Last week, a new education movie debuted. You can find the trailer for Won't Back Down here.
Richard Roeper reviewed Won't Back Down and said it should have been named 'Lean on Me' and I'll 'Stand and Deliver' some 'Dangerous Minds.'
Despite the first rate cast and the good intentions and a half-hearted attempt to show both sides of the story, Won't Back Down sinks under the weight of its own stereotypes. It's so clearly anti-union, and so simplified and sentimentalized in its approach that we roll our eyes when we should be reaching for tissues. It's ironic that a film purporting to celebrate the potential in every child, parent and teacher would take such a dumbed-down approach.
Likin' that review!
The movie's failure at the box office was record-breaking, with an intake of 2.6 million. If you want a good laugh, see this list of movies it beat for the dubious honor. The dismal result may be political timing, but it was probably most likely due to a nearly nonexistent marketing strategy. Ridiculous: Slam public schools, but don't take the time to do the one, key thing every movie needs. One of Won't Back Down's stars, Maggie Gyllenhaal, has s box-office numbers on both extremes. She has been in the 4th largest opening weekend of all-time and the worst opening weekend of all-time. (Source here.)
I take all education movies with soy sauce, ginger, and a nice Canadian blended whiskey. Also, teacher movies should be comedies, not dramas. I warned Texas teachers about the "Nice White Lady" syndrome facing Texas schools FIVE YEARS AGO in this article. With the possible exception of Chalk, I'm not interested in movies about my own world (or former world). Others are, however. A movie about how hard family farmers had it in the early 80's led to a movie called Country, which packed the theaters in my home town.
The National Education Association has come back with a list of movies that teachers love. I'm not sure what connectedness author Rebeca Logan is, but these movies were sent to her by members. Knowing the NEA, Bad Teacher won handily, but it didn't fit the image they wanted. Here's a list of her "teacher favorites" that I've seen…along with my free italicized comments!
A frustrated composer finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher.
I was a band director when this came out. I thought Richard Dreyfuss played an idiot. Teaching is about the kids, not the music (or the English literature, or the love of history). It took him what? 30 years to figure out his true significance was shaping the future? Idiot with a stick. I felt sorry for the mythical kids he'd been teaching 10 years prior.
An ex-marine teacher struggles to connect with her students in an inner city schools.
I use this movie as a punch line to many teaching jokes. Well-intentioned "nice white lady" goes in. Realizes nobody hugs each other. Cries. Has a breakthrough moment (usually involving writing), and it all gets better. Yay! Next year will suck all over again. That fake teacher lasted two years.
The story of Jaime Escalante, a high school teacher who successfully inspired his dropout prone students to learn calculus.
I loved, loved, loved this movie. Too many times, Jaime stepped over the line with his students. After awhile, that comes back to bite you in the butt. With him it did, but kids understand things. They often have a different way of showing that they do. His car is stolen by his students…only to be returned in tip-top shape.
The other movies mentioned either deal with college students or high-level British students. This is disappointing. Two were left out of contention by the NEA, which is quick to tell people with ideas like mine to "kiss off." Then when I do, I have to write yet another letter of apology. Here are two movies that need to be on a list of teacher-friendly movies.
Five high school students, all different stereotypes, meet in detention, where they pour their hearts out to each other, and discover how they have a lot more in common than they thought.
This movie is great because of the teacher's role in forming these relationships. He bonds them together by being a jerk. He doesn't take his job seriously. He has no respect for these Saturday detention students. He gets overly-focused on all of the wrong things.
You learn two things from this movie: how not to teach and how students do NOT need amazing teachers giving them personal time to learn. Your brilliant teaching is nice, and all. But the key point is whether or not the students learn something. If that's the case (and it is), they will (one way or another) be just fine, even on your worst days.
This movie was great for two reasons. First, I learned how to do a good rat impression from Mark Harmon, which I used throughout my teaching career. I tell my own kids they're trapped like rats and imitate his fine work! Second, and most important (I guess…) is that he actually visited his own students. Over the course of time, you realized that these kids had stories and that they faced overwhelming obstacles in their daily lives. Instead of seeing them as flunkies the viewer's take on the situation is morphed. It was a great way to help a then-future teacher take note of family situations, financial situations, cultural differences, and personality traits.
School of Rock is suspiciously missing on the NEA list. I blame Obama and the liberal media.
Post Script--Another education movie is being quasi-released this month. The Revisionaries opens in Austin on October 26. It opened in other cities last weekend. It seems to be a good documentary on why your students have to learn the bizarre things they do. More after I see that one.
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