I love the exchange between Mr Darnell & Principal Clark. It's kind of funny when you imagine Darnell trying to explain threatening to kick the principal's butt and flipping a desk over for picking up paper.
Also anybody who's ever worked for a jerk can relate to that feeling although they might not go that far.
I'd would've done that too. Then I would've spat in Clark's face and walked out, never to return to his terror.
shareIt seems like a double standard that Joe Clark fired Mrs. Elliott after their exchange. Mr. Darnell dumped a desk and threatened violence against Mr. Clark, and he was only suspended.
That wasn't a double-standard. Joe Clark was a smart strategist, and he needed Mr. Darnell because he was the English teacher that could help the student pass those aptitude tests. Mrs. Elliott was a useless music teacher, and to quote Mr. Clark "what good is singing Mozart going to do for a bunch of students who don't know how to read!"
"You *beep* with the wrong Marine!" - Col. Jessep, A Few Good Men.
Clark was an idiot with Mrs. Elliot. Here's what Mozart will do: It will get them interested in other activities in school besides drugs and rape.
shareYou must be a music teacher to call him an "idiot". He was tough. People today are soooo soft. And they call anyone who challenges them "The bad guy"
shareI'm not sure how accurate the portrayal of Joe Clark is, but the way the movie portrayed him he certainly wouldn't be employed in my state very long. Being disrespectful to your employees isn't a good way to motivate them. I've worked under a couple of people that like to yell and throw tantrums, but they've never done it to me. Perhaps they realized that doing so would backfire on them, perhaps they were just scared, I'm not sure. The way movie-Clark behaved with Darnell and the music teacher would likely have gotten him suspended that same day around here. Refusing a fire inspection would have gotten the building shut down.
Fascinating movie though.
Some days I want to buy everyone a dictionary
Yeah I agree Kamas. I love the movie and I love the fact that Mr. Clark didn't play but sometimes you have to mean business. Which is what is missing in schools today. Some of things I didn't agree on that he did especially the firing of the music teacher that brought a tear to my eye. I was happy when Darnell came back I didn't expect him to come back at all.
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Well in real life she wasn't fired, he just had her transferred two years after he got there. That was one of many inaccuracies of this film to the real life story.
shareMany of these complainers that I see throughout this message board are a microcosm of a soft, undisciplined society we live in. Keep in mind what the state of the school was BEFORE he got there. Drugs, weapons, fights, serious bullying, and probably r.ape, too. There was no learning going on, except street learning. They needed someone to come in with a hammer...or a bat, in Mr. Clark's case.
After rewatching this recently after many years ago, yeah, Mrs. Elliot deserved what she got (the movie version, at least...fired on the spot). She took every opportunity to be disrespectful. If she'd taken 5 seconds to say, "i'm sorry, Mr. Clark. You're right.", he would've walked away and things would've de-escalated real quickly.
What good would Mozart do to a bunch of kids who can't even read!?
Sorry but I didn't see him being right in that situation and no matter what someone's position is I'm going to stand my ground and not say oh yeah you're right when that's not what I believe.
shareShe took every opportunity to challenge his authority (Oh, you DO know what that means...really, who says that to their boss?). A thought to take away from her resistance of his authority is, if she's so big and bad, why was she just an average teacher in a school being run by thugs? If she was so tough, why wasn't she promoted to principal to straighten things out? Same with Mr. Darnell. Don't get tough with me ('me' being Mr. Clark). You should've been tough on these students that are walking all over y'all. Now, get out of my way and let me be the principal. If you have a problem with me, there's a way to address it (not in the hallway in front of students, but in a faculty meeting or a private moment, like with Mrs. Levias).
Maybe if she would've explained that Mozart trip in private (later on), he might've let them go after all.
My point is, there's a way to deal with his type of authority, and challenging him/her in the open is the LAST way to do it. It only brings out the lion in him/her.
As a music enthusiast who performed in all the high school band, Mr. Clark acted like he simply didn't care about the arts by cancelling their concert without any explanation. The students just can't focus on the aptitude test without being well rounded in other activities. At first Ms. Elliot was respectful while talking to him in the hallway, she even told him to consider discipline for her class just as he encourages it. She was a good teacher, and just like Dr. Napier said, she wouldn't buckle and kiss is @$$ like other people. I would've loved to see an exchange with Mr. Clark and Mr. Holland because Mr. Holland had the same issue at his school in Mr. Holland's Opus.
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I guess the ones who would've just stood there and took it are the submissive types.
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