“Dead Poets Society” is not an easy movie to watch, and I don’t recommend it for your young ones. However, it remains one of my favorite movies of all time, and I do think it would be a wonderful jumping-off point for a conversation between you and your teenagers.
Robin Williams stars as John Keating, a new English professor at an exclusive boys’ school called Welton Academy. Only the most privileged can attend, and the students all feel a tremendous amount of pressure to be somebody. When Mr. Keating comes on staff, the boys think he’s going to be just like their other teachers – stiff, cold, unfeeling, but as they get to know him, they discover what a genuinely good man he is.
When he first comes into their classroom, Mr. Keating asks the boys to read the introduction in their poetry books. He then asks them to rip out that introduction, telling them that it’s worthless. He challenges them to decide for themselves what makes poetry great, not by trying to hold it up to some scholarly scale, but by the way it makes them feel. He then asks them to come stand on top of his desk and look at things from a different point of view. The boys don’t know what’s going on, but they like it.
As the school year progresses, they find that Mr. Keating is opening their eyes to many different things. He takes them outside to kick soccer balls while studying poetry. He asks them to march in unison to demonstrate the theory of conformity vs. individuality. And every day, he asks them to look inside themselves and think about who they really are, deep down, and what they want out of life.
Some of the teachers at Welton have problems with Mr. Keating’s new way of approaching education. Some of the students feel uncomfortable with anything that’s not strictly by the book. But most of the students are thriving in ways they never have before, finally feeling accepted and appreciated.
One student in particular wants to be so much more. His name is Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) and he wants to be an actor. His parents are dead set against it, feeling that such a thing would be a shame, but Neil just has to try. He auditions for the part of “Puck” in “Midsummer Night’s Dream” at a local theater, and lands the part. All the boys from school come to see him, and he is fabulous in the role. He truly feels he belongs and that he’s found his calling in life. But when word reaches his father, he is yanked from school, and after a long argument with his parents, in which they tell him he will never act again, he takes his own life.
This opens up an investigation at the school, and the boys are called in for questioning. Mr. Keating comes under suspicion as to having planted the idea of suicide in Neil’s head, when what he really did was to plant the idea of dreaming.
I loved this movie. It clearly shows the power that comes when we allow ourselves to dream and to have ambition, and what can happen when our dreams are stripped away from us. There is a small amount of language and a few scattered sexual comments, but the message is so incredibly beautiful that I found it well worth my time to ignore those few moments.
This film is rated PG.
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