"Dead Poet's Society"

Title: "Dead Poet's Society"
Director: Peter Weir
Producers: S. Haft, P.J. Witt, and T. Thomas
Editing: William M. Anderson
Composer: Maurice Jarre
Starring:
- Robin Williams as John Keating
- Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry
- Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson
- Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet
- Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton
- Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron
- Allelon Ruggiero as Steven Meeks
- James Waterston as Gerard Pitts
- Norman Lloyd as Mr. Nolan
- Kurtwood Smith as Mr. Perry
- Alexandra Powers as Chris Noel

Plot and Critical Review: Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts are seniors at Welton Academy prep school. Both Neil and Todd are under harsh parental pressure to become a doctor and a lawyer respectively, but Todd wants to be a writer.

The teaching methods of their new English teacher, John Keating, are unorthodox by Welton standards; whistling the 1812 Overture and taking them out of the classroom to focus on the idea of carpe diem. He tells the students that they may call him "O Captain! My Captain!," in reference to a Walt Whitman poem. One day, Keating has Neil read the introduction to their poetry textbook which prescribes a mathematical formula to rate the quality of poetry. Keating finds this ridiculous and he instructs his pupils to rip the introduction out of their books. Later he has the students stand on his desk in order to look at the world in a different way. Inspired by Keating, the boys secretly revive a school literary club, the titular "Dead Poets Society," to which Keating had belonged. They meet late at night in a cave on school grounds.

Due to self-consciousness, Todd fails to complete a writing assignment and Keating takes him through an exercise in self-expression, realizing the potential he possesses. Charlie publishes an unauthorized article in the school newspaper, asserting that girls should be admitted to Welton. After being lectured by Headmaster Nolan about his teaching methods, Keating tells the boys to "be wise, not stupid" about protesting against the system.

Knox meets and falls in love with a girl named Chris, using his new-found love of poetry to woo her. He presents one of these poems in class, and is applauded by Keating for writing a heartfelt poem on love. Knox travels to Chris's public school and recites his poem to her, later convincing her to go to a play with him. Neil wants to be an actor but knows his father will disapprove. Without his father's knowledge, he auditions for the role of Puck in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. His father finds out and orders Neil to withdraw. Neil asks Keating for advice and is advised to talk to his father and make him understand how he feels, but Neil cannot muster the courage to do so. Instead he goes against his father's wishes. His father shows up at the end of the play, furious. He takes Neil home and tells him that he intends to enroll him in a military school to prepare him for Harvard University and a career in medicine. Unable to cope with the future that awaits him or to make his father understand his feelings, Neil commits suicide.

At the request of Neil's parents, the headmaster launches an investigation. Richard meets the school governors and board of regents. Later, confronted by Charlie, Richard admits that he squealed on them and made Keating the scapegoat, and urges the rest of them to let Keating take the fall. Charlie punches Richard and is later expelled. Todd is called to Nolan's office, where his parents are waiting. Nolan forces Todd to admit to being a member of the Dead Poet's Society, and makes him sign a document blaming Keating for abusing his authority, inciting the boys to restart the club, and encouraging Neil to flout his father's wishes. Todd sees the other boys' signatures already on the document, and is threatened by his father to sign it. Keating is subsequently fired.

The boys return to English class, now being taught by Nolan, who has the boys read the introductory essay only to find that they had all ripped it out. Keating enters the room to retrieve a few belongings. Todd reveals that the boys were intimidated into signing the denunciation. Nolan orders Todd to be quiet and demands that Keating leave. As Keating is about to exit, Todd, for the first time, breaks his reserve and calls out "O Captain! My Captain!", and stands on his desk. Nolan warns Todd to sit down or face expulsion. Much of the class climb onto their desks and look to Keating, ignoring Nolan's orders until he gives up and slumps against his desk. Keating leaves happily with tears in his eyes.

1989 is a curious year in cinematic history. While dramas and romantic comedies appeared here and there, the field was dominated by sci-fi and action films. A few examples:

"Batman"
"Back To The Future - Part II"
"Ghostbusters"
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade"
"Lethal Weapon 2"

Yet out of the fantastic and action-packed emerged a pair of films which have claimed places of immortality in the cinematic cannon; "Dead Poet's Society" and "Driving Miss Daisy". Even though "Dead Poet's Society" grossed twice as much as "Daisy" did at the box office, "Daisy" managed to claim four Oscars (including Best Picture) to "Poet's" one for Best Original Screenplay. But do not think that a few missed awards have done the film any harm; for it lives on. Many hail Robin William's performance as Mr. Keating as his finest, and that is but a portion of why this film has received such high praise across the board. If you've not seen it, please do. If you have seen it, watch it again; that's my plan.

