By Qarol Price
After watching “Dead Poets Society” for the first time in 36 years, I was telling a friend, let’s call her Jane, how much more deeply I was struck by the film’s message this time.
Originally, I loved the unconventional teaching style of Robin Williams’ character, John Keating, a young English professor at an elite boys prep school in the late 1950s. His approach was almost like that of a Zen master. He was able to kindle a fire in his students’ souls, to break the stodgy mold of the school’s instructional regimen. But of course, there is much more to this masterpiece.
After waxing a bit pedantically about the new insights I had gained from the film, I announced to Jane that “Dead Poets Society” would be an excellent choice for the local “Public Discourse through Film” meeting in April.
Like this column, the film group is coordinated with Johnston County Public Schools’ character trait of the month. This time around, the highlighted theme is courage.
In “Dead Poets Society,” courage takes the form of the willingness to think for oneself and live authentically despite the formidable social pressure posed by the various authorities and institutions, as students risk reputation, authority and security to discover their own voices. John Keating, guided his students to understand and act on the wisdom of taking risks like resisting conformity and serving one’s own authentic calling in the face of forfeiting the rewards of obedience, is true courage.
Jane’s reaction to my flick pick was entirely unexpected. She gasped in horror! Then said, “Wow, speaking of courage, you must have an awful lot of it if you actually go through with that choice!”
Interestingly, she had never seen the movie but was aware of its basic setting — which she summed up as an elite school for privileged white boys only. This alone, she thought, was enough to raise the ire of women and people of color. If it were up to her, she would not show the movie for fear of offending a large segment of the community. What an irony! Though her agenda was far removed from that of the traditionalist “Old Boys” who ran the school, it exactly mirrored its oppressive character!
For better or worse, narrative through story has great power to help us know ourselves by dramatizing the cultural traditions, conflicts and moral inheritances that shape our lives. As a beautiful classic, “Dead Poets Society” will always remind us to find the courage to “seize the day.”
