Teachers & Hollywood Films
How are teachers and the teaching profession portrayed in Hollywood films? To answer this question I watched the film School of Rock and read an article entitled “Top Ten Picks for Great Teacher Flicks� (http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin156.shtml). Overall, I would have to say that there are a variety of different portrayals of teachers in Hollywood films. The film School of Rock with Jack Black portrays a want-to-be rocker who becomes a substitute teacher to make money to pay his rent. This movie portrays a teacher who is very selfish, unprepared and unprofessional. By the end of the movie Jack Black’s character (Mr. S) figures out how to be a good teacher, and connects with the students. The article “Top Ten Picks for Great Teacher Flicks� gives lists and testimonies from people nominating different films that depict great teachers. One film that was brought up in the article is Mr. Holland’s Opus, this film “celebrates the vital and often unseen impact teachers have on the lives of their students.� Another great teacher flick is Stand and Deliver and like Mr. Holland’s Opus it depicts a teacher who truly has a positive affect on his student’s lives (not without some resistance).
I had never really thought about the depictions of teachers in films before this assignment. Thinking back to the many movies that I have seen in my life, I have come to the conclusion that there are actually quite a few movies that depict teachers. One of the most unforgettable films that shows a teacher doing what they (we) do best is Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The teachers, administration and office staff are all made to be complete idiots. The fact that Ferris Bueller’s teacher would call his name (“Bueller…Bueller…Bueller…�) 5 times before realizing that he was in fact absent, shows his level of intelligence. The administration smarts off to a parent on the phone and is down right unprofessional. None the less it was a great film. Another film that portrays teachers that I really like is Better off Dead. This is yet another film that depicts the teachers as complete weirdoes. The teachers speak in mono-toned voices about subjects that are beyond the average person and yet the students are incredibly engaged. Moreover, one of the male teachers dates the ex-girlfriend of the main character (John Cusack). These films spoof the teaching profession, yet they are incredibly funny. One of the questions posed in this assignment is “do films depicting teachers help or hurt the profession?� I think this question is hard to answer because it depends on how people view movies. Are they watching them for information or for entertainment? Personally I watch movies for entertainment, so I don’t even take the things I see seriously. On the other hand, some people take what they see in films to be factual. I would have to say without a doubt that movies like Mr. Holland’s Opus and Stand and Deliver help the teaching profession. How would they not? They are just that inspirational. Other movies such as School of Rock, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Better off Dead make light of the profession, but I’m not sure that they hurt it. I honestly think that people know that the teachers in these movies are not real. Anyone who thinks back to their own experiences in school knows that Hollywood teachers are not real. On the other hand people may be turned off of the teaching profession when they see some of the things that teachers have to put up with in the classroom. However a person’s own personal experiences in school can do this as well.
Jack Black’s character in School of Rock is one that does not take the profession seriously. He even says himself that substitute teaching is “babysitting.� He values getting paid and slacking off more than the opportunity to teach kids. School of Rock portrays teachers as having the ability to do whatever they want in the classroom, there are no standards to follow. Some of the wonderful things about the film are that Jack Black made learning fun and made each and every student feel important. These are things that all teachers try to do, but often times fall short.
If someone were to make a film about me and my teaching profession I would hope that they would capture my talents as well as my flaws. Above all I think that it is important for everybody to realize that teachers are not perfect. While we try out best we are still human and fall short from time to time. I would hope that my film is a combination of Stand and Deliver, School of Rock and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.