My Rating: 8/10

Content to Caution:
V-2 - Some scuffles, and one scene depicting (but not showing) a suicide.
L-2.5 - Cursing as should be expected from young men at a prep-school.
DU-1.5 - Some drinking and smoking by minors.
RT-1 - No comment.
H/S-1 - No comment.
CH-2 - Once again, young men don't fail to deliver with crude humor.
S/N-1 - Some youthful romance, but no nudity or sex.

The "Reel Revelation": "Oh, how I wish..."

The famed Russian pianist Sergei Rachmaninoff was noted for being obsessively particular about finding the dramatic (or musical) "point" of every piece he played. He felt that every piece had one and only one true "point" at which the music reached absolute climax and meaning. If we apply the same reasoning to "Dead Poet's Society", I believe we find the "point" not in the person of Mr. Keating or in the Dead Poet's Society itself, but in the struggles of Neil Perry who longs to be a writer and performer but is being forced into the medical field by his father. It's upon this struggle we make our reflection and find the "Reel Revelation".

Do you have a secret longing? Think on this. Is there something within your heart that is so private and sacred you've withheld it from others, even God? If nothing strikes home there, what about desires you have disclosed and found to be discouraged or shot down by others? Few feelings are as dark and depressing the ones that come after having your dreams taken away from you. Suddenly you feel your entire purpose has been sucked out of your life, and you're left with no more than enough to "get by", when you really want to live! This was Neil's struggle, his struggle is probably one we face more often than we're willing to admit.

I want to be a conductor. I'm very fortunate and blessed by God to work with a wonderful ensemble of musicians every day, but even in the midst of those responsibilities and opportunities I find that I do very little conducting. I am left wanting. Inspired by the likes of Herbert von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein, my dream is to do as they did and uphold the legacies of composers of the past by presenting grand music on the grandest scale in the great concert halls of the world. I offer it to God in prayer often, but I often wonder what I will do or how I will feel if I never become a conductor such as I have dreamed. How will I react? More importantly, how will I react toward God, my Lord in whom I trust? How would you react?

We are not alone in feeling disappointed when our dreams are crushed or taken away. Indeed, the patriarchs of our faith struggled with the very same emotional letdown.

- David hoped to build a temple to the LORD, but was not permitted to do so because of the violence he caused. (1 Chronicles 22: 1-10)
- Moses was only allowed to see the Promised Land, but never set foot in it. (Deuteronomy 34: 1-4)
- Jeremiah yearned for Jerusalem to turn to the LORD, but they (and King Zedekiah) refused and were taken into captivity in Babylon. (Jeremiah 38: 20-28)

Three significant moments in the history of our faith. And what happened to these three men who had such deep dreams and hopes for the people of God but were disappointed in the end?

1. They recognized, chiefly, that it was not God who disappointed them, but their own sinfulness or the sinfulness of their people.
2. They trusted in God, even though their dreams had been laid to waste.
3. They all went to rest in God's mercy, even without seeing their dreams realized.

I encourage you to embrace your deep desires. Embrace them and lift them up to God in prayer. Indeed, let God be the one to whom all of your secret desires are known. Trust in Him, for even if your dreams do not come to pass, you can encourage yourself and renew your faith in His Word and His promise. Do not give up on your dreams, even if the chance of them coming to pass seems slim.

And yet, what are our hopes to the divine hope of our Father? What are our dreams to His own? We may hold a wish within, but let us always be after God's desires, striving to accomplish His will on Earth. God loves us and cherishes the desires within our hearts (who placed them there but His own hand?), but He desires all the more that we live as Christ lived; to glorify the Father and draw others to Himself. That is a dream which will not be crushed, but glorified here and in the life that is to come.

"As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So my soul pants for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God?"
These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me
For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.
Why are you n despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him
For the help of His presence." (Psalm 42: 1-5)

See you tomorrow- E.T.