed them to believe in themselves and work hard in math. It connects to our talks about opportunity in school and how education can open doors for students who are often judged.
DeleteHanna- went into Stand and Deliver with no clue nor have I heard it mentioned before. I didn't surprise me was it was a cliche start with a teacher who wanted all his students to success in math. What surprised me was he didn't put effort into making any kid that did not want to be there stay. Although he pushed and pushed for better opportunities and had determination to show the system how much his student worked for their test scores.
DeleteLean on Me (1989)
ReplyDeleteLandon- Lean on me is if nothing else, entertaining, however that is just about all I can say I enjoyed about this movie. This movie does a bad job of telling you vs showing you. The students supposedly love this new principal, Joe, however I kinda dont see why? I mean he spends the whole movie being an asshole not only to the kids but to his peers to. I undertand he is their boss but it seems like he very rarely treats them with any respect. Not to mention the 300 kids he banished at the start of the movie. Once again I understand why he did it but do these kids truly deserve to be dumped onto the street. I dont believe it is a fair precedent to set that these "hoodlum" students dont derserve anything. This movie opens up to a scene of the once predeominatley white school being taken over by students of color while welcome to the jungle by AC/DC plays, which definitley felt icky. Not to mention that any research on the real life Joe Clark this movie is based upon, was not nearly as effective as this movie would lead you to believe, as he only saw a very minor increase. When he kicked out all of those kids in real life only minor increases followed which shows that those kids were not the real issue, as well he often kicked out students for simply having low grades. Once again while this movie is fun to watch, it was not historically accurate as Joe Clark was not a good man.
DeleteFinn cohen - lean on me was an interesting movie if nothing else. Though I found it enjoyable and silly, it was probably one of the corniest things I’ve ever watched. I don’t understand why the students like Mr Clark, and they never show any sort of moment where all the students decide to like him. Though I see how they could like him at the end of the movie, they begin to like him at a point that I don’t feel is realistic. I also feel that the movie mostly focuses on the parents and the administration, which is kind of the opposite of what I think they were trying to accomplish. (Showing the teachers and the students improvement). It was wildly unrealistic but I did enjoy it viewing it through a corny movie lense!
DeleteParker- I really enjoyed watching Lean on Me. I thought the acting in the film was decent, but what really made the film entertaining to me was the story. I thought it was very similar to things we have talked about/watched in class story-wise but with an added twist. I thought Morgan Freeman's character was by far the most interesting, not because of his mission to turn the school around but because at the start of the film he didn't start out as the perfect principal. I thought that showing him learn from the other teachers and taking that advice added a lot to the film and made it very moving and enjoyable to watch.
DeleteJasper - "Lean on Me" has some good moments, as well as an engaging story, but ultimately feels unfinished by the end of the film. Several characters (such as Kaneesha and Kid Ray) have rather big and important arcs set up at the start of the film, and yet their character development remains unresolved once the credits roll. I would say the film has a big cast of characters so it might be hard to round out everyone, but Kaneesha is an incredibly integral character to Joe's development, so I'm surprised she gets sidelined at the end of the film. On a more nitpicky note, the sound design for this film was pretty bad, and the camera spent about half the film being out of focus, so I'm not sure what happened there. Overall though, the story is enjoyable, and I liked watching the school eventually pass the exam. I will say I have the suspicion that this film greatly embellishes this story, because taking a school average up by almost 40 points in 100 days is almost unbelievable.
DeleteJana - "Lean on me" was definitely a check off my list to expand my movie portfolio, however, it felt unfulfilling - I finished it looking for some sort of closure. I felt like the plot was generic but there was no special "twist" that each movie has to make to different others. I find it to fit most of the archtypes we learned in class just based on how the student v. teacher relationships, as well, not really diving into the student's individualism independently but more so in an over-arching way. I do believe part of this is because how old the movie is and it most likely hadn't had the budget or outside opinion of students or teachers to actually go into depth and make it more "realistic" in a sense.
DeleteChris B- I ended up enjoying watching the movie "Lean on me" Although there was certain plot points that left me slightly confused. Certain characters throughout the show had led me to believe that they were going to be a larger part in the story, or even grow remarkably, but instead just faded into the background of the movie. For example, the story of Kid Ray. We never got a considerable amount of context for his story, eventually ended with him dropping out of school to never be mentioned again. Another example was when the teacher seemed to have kicked the original music teacher out, who seemed to be the only teacher to inspire and get their kids excited to learn and improve. His restriction on their creativity was my main grudge with this film.
