Thursday, July 03, 2014

Dead Poets Society, 25 years

This is a powerful movie that came out over a lifetime ago for people the age of most of those actors. Some of us who are parents of adults now had babies then, or were yet childless. Such a story with boarding schools for rich boys is foreign to most of us, but not to all the people I know. Such parenting is more familiar than the school is.

The 1950's are gone, right? Long time ago.

This is a great movie, and potentially a painful one. If it seems exotic, and out of your experience, that is wonderful, especially if you have children.

Robin Williams and Norman Lloyd are both still living and working.

Robert Sean Leonard, not long after, played Claudio in Ken Brannagh's
"Much Ado About Nothing." Later he played Dr. Wilson in the TV show House, for years.

Kurtwood Smith played Red Foreman, Eric's dad in That 70's Show for eight years, which redeems him as a dad (where even though he was a cranky dad, he wasn't as bad as the movie character.

Josh Charles played Will Gardner for years on The Good Wife.

Ethan Hawke has been in tons of movies, and played Hamlet in 2000.

Below are interviews with some of the actors, ten years later (fifteen years ago).

Don't watch it if you haven't seen the movie.
ONLY WATCH this IF you have already seen the move AND you remember well what happens. :-)

It says "Movie trailer," but it's 27 minutes of memories and stories about the filming.

7 comments:

Sandra Dodd said...

I've pulled a comment for having movie spoilers in the first paragraph. I will restore all but that part, and then respond in another post.

It showed as being from "Anonymous" anyway, even though it's somewhat signed.
_______________________________

[Expressing a strong wish that the movie had been different, and then:] i wish they would have done something else.

[And similarly expressing frustration and suggesting…] it would have been better to perhaps show an alternative option so that others can know they have a choice and they could be happy and live their life without the controlling, although accepted by society, parents.

i like Robin Williams other movie where he plays the psychologist and not only helps the kid who is really a genius but also heals himself and creates a beautiful ripple of experience for everyone that i am sure continued to expand. i cant think of the name right now. we need more of that in this world.

too many parents and adults still treat children like they are their property and have no right to a life of their own. its incredibly selfish and cruel to manipulate the children you are supposed to love cherish and protect. it goes against all of nature and our natural instincts to do this.

this obedience training has created the dysfunctional society we have now and it was purposely designed by people such as Carnegie and even all the way back to the 1800's by others to control people. if you read Alice Miller's for your own good and her many other books and interviews it will truly open your eyes as to how manipulated humans have allowed themselves to be at great cost and with no regard for the human spirit.

humans are not superior to other animals, they have a long way to go before they evolve into human beings. Terri

Sandra Dodd said...

-=-too many parents and adults still treat children like they are their property -=-

The movie was fiction, and it was set in the 1950's. Breathe! Be calm! Be happy. :-)

SandraDodd.com/peace

-=-an alternative option so that others can know they have a choice-=-

The choice of alternative options is inside the viewer in the case of film and plays, or of the reader, in the case of a novel. When something happens in literature, the whole point is for you to think what you might have done differently if you were in such a situation.

It's not the responsibility of a film to show all alternatives. The alternatives are myriad.

-=-i like Robin Williams other movie where he plays the psychologist and not only helps the kid who is really a genius but…-=-

Good Will Hunting. I liked it too. But he was not gentle with that boy. Watch it again. :-)

-=-...it was purposely designed by people such as Carnegie and even all the way back to the 1800's by others to control people. if you read Alice Miller…-=-

I've read Alice Miller, and some Dale Carnegie (if that's the Carnegie you meant). I don't know of his having written anything that would make people harsh parents. Alice Miller was describing conditions that are based on many centuries of belief, culture and religion.

It's good to look at history, but it's not good to become agitated about it.

Children ARE in some ways the property of their parents, and have been moreso in the past. If you've had a baby, you probably had the very strong feeling that it was *YOUR* baby and no one else's. If a child is in trouble with the neighbors or the law, it's not okay for the parent to say "Hey, it's not MY problem; he's not MY kid."

I think you meant to object to a parent feeling ownership in an abusive way, probably; in an overly-controlling way. And if you had watched the video in the blogpost, the actor who played the dad you're so angry at 25 years after his film appearance in a work of fiction explains how he played the part, and why. The fact that you were stirred to anger means the filmmakers did a good job—writing, directing, acting, lighting, sound, editing—they transported you and you believed.

Come back now. :-)

Live sweetly, where you are, today.

Anonymous said...

for you to assume i am angry is not accurate. i did not swear or wish bad things on anyone or judge or condemn them. i am just stating some things that are very obvious to some people and most people choose to look the other way.

if you read about the carnegie foundation in the 20h century you will see with congressional documentation as well that their agenda was to control and manipulate the masses, and how best to do this, which many feel are not capable of living their own lives. this is the whole idea behind education and why it was created. think pink floyd's the wall.

the movie had a great opportunity to show to so many people an alternative to the status quo therefore creating a new paradigm, which many don't even realize exist. to build such good spirits, and then choose to end it in such a despairing way is basically saying, yes kids, this is it, your only option.

unconsciously this is what people are going to take with them. almost all behavior occurs due to the unconscious. i guess you are not a fan of jung either are you? its up to humans to choose, which is what this world is all about. free will. do you want to be a zombie puppet or do you want to be real. i think pinocchio is another great story about exactly that.

if you are going to ask for comments, then you should be open to them instead of dismissing them as angry, or maybe not even ask at all. then falsely inferring and criticizing the comments instead of using this as an opportunity to learn something and to share this with others.you tend to be, many times, rather ridged and combative in your writings to others. as someone who advocates unschooling, it would make sense you would be aware of what is going on in the world. it appears you don't.

