The schoolmen were schoolboys fist, Stephen said superpolitely. Aristotle was once Plato’s schoolboy. Previous graduates of Welton Academy go one to teach English Literature, run the school, and eventually pass on and merely occupy a place on the wall. The current students face numerous challenges trying to live up to the expectations of the school, their parents, and the ghosts on the wall.
Occurring in the 1960s, Dead Poets Society accurately captures the clash between generations. Only Mr. McAllister, a self-described realist who teaches biology, seems to understand and appreciate what is happening. Society, the school, the students, and finally Mr. Keating all lose their innocence during the film as the conflict becomes a conflagration.
During a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Neil Perry is not merely repeating his lines but giving a monologue to his stubborn father, to no avail. At the end of the film, as Mr. Keating leaves, the students who realize that they must stand up to arbitrary rules and follow what they believe to be right are the ones who will make their lives extraordinary. Mr. Keating had taken the fall for the sequence of events but as he leaves the school, he sees the students’ response and understands that he has partially reached his goals.
To me, Dead Poets Society is an excellent film because everything (acting, direction, screenplay, soundtrack, set design, even the overall colour scheme) combines together to create a series of overarching themes and a mood, becoming greater than the sum of its parts. To Catch a Thief, The Shawshank Redemption, The Matrix, and The Graduate are other examples of this synergy.
Irrespective of the fact that key scenes have evolved through pop culture, moving from classic to clichéd it is still enjoyable upon a second viewing. Those two jackanapes in the Cineplex “preview show” (before the trailers) would have ruined the ending anyways.
Maybe I will start next year’s marketing class with something out-of-the-box, like a team-building exercise involving paper airplanes. Or maybe I will only follow the Trigonometry teacher’s approach and deduct one mark off the final grade for every missed homework assignment. “I urge you not to test me on this point.” ***