DeleteDangerous Minds (1995)
ReplyDeleteMarissa- I watched the movie “Dangerous Minds”. Something I hope we talk about in class is where the line is when it comes to teacher- student relationships. Most teacher-oriented movies, in my opinion, cross the line I think should be present. I don’t know the legalities of everything, but I’d like to hear people’s opinions on it.
DeleteImani - I watched the movie "Dangerous Minds". Since someone already mentioned the teacher-student relationships, I wanted to talk about the individualism in the film. The teacher didn't have traditional teaching styles. She created her own approach using karate and candy bars to connect with the students. It was interesting because the teacher used her individualism to challenge the silencing education system, and as a result, the students were able to recognize their choices and futures.
DeleteKaila- Something I hope to talk about is how the teacher was struggling to get support from the principal in Dangerous Minds. It really seemed like he wasn't trying to help her or the students. I would also like to discuss the purpose of schooling in relation to the mindset of the grandmother who pulled her grandchildren out of school because they started reading poetry in the teachers class.
DeleteKennedy- It was a really good movie. In the beginning it was kind of known that the “challenged” kids are different from the other kids. They start off the movie with “Gangster Paradise” and they show their area in black and white but once they get on the bus and ride through a different area it turns into color. That let me know that the “challenged” kids were going to a school out of zone.
DeleteNoah - I watched the movie "Dangerous Minds" from the mid nineties. One thing I hope to discuss in class about the movie is the, for a lack of a better word, weird dynamic between the teacher and the students. I think she takes it too far showing up to students' houses and taken students out to dinner.
DeleteFreedom Writers (2007)
ReplyDeleteNadia- I watched Freedom Writers for the first time. It was inspiring to watch a new teacher find her way in a new environment, but also really cool to see that it was based on a true story??? I think it’s so important as a teacher to give each student a chance at having a future. I thought it was interesting that they somehow got the holocaust to bring all of the students together. That was not what I expected to happen but it somehow worked. Learning about the worst thing in the world to happen made their lives seem to connect to one another. Also, I hated the husband at first but then realized that she would have been held back if she stayed with him
DeleteThere was a skit from Mad TV that says, "When it comes to teaching inner city minorities, you don't need books and you don't need rules. All you need is a nice white lady," which I believe applies to Freedom Writers. Race is at the forefront of this film; however, it portrays racism as something only the 'worst' of individuals do and has nothing to do with a system of disadvantage. The only time the movie explicitly showcases racism is when a peer of Gruwell confronts her about her class with cartoonishly racist comments. This is as far as the film goes in discussing implicit bias and discrimination in the school environment. Freedom Writers gives the impression that once the white teacher "gets through" to their students of color, the issues that have been persistent throughout the film fade away. This framing portrays students of color as unguided individuals with behavior that requires correction, without considering the underlying reasons behind their actions. It pays no mind to the school system that has failed them, or the surrounding factors that contribute to it. I hope to discuss in class the framing these kinds of films take. Are these films about showing the struggle of teachers, dismantling racism, calling out the education system? Or the struggle of a white teacher trying to reason with the wild children of color? I believe breaking down the framing and what the film, at its core, is trying to say.
DeleteKenzie- I read a lot of reviews from this film (many from Letterboxd and just online) and it goes to say that definitely falls under the category of “white savior trope,” but that aside, I still found it to still be an overall good film, didn’t like the husband, principle, or colleagues though, and it was pretty successful at achieving this “feelgood narrative”. Individualism and Race were definitely discussed and was the part of the main building block for Freedom Writers. From when Ms. Gruwell have each student to write in journals, giving them an outlet/voice, to the students learning about the Holocaust and how that tied together through everyone different experiences. I look forward to talking more in class about this because based on the other responses, I agree with what has been said.
DeleteCheylsi- Freedom writers made me understand the puporses of schooling, and how that could look different for others based on class, socioeconomic status, or race. For the students, the school is just a place to keep them away from the streets for a couple of hours. But, as mrs. Gruwell strays away from her assigned curriculum, she teaches her students to be opportunists. This goes back to when we talk about how school can either reinforce stereotypes and division (beginning of movie) or break the down ( the end of the movie).
DeleteVictoria - Victoria - In Freedom Writers, I think the film shows school as more than just academics; it becomes a place where students gain agency and voice through writing. It connects to what we’ve discussed about the purpose of education: is it about individual success, or also about challenging bigger issues like race and class? The movie celebrates personal growth, but it also reminds us of the structural barriers that students face. I’d like to talk about that tension in class.
