I rewatched it a few years ago with a group of students at a summer “gifted” camp. With them, I asked them to talk about Neal’s experiences and what he might have done to get help. It was quite a different movie to watch from the teacher side of the desk.
Relatedly, we could have an exercise in discussing what intervention, by any character or band of characters, might have worked on the father to “ease up” on his son.
Maybe I need to watch it again, but the more I think about the whole story and the more I learn about suicide, the more I think it was not Neil who needed “help”. He was the one character who “self actualized”. He “solved” his problem by joining the dead poets. Tragedy, yes, but for whom? There was no “it gets better” movement at the time this was set…
He certainly found what he was passionate about, but I think mental health professionals may have been able to give him tools to have productive conversations with his father, enlist his mother for support, and especially not to see a delay/setback in his acting career as a finality.
Keating represents the “got to shake things up” philosophy of teaching as opposed to the “don’t rock the boat” philosophy. Truth is you really need both.
I rewatched it a few years ago with a group of students at a summer “gifted” camp. With them, I asked them to talk about Neal’s experiences and what he might have done to get help. It was quite a different movie to watch from the teacher side of the desk.
Agreed!
Relatedly, we could have an exercise in discussing what intervention, by any character or band of characters, might have worked on the father to “ease up” on his son.
Yes, absolutely. Or, at the very least, to get Neil to resources that might have helped him.
Maybe I need to watch it again, but the more I think about the whole story and the more I learn about suicide, the more I think it was not Neil who needed “help”. He was the one character who “self actualized”. He “solved” his problem by joining the dead poets. Tragedy, yes, but for whom? There was no “it gets better” movement at the time this was set…
He certainly found what he was passionate about, but I think mental health professionals may have been able to give him tools to have productive conversations with his father, enlist his mother for support, and especially not to see a delay/setback in his acting career as a finality.
Keating represents the “got to shake things up” philosophy of teaching as opposed to the “don’t rock the boat” philosophy. Truth is you really need both.
I could restack about 10 different quotes from this post! So much to think about. Thank you for sharing!