Dead Poets Society (1989): O Captain, my Captain!

[Spartan Girl]

I know it's an old one, but I thought why not start a thread for Dead Poets Society, where we can bitch about the ending and how awful the parents/snobby school staff are, and/or how great Robin Williams is?

Seriously though, I hate the ending.  Yes, it's nice the boys made that last show of solidarity, but it didn't really change anything.  He still got fired -- for something that wasn't even his damn fault.  Ugh, pisses me off to no end.

[VCRTracking]

Ethan Hawke talking about the movie in interviews:

Edited August 25, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Spartan Girl]

I watched it on Netflix tonight. Man, I still can't get over how young Ethan Hawke was!

I stand by what I said about the ending. The only thing that made me happy was Charlie slugging that fink Cameron in the face for throwing Mr. Keating under the bus and getting expelled for it. Now THAT was taking a stand!

And while I know it's horrible to wish losing a child on anyone, Neil's parents deserved it. Anyone with eyes could have seen that Neil had been miserable for years and his parents made it worse. Getting Mr. Keating fired wouldn't change that. So have fun rotting in the miserable childless hell you've creating for yourselves, assholes.

[Bill1978]

I have only seen the movie once, and it traumatised me. Do not ask me why but it was the movie chosen to be shown at a slumber birthday party and I was about 10 I reckon. First movie I ever saw where things didn't end happily. My innocent mind couldn't handle the suicide, he was meant to come back as a twist and explain that it was all a hoax. Poor little 10 year old me could not handle the fact that someone actually stayed dead when they died in a movie.

Having said that I do remember referencing the scene where Robin Williams jumps up on a desk to get the class attention during my uni days in my teaching degree. I had a feeling that the lecturer wasn't actually reading the educational diary/journal/reflection thing we had to keep. So in response to being given the scenario about a rowdy class of kids who aren't paying attention to anything, I decided to write that I would jump on the desk and shout some stupid thing. It got ticked with zero comment made about the ridiculousness of it. As a teacher today I can tell you there is no way in hell I would that. Mainly cause there is a chance I would fail the jump or fall off the table.

[MrsR]

Always hated this movie because of the suicide. Like no one pointed out to this kid that at 18 the Dad had no more power over him and all he had to do was wait a year.  What a waste. Wah I have to wait a year to do what I want. Yeah suicide that's the answer.

Yuck

[Spartan Girl]

6 hours ago, MrsR said:

Always hated this movie because of the suicide. Like no one pointed out to this kid that at 18 the Dad had no more power over him and all he had to do was wait a year.  What a waste. Wah I have to wait a year to do what I want. Yeah suicide that's the answer.

Yuck

I agree that the suicide was a waste of life. But I think the movie made it clear that Neil had been unhappy for a long time. The warning signs were there, just nobody bothered to notice -- especially not his parents. His father was abusive and controlling and his mother was too wimpy to stop him. And waiting til he was 18 was no longer and option because his dad was sending him to military school for ten years, cutting him off from all his friends and all the things that DID make him happy.

The movie wasn't trying to romanticize suicide; hell, that made everything worse for everyone he left behind. His friends were devestated and Mr. Keating lost his job for nothing. 

[Sweet Tee]

7 hours ago, MrsR said:

Like no one pointed out to this kid that at 18 the Dad had no more power over him and all he had to do was wait a year.

Mr. Keating did point this out to him.  It ultimately made no difference to him.  What broke Neil was his dad pulling him out of school and sending him to military school.  And I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think people who commit suicide are always thinking rationally.  He was 17.  Emotions run high.  He'd finally done something he wanted to do and his dad shut him down like he'd always done.  

9 hours ago, Bill1978 said:

First movie I ever saw where things didn't end happily. My innocent mind couldn't handle the suicide, he was meant to come back as a twist and explain that it was all a hoax. Poor little 10 year old me could not handle the fact that someone actually stayed dead when they died in a movie.