DeleteMax - This was my first time watching Freedom Fighters and I thought it did a good job at covering social issues within education that are still prevalent today. I did notice that the movie had a bit of a “white savior” narrative, but it’s based on a true story which is hard to argue with. I liked Mrs Gruwell’s approach of connecting with the students by having them write in their journals and showing them what they’re capable of.There isn’t a lot a single teacher can do to help with issues like this structurally, but Mrs Gruwell does a great job of getting through to her students this way. The opposition that Mrs Gruwell received from other teachers also highlights the systemic issues within schooling where doing things outside of the normal curriculum is considered bad, but the normal curriculum is only really catered to one big group of children, and others aren’t receiving the support that they need.
DeleteLee - I think Freedom Writers did a great job at illustrating systemic issues in the academic world and how lack of support in a person's earlier years of life will often lead to depression and steps onto a dark path. No support, no accommodations means hopelessness unless someone on the outside steps in. The main lead has drive, she has agency for being a teacher and wanting to help kids better themself. I believe that in the beginning, she truly didn't understand how dire their situations were. From the start, she has a 'dream' of helping underprivileged kids. Going into the class and listening to them, she sees that they are stuck in their own worlds, with nobody to listen to them. When she takes things into her own hands, purchasing brand new books with her own money from a second/third job, her agency is so much more apparent.
DeleteKameron- The movie Freedom Writes taught me a lot about the systematic issues going on throughout school. The main character takes on the role of giving these kids new opportunity from their troubled life through school and literacy. While although she has to get 2 more jobs due to low funding and concerns. The kids see the new books and journals as an opportunity to share their story to the world.
DeleteMicayla - I feel like this movie did a good job of showing the difference in how groups of people are betrayed verses others and the lack of care that some school administrations/ teachers have for their students. The teacher tries so hard too be the voice for these kids even after they didn't think she could understand what their going through. I also think the movie did a good job at depicting the students home lives to try to explain why the students act the way they do at school. I feel like this movie was a good example of agency because the teacher went way out of her way for these kids when she didn't have to.
DeleteNadra- What I enjoyed about this movie is that it feels very truthful and reflective of what black and brown kids in low-income schools experience. Those children grew up in a politically tumultuous environment in LA, and it was reflected in their militarization, their anger, distrust of white people, racism towards their classmates, gang violence, homelessness, etc. One of the things this movie highlights is the concept of opportunity for children facing discrimination because of race, gender, and class. Erin became aware that most of the children were facing violence, instability, and a lack of support. The other teachers saw no point in speaking to those students if they were capable of understanding them, getting them new and on-level books and materials, and dedicating time to them. How can those students feel like they have the opportunity to have good options to choose from for their future if they are not given them? They were not able to receive this opportunity to have good options to pick from until Erin, the one adult who believed in them, gave them some.
DeleteVictoria - In Freedom Writers, I think the film shows school as more than just academics; it becomes a place where students gain agency and voice through writing. It connects to what we’ve discussed about the purpose of education: is it about individual success, or also about challenging bigger issues like race and class? The movie celebrates personal growth, but it also reminds us of the structural barriers that students face. I’d like to talk about that tension in class.
ReplyDeleteLizzie Dorsey. - I watched Stand and Deliver, which I enjoyed. There were some "savior" tropes, but I thought it was interesting that the teacher only focused on "saving" the students that "let him" save them. He actively made it difficult to stay in his class with his strike system, and allowed students to leave. The movie also condenses a much longer timeline into a shorter one, from almost a decade to two years, focusing on one class.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting that while the movie touched on some of the students' and Escalante's home lives, they were not the main focus of the movie, and the plot revolved around what happened in the classroom. They mentioned the school's issues, Escalante's issues, and the students, and how they related to the main plot line.
Seniece - I chose the movie dangerous minds. The movie showed how untrue is it to be a teacher in a troubled classroom. In my opinion being that she is a women the movie In a way normalized the way she was treating the students. If the roles were reversed and it was a male, that teacher would most likely be fired and tore down all over the internet from mis interpreted actions toward the students.
ReplyDeleteUzziel-The movie I watched was Stand and Deliver. My opinion on it is that the movie presented itself in this dynamic where the students were underestimated and looked over because of the area where they lived and the up bring they had. The most crucial take away is that Mr. Escalante really pushed them to have faith in themselves and their community, they worked hard in math as well their connection with society. I feel like this film really focuses on how crucial it is to have the opportunity to learn in our school system and how education can really open up new opportunities for students who are commonly misguided and looked down upon.
ReplyDelete