Reflection/ Comparison Paper
So far in Sociology we have viewed two movies that paint a perfect portrait of
the traditional and present-day education systems. I would like to compare,
contrast, and also reflect on both “The Dead Poets Society,” and “ The
Breakfast Club.”
There are numerous differences between the two movies, and although they’re
both in a different setting and different time frames, there are also many
similarities. “The Dead Poets Society” is set in the mid 60’s in an upper class
prep school. On the other hand “ The Breakfast Club” is set in the 80’s at a
typical public High School in a middle-class suburban neighborhood. Although
one movie has a timeline of a whole school year, and the other only goes
through one day, they both show very clearly how the average student life is
and was in their respectable time frames. It is easy to compare and contrast
everything from settings and timeframes, to obedience, to discipline, and also
even stress given by parents. I believe I could only compare these two movies
if they were realistic, and I believe that they were for the most part.
It is very clear in these two movies how obedience, and disciplinary action has
changed over the years. In “ The Dead Poets Society,” the kids got in trouble
for such things as staying up past curfew or not turning the lights off when
they were supposed to. Of course this is how some schools still work but it’s
definitely no longer the social norm. When’s the last time you heard about
someone getting spanked with a paddle in school? It has been a long time since
I’ve heard about something like that, In America at least. If a teacher were to
spank a child today, not only would they lose their job and never teach again,
but they’d also have a lawsuit set against them for millions of dollars, and
they’d undoubtedly lose. Now, in “ The Breakfast Club,” the kids are getting in
trouble for things like bringing guns to school, assault, and possession of
illegal drugs. And all the punishment they get is a simple day in Saturday
School. Although the punishment doesn’t exactly fit the crime, it still shows
realistically that today’s society is a lot more lenient to such things.
It is also easy to compare such simple things as the principle or the dean of
students in both of these movies. In “ The Dead Poets Society,” the principle
is an upstanding citizen of society who is respected by everyone, especially
his students. The students wouldn’t even speak in front of him unless asked to.
It also seems that the students respect their principle, and their teachers
just as much as their parents, if not more. In “ The Breakfast Club,” on the
other hand, the students treat their principle like their little brother. They
ridicule, mach, and attempt to torment him as much as possible, and they have
no more respect for him whatsoever. The principle’s supposed to be a leader of
the students and staff but instead he’s getting advice from the school janitor.
Although their were more than a few similarities between the two movies, the
one that stood out most was the pressure and stress put on the students by
their parents. I think this is one of the most outstanding parts of both
movies. In psychology, my class and the others split into groups of boys and
girls, and we had to list reasons for cheating in school on a poster board. The
number one reason for cheating by both boys and girls in all the classes was to
impress our parents. It’s stress and inhibitions set by parents that lead to
responses like this, and stress from parents was shown a lot throughout both
movies. In “ The Dead Poets Society,” stress and pressure from parents lead to
a student committing suicide, and in “The Breakfast Club,” stress by parents
leads to a student considering suicide as an easy way out from his parents disowning
him, because he got a B in shop. If every other aspect of school has changed,
the stress put on kids by their parents has not, and it never will. Not only
has it not changed, I think it’s increased dramatically, and I believe that is
the reason for all the rebelliousness we see in kids today. Parents don’t seem
to see that putting stress on kids to do good, and to be over achievers, is not
the only way to go about it. Parents and authority figures seemed to be more
anal about things kids did back in the 60’s too. For instance, in “ The Dead
Poets Society,” kids got in trouble for having a secret society where they do
something as harmless as reading the great works of deceased poets, and for
trying to perform in a play that their father disapproved of. While in “ The
Breakfast Club” kids got in trouble for things like smoking pot, or bringing
flare guns to school, which are both in a way rebellious acts.
Mores and laws have changed a lot in thirty years. You certainly didn’t see
kids in boarding school wearing dark make up around their eyes or wearing torn
jeans or going to jail for assault. Many parts of education have changed, and
many parts have not, and these two movies illustrate perfectly which parts of
education have and have not changed.