You're Late, Clark Kent

Last night I saw a really incredible movie - it was so powerful, that I immediately felt compelled to write about it (is that an indication that the movie was really good, or that ive turned into a loser blogger? And im only on my 3rd post!).  "Waiting for 'Superman'" is a movie about the public school system in America.  In truth, I hadn't heard of the movie until about 1:30pm, and I made it to a 5:30 showing.  Optimum Triple Play is a magical combination that allows its subscribers a rewards card that includes 2 free movie tickets on Tuesdays at clearview cinemas.  I like to take advantage of this opportunity - Im movie-ternistic - as often as possible.  I had dinner plans with some friends in the city last night, and I had a few hours to kill in between work and our meeting.  I quickly searched for local Clearview Cinemas and checked out the timetables to see what movie was starting at the most convenient time.  It is through that sequence of events that lead me to the gem that is 'Superman'.

Quick sidenote - As I arrived at the box office outside of the theater, while reaching into my bag to take out my rewards card, I heard from behind, "Gavi?"  Coincidentally, my friend Mike had just showed up at the theater (in Chelsea) from uptown at the very same time, going to see the same movie, also on his own.  He put it beautifully by saying "we couldn't have even planned this better."  He was a gentleman and treated me to the movie on his card. 

Anyway, learning about the public school system here in the States was an eye opening experience, especially for someone who had only been privately schooled.  My previous exposure to public schools was quite limited.  I live around the corner from the local public high school in my town, but other then running at their track or walking across the grounds to get to the highway, I never really learned about the inner workings.  (I was verbally harassed on 2 separate occasions on the school property - once in 6th grade and another time my sophomore year of high school... but really all that did for me was make the day I graduated high school a really exciting time because i KNEW each time I walked by the students from then on, that I was older, or at least in a further along grade then each and every one of them - that was my coping mechanism to feel confident).  This film is documentary style, following the journey of about 5 students spread throughout the states over the course of a year.  Each of them is in a position where they are trying to get into a public charter school to get a better education and improve their chances at a more successful future.  The children in the film range in age from about 5 to 12, and all except one come from minority families. 

A really interesting questions was posed by the narrator/creator - Do bad communities lead to bad public schools, or do bad public schools lead to bad communities?  Education is such an important tool that when used correctly can be extremely powerful, yet when abused can be really detrimental.  We learned that tenure in public schools is a really big problem.  Apparently, any teacher who keeps their job for 2 or more years automatically gets tenure.  That means that once a teacher manages not to get fired for 2 years (or as they say in the movie, "If a teacher continues to breathe for 2 years...") they are awarded the grand immunity from ever being fired.  It reported that some tenured teachers even said to their classes that they refuse to teach because they get paid either way, so whats the point?  Really horrific.

Having watched the movie, I was forced to do a little introspection, and take a step back to appreciate the experiences and opportunities that ive been given.  Its sad, when i think back about it, that I (and im sure others) didn't appreciate my schooling as I was going through it.  In truth, I don't think I was mature enough to see just how privileged I was.  2 years ago, when I was visiting the Angkor Wat temples in Cambodia, I met this young local fellow who was sitting and studying on one of buildings' stones.  It was rare to find someone who spoke English and wasn't trying to sell me anything.  Through our little chat I learned that he was working really hard to teach himself English.  His family were rice farmers, and they didn't have very much money at all.  He was able to find an English tutor who would give him lessons for 10 dollars a month, and yet most of the time he couldn't afford it.  He was doing everything he could to both raise the money and study on his own - his dedication was amazing.  But it also got me to think back about all those times I wanted to skip class 'cuz I was bored, or felt like school was getting in the way of the other "important" things I wanted to be doing with my time.  Each time I missed a day of school or even a class, I was wasting tuition money, and yet this boy didn't have the amount of money to pay for a month of classes that was equivalent to what most of my classmates would spend daily on just lunch.  Obviously Cambodia and America are in very different economic positions, but it was an interesting comparison, in my mind. 

Because we got to learn about the lives of these highlighted students, we grew to feel sympathetic towards them.  The interesting part for me, though, was that when things didn't work out for some of the students, we felt sad for them, and wished that maybe they could have received the spot instead of someone else.  However, had the movie documented the story of one of the students that did get in, we would have felt really excited for them, not at all thinking about the students that didn't get in.  We were taken in the direction that the movie makers wanted us to go. 

Im known to feel emotional about tv/movies sometimes (I've cried during wheel of fortune more than once when the final contestant has one really big - tears of joy, but tears nonetheless), but this one was something special.  I didn't cry per say (im sure my eyes lubricated themselves a few times, though) but I felt enlightened and educated afterwards.  I wholeheartedly recommend this movie to everyone.  If you watch it, I would be really interested to know your thoughts afterwards.

And on that note, I leave you with the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKTfaro96dg