That happened to me with West Side Story.  10 year old me could not wrap my head around it when it ended the way it did.

11 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

And while I know it's horrible to wish losing a child on anyone, Neil's parents deserved it. Anyone with eyes could have seen that Neil had been miserable for years and his parents made it worse. Getting Mr. Keating fired wouldn't change that. So have fun rotting in the miserable childless hell you've creating for yourselves, assholes.

Agreed on his dad.  I do feel sorry for his mother though.  She seemed sympathetic to her son.  She was just unable to stand up to her husband.  It being the 50s, kind of understandable.  But, yeah, I hope the dad spends the rest of his miserable life feeling guilty as hell.  I hated him.

The person I feel the most sorry for is Todd.  The two people who had gotten him out of his shell and appreciated him for who he was were gone.  Keating fired.  Neil dead.  He'd lost the only good things he had.  Even Charlie was expelled at the end.  I'm glad he was strong enough to stand up for Keating at the end and hope he kept that strength and made a great life for himself.  Poor kid.  And yeah, both Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard had such baby faces.  I love this movie.  It's one of my favorites.

Edited September 1, 2018 by Sweet Tee

[MrsR]

5 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

I agree that the suicide was a waste of life. But I think the movie made it clear that Neil had been unhappy for a long time. The warning signs were there, just nobody bothered to notice -- especially not his parents. His father was abusive and controlling and his mother was too wimpy to stop him. And waiting til he was 18 was no longer and option because his dad was sending him to military school for ten years, cutting him off from all his friends and all the things that DID make him happy.

If Neil was unhappy than he SHOULD HAVE RUN AWAY. He was 17. And no he wasn't going to military school for TEN years. He was being sent to a military prep school and them on to Harvard. There are no military  schools where grown adults are imprisoned, not even in 1959.

 

Back to the the run away concept. Isn't the theme of this film CARPE DIEM? Then why isn't the thrust of this story just that. That Keating influenced this kid to seize the moment. Not just getting on stage at a crummy  local theatre but the bigger arena of life.  What a great story this would have been if this kid had packed a bag seized the day and left. But no we get the suicide. 

 

Frankly I could stomach this film a bit more if it had made it clearer that the "Acting" was really a metaphor for being gay.

[biakbiak]

On 9/1/2018 at 9:46 AM, MrsR said:

Neil was unhappy than he SHOULD HAVE RUN AWAY. He was 17. And no he wasn't going to military school for TEN years.

He most likely was suffering from depression which is very different than not being happy and he was finding outlets to feel normal but could not find away out of the sinking feeling. People commit suicide because they are drowning and don’t see a way out and can’t think rationally about their options. It’s unfortunately all too realistic for him not to see the other options available to him though for a teenage boy in 1959 with depression the options were very limited for treatment.

[Morlock]

Being from a working class background it still astounds me that rich kid kills himself because he can't play act like he wants to. And because he goes against daddy's instructions he is told he will be sent to military college. Boo flippin' hoo! 

I liked Robin's character when I was a kid but now I see him as being just as useless as the other teachers at the school. I had teachers similar to him at school, the ones who just wanted to joke around. Sure, it was fun but at the end of the day they still taught me nothing. 

[Dr.OO7]

All I can think of is this parody:

Edited March 8, 2019 by Camille

[VCRTracking]

23 hours ago, Camille said:

All I can think of is this parody:

I saw it when it first aired and it was the hardest I laughed had in years!

[Dr.OO7]

On 3/8/2019 at 4:25 PM, VCRTracking said:

I saw it when it first aired and it was the hardest I laughed had in years!

My jaw dropped. I must have rewound it about ten times.

If you want to laugh even more, look up "Farewell Mr. Bunting Reaction".

