Maybe it ws dejavu. I could have sworn that the plot was identical to the movie "Lean on Me' starring Morgan Freeman as playing Joe Clark the principal at a low-performing and ridden school in Patterson, New Jersey.
shareLean on Me 1989
The Principal 1987
There is nothing new under the sun. All movies are rip offs of other movies, either in part on in whole. No one has an imagination in Hollywood. They all died.
shareYeah, so? Just because this movie is about a principal that tries to clean up a certain school no other movie doesnt have the right to have a similar story?Its not the first time one movie copies another movie and it certainly wont be the last.
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Yeah, so? Just because this movie is about a principal that tries to clean up a certain school no other movie doesnt have the right to have a similar story?Its not the first time one movie copies another movie and it certainly wont be the last.
The formula has been passed on. Tough principal coming in to clean house? I doubt Class of '84, or whatever movie you guys keep bringing up, was the first, either. As far as Lean on Me goes, which, as someone pointed out, was actually produced AFTER The Principal, which makes this entire thread moot, really, the story was far different. Latimer was just a hard luck divorcee milking a plum teaching job in the suburbs until his arrest got him busted down to a tough, inner city Oakland school. Joe Clark, who I believe is based on a real person, was a lifelong activist along with being a teacher. Look at the beginning, when the teacher's union sells him out. Lean on Me really got into issues of teachers' union corruption, where The Principal just played it safe with the tough principal formula.
share"Maybe it was deja vu. I could have sworn that the plot was identical to the movie "Lean on Me' starring Morgan Freeman as playing Joe Clark the principal at a low-performing and ridden school in Patterson, New Jersey. "--texasturkey
The difference is that Joe Clark could never get away with the stunts the Jim Belushi character got away with. I do remember when this movie came out and yes, it was not lost on many that this was riding on the coattails of the Joe Clark 15 minutes of fame, except replaced with a white principal. "The Principal" is an insulting mess and needed to be quickly forgotten back in 1987 and still does!
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From what I remembered, I watched both in elementary school, The Principal involved the principal trying to change the students. When that didn't work, he just went in and kicked some major azz. Lean On Me involved a principal that wanted students to change and when that didn't work, he kept trying. The Principal was more entertaining for me.
Of course "The Principal" is more entertaining. How could it not be? The principal goes about physically beating up thugs. It's a complete fantasy which could never happen in a real life public school system.
BTW, I found "The Principal" a guilty pleasure as well. ;-)
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Lean on Me, The Principal & Blackboard Jungle were all ggreat flicks, I'm a fan of them all. :)
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The Principal was made BEFORE Lean on Me, so I don't know how it's possible that they copied Lean on Me. Agree with everything else you say, though.
shareby - RobSac on Mon Jun 27 2011 11:43:48
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The Principal was made BEFORE Lean on Me, so I don't know how it's possible that they copied Lean on Me. Agree with everything else you say, though.
My response:
"Lean on Me" is based on a true story that was making the headlines at the time (interviews on "The Phil Donahue Show", etc) , a bio-pic was expected. The producers of "The Principal" created a a similar film to cash in on the headlines. Changing the lead protagonist to a Caucasian man was typical for Hollywood at the time.
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Good point. And that sounds believable. Hollywood's shady.
shareBut as it turned out, the Hollywood exploitation version won out and truth be told, "The Principal" is more of a fun movie to watch even if it is unrealistic about how the public school system works in this country.
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The difference is that Joe Clark could never get away with the stunts the Jim Belushi character got away with. I do remember when this movie came out and yes, it was not lost on many that this was riding on the coattails of the Joe Clark 15 minutes of fame, except replaced with a white principal. "The Principal" is an insulting mess and needed to be quickly forgotten back in 1987 and still does!
Like all those other "new-teacher-at-a-school-with-violent/criminal-teenagers"-movies (no matter if "Class of 1984", "Lean On Me", "Dangerous Minds", "High School High" or even Sister Act 2) it's a rip-off of "Blackboard Jungle".
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