Good thing this didn't have any characters that weren't stereotypical. If this was written by actual live thinking people I couldn't tell. It's great when instead of making you think a movie just completely shuts down your brain. Pornographic films are more thought provoking than this garbage.
share[deleted]
Sarcastic question?
Name one character that wasn't a cliche. I wasn't able to stomach more than the first 20 minutes of this movie, so please no one that was introduced after the teacher says he isn't going to ask who vandalized his classroom.
The clerk at your crappy New York hotel doesn't care about you or your day, just wants your money and thinks white boys like you don't belong in Harlem? SHOCKING!!
Urban kids don't want to be told what to do by their well intentioned and heroic educators? OH MY GOD YOU WIN THE PULITZER!!
That cute waitress dreams of being an actress? SOMEONE QUICK GET THE PANTS OFF ME BEFORE I MAKE IN THEM!!!!!!!!
Parents worried about midwestern boy going to New York? YOU WAPED (it was a typo but I'll leave it, intending half raped and half warped) MY SENSE OF REALITY.
Smart kid has to keep it inside because of social pressure? PADDLES STAT!!!!!!
Gambling on how long the new guy is going to last? A BAJJILLION CC'S OF EPINEPHRINE NURSE!! THE SHOCKING PLOT TWISTS OF THE RON CLARK STORY HAVE CAUSED THIS PATIENT TO FLAT-LINE!!!
Yeah all that stuff was original.
I bet if I watched that whole movie he would make it through to those kids. He would see that there is more to being an educator than raising test scores (which he would have done anyway). The smart kid would have helped him to be a better teacher and would have helped to bridge the gap between him and the other students while gaining some social standing.
Would the principal learn that there is potential in every last kid? Would that actress' boyfriend turn out to be a heel? Would Ron Clark hit that like Barry Bonds? Would they skip all the tawdry details of the afore mentioned hitting? Would the world come to know that RON CLARK IS A GREAT TEACHER?!? Would a 45 year old woman watching this crap at home swoon over that Friends actor? Would Ron reveal a child being abused? Would Ron marry saucy Cleopatra? Would a dark skinned person give him the respect you can only get from an experienced, knowing, and fatherly black pappy/mammy type?
I don't know the answer to any of those questions for sure but I'm not willing to spray my living room with vomit finding out.
Porno is more thought provoking because you never know what position is next. Where is that wad going? What are they doing with that thing? Whoa that thing is huge! or HAHAHA! look how small that thing is!! Will this midget have both testicles? Is she going to lick that?? OMGWTFBBQ(wretch) is she going to eat that????????????? You just don't know. Anything can happen. It might be hot and sexy and it might be gross and crack could change hands while the girl is leaving the hotel room at the end of the scene. The best kind of pornography is the kind that you steal from a friend because while you enjoy it you can simultaneously make character judgements about your friend. Also stolen pornography is less expensive. I hope this post was informative as to your "Why is this movie more formulaic than pornography?" question.
You nailed it man. The "White teacher coming to the ghetto and giving children that society has given up on a passion for learning (that somehow all the ethinc teachers couldn't do)" genre is well worn.
Racist sentimental garbage, even if it is a true story. I wish more black teachers could get movie deals...
"Lean On Me" is almost as bad. There are plenty of roles for black teachers where they PULL THEIR RACE UP BY ITS' TOE KNUCKLE ASH. Those movies are just as racist and just as putrid.
yeah, it was formulaic but keep in mind this was based on a true story. stereotypes are set in truth, and so are cliches. i'm not saying i loved the fact that i knew how the movie would end before i even saw it, i'm just saying that formulaic isn't always bad. it's not the most thought-provoking movie, but it's not meant to be. it's supposed to be a feel-good TV movie, and that's exactly what it is
shareStereotypes aren't set in truth, they're just convenient. Bad schools wouldn't be considered bad if in fact most of the teachers were capable of producing turn arounds. There are bad schools, so no this is based on a small part of the truth and not the wisdom of father stereotype.
Cliches and stereotypes don't make me feel good.
They make me angry.
When I see something this stereotypical and clicheed and then think about the people that enjoy it I want to punch them in the nose. The only thing that warms the cockles of my twisted black heart about trash like this is the money that the marketers get these vapid "I love Dogs!!" t-shirt wearing suburbanite refuse producers to waste on consumer durables that they don't need or remember wanting later. If you liked this movie I hope you die in an avalanche of aerobics tapes and empty Ben & Jerry's tubs, and your loved ones remember you forever as unable to lose that last 10 lbs. or keep your roots colored.
Frodo and Sam eat mostly sausage out of Gandalf's magic basket.
Mmm, someone likes to hear himself speak... or type...
Oh no, I too just realized my gooey "watch-a-normal-movie-about-an-inspiring-story-for-a-change-and-don't-let-my-rabid-cynicism-take-the-holds-of-my-mind" heart has dwarfed my capacity for enjoying true art house cinema. Damn. I think I should stick to porn...
Quedas "O Bravo"
I like how you go from made for TV to art house like there's nothing in between.
If you like this movie you would have to cure cancer to earn back my respect, and my respect is all that matters in this thread. Go cure cancer and then get back to me.
Lol - ok. I was actually here to criticize the way you were venting your anger on such a harmless movie, but your "over-the-topness" won me over. :D
I now hate sappy made for TV melodramas. And poor kids living in the ghetto.
Quedas "O Bravo"
If you think this movie was harmless you are blissfully unaware of how quickly this trash is building up in the minds of the mental weaklings on this board who think that this bilious putrescence is deserving of awards.
Movies like this effect you mentally the way eating broken glass effects you nutritionally.
GIGO fools.
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Riddledwithspam, you are f-ing hilarious.
It seems as if you're channeling your cynicism in the wrong direction though, at a movie that really is only preaching social responsibility... although there is some truth in your words...
About the pornography part, not the stereotype part.
(kidding)
But you really are hilarious, I hope I can meet you someday.
"Porno is more thought provoking because you never know what position is next. Where is that wad going? What are they doing with that thing? Whoa that thing is huge! or HAHAHA! look how small that thing is!! Will this midget have both testicles? Is she going to lick that?? OMGWTFBBQ(wretch) is she going to eat that????????????? You just don't know. Anything can happen. It might be hot and sexy and it might be gross and crack could change hands while the girl is leaving the hotel room at the end of the scene. The best kind of pornography is the kind that you steal from a friend because while you enjoy it you can simultaneously make character judgements about your friend. Also stolen pornography is less expensive. I hope this post was informative as to your "Why is this movie more formulaic than pornography?" question." - riddledwithspam
I just pissed my pants laughing.