Edited March 11, 2019 by Camille

[Katy M]

On ‎9‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 12:13 AM, MrsR said:

Always hated this movie because of the suicide. Like no one pointed out to this kid that at 18 the Dad had no more power over him and all he had to do was wait a year.  What a waste. Wah I have to wait a year to do what I want. Yeah suicide that's the answer.

Yuck

I think the legal age of adulthood back then was 21.  I could be wrong about that, but either way, it was a different time.  You didn't defy your parents the moment you became a legal adult.

[MrsR]

Dead wrong. At no time has the age of majority been 21 in this country. In fact at times it has been lower, as low as 15 depending on state and circumstance.

Plenty of people defied their parent's expectation, including very rich kids. 

[biakbiak]

It’s on The Rewatchables podcast.

I love this movie SO MUCH!!

[topanga]

4 hours ago, biakbiak said:

It’s on The Rewatchables podcast.

I love this movie SO MUCH!!

Cool. I love that podcast

[snarktini]

On 3/8/2019 at 1:25 PM, VCRTracking said:

I saw it when it first aired and it was the hardest I laughed had in years!

OMG I did NOT see that coming! Even though I knew there had to be a twist. Could not figure out where it was headed then BAM.

On 9/7/2018 at 5:38 PM, biakbiak said:

He most likely was suffering from depression which is very different than not being happy and he was finding outlets to feel normal but could not find away out of the sinking feeling. People commit suicide because they are drowning and don’t see a way out and can’t think rationally about their options. It’s unfortunately all too realistic for him not to see the other options available to him though for a teenage boy in 1959 with depression the options were very limited for treatment.

I agree. This movie clobbers me every time I see it, and I've only watched it a few times because of that. We, the viewers, know that he had to do was ride this out and then he could live his own life, but he didn't know that. He literally didn't know he could run away, or defy his parents. (Well, he tried defying them and look where that got him?) He couldn't face the loss of his passion, his sense of self, his freedom. He felt trapped.

The weight of others' expectations, finding yourself, becoming aware you're not living your life to the fullest..these themes hit me where I live.

[schipman001]

The first media key that is represented in this movie is Dignity of the Human Person. This key is represented in an interesting manner, where some characters have high regard for a person's dignity but others have almost none. The back and forth between the two extremes reveals a lot about why this is so important. The parents of the students show a lot of disregard for their kids' dignity. All they seem to want from their kids are good grades and an impressive resume, they have nearly no regard for their emotionally well-being. The parents treat the kids as if they are merely machines made to be on honor roll rather than treating them like real people. This leads to the kids being miserable and finding no joy. On the other hand the new English teacher, Mr.Keating, treats the students with high dignity. He encourages them to be themselves and is constantly checking on their well-being. Overall he treats them with value. Due to this there is a massive difference between how the kids are around Mr.Keating verses their parents. The kids have significantly more joy when they are around Mr.Keating and being treated with dignity. This highlights why it is important to treat others with dignity and shows just how negative of an impact the opposite can have. This theme in the movie is encouraging to treat both yourself and others with dignity. 

I would also consider the movie to be inspirational. One of the main themes of the movie is to be authentic to yourself. The movie sheds light on many negative side affects of trying to be something you're not and trying to please the world. In the same respect it also shows the positives to being yourself . Although this movie is not a Christian film, this can be taken in a Christian context with the theme of not aiming to please the world. While the movie does not say to seek Divine approval instead, it does hint at seeking approval from something higher. Overall it inspires viewers to aim to be authentically themselves, and in a Christian sense encourages to be authentically who God made you to be. 

Lastly the movie is very truth-filled and relevant. The movie speaks the truth on how we should approach our lives and the fact that we should never seek satisfaction from the world because it will never provide. This is a truth that was relevant when the movie was released, is still relevant now, and will likely remain relevant as people tend to have a desire for satisfaction and approval. While many people don't realize this is truly a longing for God, they still feel that desire. And while this movie does not directly call this out, it does call out that seeking the world's approval won't fulfill our desires