the fact that children and women are still treated as property is something that is so indoctrinated into humans. its in their very dna and genetic structures. this is probably something else you know nothing about, that everything is energy.if you don't believe me, read some physics and scientific studies on dna and how it affects behavior. as well as genetic memory. and the true nature of reality.
then we may be able to have an intelligent real conversation instead of choosing to pick apart sentences and judge them superficially?

alice miller is talking about now, and how this puritan philosophy is still practiced, so people will become aware and stop being tools for their own and their children's destruction and suffering. obviously you haven't read much of her work or taken it seriously.

how ironic someone who advocates not going to school would be so reluctant to delve further into why.

i don't agree that he was harsh with the kid in good will hunting. he was speaking his language,which was also his language, so they could understand each other and their bond was deep due to this honesty and they both grew and were able to be courageous enough to really live. perhaps you have never been a practitioner like i am, and understand what it takes to reach people with real honesty and love and compassion. far better he did and was who he was, for it was obvious he was not superficial like the others which is why will responded.

story telling has been around forever, and it has been used to teach, to share, to uplift or harm. its a great responsibility to tell a story, especially using the medium of film. they lost an opportunity to continue to expand, and instead chose to uninspire and create despair in the end. of course, as you said, this was their choice(duh), but the whole purpose of this blog is discuss is it not? i must be mistaken and you just want to use this as a platform of some kind to one up and condescend people due to your ignorance? part1

Anonymous said...

2/there are enough sad movies to feed everyone's addiction to drama. do we really need another one? i would also say, the mind does not know the difference between fantasy and reality. so when anyone watches a movie, it is recorded as real by the mind. which is why we must be discerning in what we give our attention to. this is another reason i wished it would have ended differently, to provide something alternate to what most people experience and to put an option which can then be expanded upon, into this world. to me, it is vital humans as a species begin to expand instead of self destruct but again, that is up to everyone individually to choose which path they will walk. my comments are intended to provide a choice, an alternative that others may not have thought about.

if you look at society, you can see a big mess. no one wants to do anything about it though, because it creates too much discomfort to go there, into people's own painful pasts, and then have the courage to buck the status quo and do what is in harmony with nature.

most people in denial of their own inner selves would see anger where i am just stating truth because until people are willing to discuss such things, nothing will ever be done to change them. passion makes most people feel uncomfortable because it pushes too many buttons and leads to feelings and thoughts they would rather not entertain, for various reasons. think pleasantville, another fantastic movie. its obviously hard for you to believe i can discuss humanity's tendencies without feeling bad or angry. i dont see anyone as a victim, so i dont insult others by pitying them. rather i see a bigger picture, and can remain an observer and choose my own path not based on anyone else;s ideas.

your final admonishment to be light hearted at the end and to imply i got caught up in a silly movie which has no effect on people again shows how ignorant you are. you also displayed your lack of reading comprehension and your ability to infer anything and connect things in a meaningful manner.

there is nothing wrong with making mistakes. i suppose i could more accurately say since everything is energy there are no mistakes. good and bad are words to describe how we feel about things in this duality world. but there are choices that expand and uplift and spiral outward, and those that contract and spiral inward. its only the ego that takes things personally thru judgment therefore keeping humans boxed in to the same patterns ad nauseum. these patterns are viruses that are transferred from parent to child, generation after generation. you can either be happy or you can be right. you cant be both. you are either living in the heart or the mind. these are two separate worlds. real love is allowing and accepting. i didn't say condone, so don't jump to your little conclusions again

its having the courage to say i want something better and i can see i have been taught some things that have caused great harm, and then do your best to change them that we become the potential we came to this world to be. to be able to think for ourselves is truly being alive. there is no blame, only responsibility.

all indigenous people realize there is no such thing as ownership. so for you to claim children are somewhat our property is not true. we can take care of, protect, nurture, love, cherish our children, and all of our relations, including the earth herself, as well as the animals, plants and all beings. but we can never truly own anything.

if you study the history of humans, you will see that all of the difficulties began when humans changed their philosophy to one of ownership. this is when slavery began and it is still going strong. think manifest destiny which is still being practiced.

Anonymous said...

3/anyway, i had a couple of free minutes so i wanted to clear some of your misconceptions up even though i have a feeling this went way over your head. i felt like this whole topic of humans thinking they can only choose between obedience and a slow suicide or a quick suicide was important enough to discuss. that is the bottom line and its caused the pharmaceutical companies and medical industry to become rich. it is astounding to me how far off you are from your purported philosophy and posts compared to your response to my comments. not many walk their talk, and its obvious you are one of those that don't bother.

btw,, for anyone who does care,there is another option. you do not have to obey the people who raised you and live in secret despair and make someone else rich due to your misery. you can choose to say yes to loving yourself above all and honoring yourself and be who you really are, despite the flack you will get from the zombies for doing so.(think the matrix trilogy) freedom and true happiness and peace within is worth doing whatever it takes to achieve. life is precious and once you have a taste of this you will never look back.and just in case you are going to make another false inference, that i think suicide is a cop out or a sin, its not.
still anonymous, Terri

Sandra Dodd said...

-=-still anonymous, Terri-=-

Still not willing, or able, to avoid spoiling a movie.

I'm not sure whether it would be kinder to remove all the rants and insults, or to leave them here and give Terri the chance to have her opinion available for people to read.

sgaissert said...

"Robin Williams and Norman Lloyd are both still living and working."

It made me sad, reading this in August 2014 and knowing that Robin Williams recently died. That's all.