Fall 1999 by Fassett, Deanna L, Warren, John T
Education has always been a subject of some fascination for American filmmakers. From The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie to Dangerous Minds, filmmakers have shown us compelling teachers, questionable institutional practices, and troubled students with hearts of gold. However, these "educational" movies are not simply movies about education; they are also, perhaps more importantly, movies that educate.
Movies like Dead Poets Society, Lean on Me, Stand and Deliver, and the like, serve as a commentary on the process of education, whether or not that is their intention. These movies teach us something about what it means to be a good teacher or student, how the educational enterprise has been or might be, and how Americans (teachers and students, administrators, and parents) should anticipate or fear the possibilities of educational reform.
One Eight Seven (187), a recent film starring Samuel Jackson, is one such "educational film." In 187 Jackson portrays Trevor Garfield, a teacher who is committed to working with at-risk students, students slipping through the cracks of an uncaring, impersonal, and, as the movie suggests, somewhat vindictive educational system. However, unlike its predecessors, 187 does not portray students as diamonds in the rough, nor does it portray teachers as infallible agents of social change. This movie does not intend to tell the story of a single teacher or a single student, but rather to tell a story about how schools "really are" in this country. The filmmakers' final words, "A teacher wrote this movie," suggest the intent behind 187-it is an indictment of schooling and the dangers teachers and students face in school with increasing frequency.
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