The Spanish Teacher - Disturbia (2007) Discussion

[–] Dextrousleftie 13 years ago

He was a dick. A major jackass. Yes, what he said was completely out-of-line, especially for a teacher who knows that the student's father has just died. I'm surprised the guy hadn't been punched before that.

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[–] SEINFELDbeatFRIENDS 11 years ago

I totally agreed and hope that the teacher was fired after this.

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[–] Marion_C 11 years ago

He was completely out of line. I've never heard any teacher treat a student so badly in all my years of being in school. If I was a student, I would have stood up for Kane. Teacher was awful.

"MALLL NOOO, JESUS CHRIST!" - Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception

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[–] lindseyd310 11 years ago

I wouldve decked his ass too

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[–] puschit-1 11 years ago

That was the point, though. Kale's punishment was supposed to be unjust so that you like his character better.

For me the upsetting part wasn't the teacher's mistreatment of Kale. I was annoyed that it was his spanish teacher. You know, a spanish spanish teacher. So, a person must be a dick to Kale, let's make him spanish. And let the lead character knock him out. Fine, could be an coincidence. But then that cop observing Kale was a relative of the teacher, so he happens to be spanish, too. And, he was also a dick. And got killed. Okay, they were related, so that may be a stretch. But the next person being a dick? That female officer that gets to decide over Kale. She was black.

Yeah, sure, the psychopath killer was a male white, but they always are so that you can always wonder if your neighbour could also be a killer psycho, that's the schtick of these movies.

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[–] GIRobotII 11 years ago

Exactly. They had to throw that in, to generate empathy for Kale. Just like in Con Air, when Nicolas Cage's character was sent to prison for defending his wife.

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[–] student_points 11 years ago

would you have felt better if he was a french teacher?

- "is this the secret headquarters of the gestapo?"
- "It was"

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[–] TheyWithTimmyMustBMerlin 10 years ago

puschit - so hispanic and black people can do no wrong? Get out of here with your race card B.S. If anything, the bad was evenly distributed then right? White guy serial killer and the other two hispanic and black people were just "dicks" (and I think it's safe to say the serial killer is a bit worse than just being a "dick"). I can only assume you are a troll, otherwise may God have mercy on your racebating soul.

Would you like some hot coffee - in your face?!!! - Bert Macklin, FBI

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[–] puschit-1 10 years ago

Of course black and hispanic people can do wrong. The problem is that in Hollywood movies it's always them.
The serial killer was white, but as I pointed out, that's an exception because of another Hollywood rule: They make them white in horror movies because they want you to get scared and those serial killers are usually the ones that look unsuspicous, aka the guy living next to your door.

Let's face it, Hollywood is making movies for a specific target audience and that's white people. You'll have your white protagonists, other skin colours are limited to sidekicks that are there to make the hero look better or to the token black/hispanic/whatever guy that was placed specifically to meet the minority quota and to dodge accusiations of racism. There are very few exceptions, either when the source calls for a black protagonist (Blade), the director has a thing for this (Spike Lee movies) or when it is one of the very very few superstars (basically limited to Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington and Will Smith).

And no, I am neither trolling nor a racist. Actually I would be happy if skin colour wouldn't be an issue at all and if directors were free to cast actors according to their skills. I don't care if the protagonist is white or black or purple and I don't care how many whites and non-whites they cast for the various roles unless of course skin colour is a topic in the movie. But I can't help but notice that in lots of movies skin colour, nationality and ethnicity apparantly IS a factor when choosing actors, and when writing stories, characters and dialogue. And I also can't help but notice strong tendencies on what side of the spectrum these charaters are placed.

If you disagree, try to come up with mainstream movies that have non-whites as the (positive) protagonist or, if that's not the case, where there are more than one positive non-white characters.
Yes, you will one here and there but it will take you a long time to actually find them.

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[–] TheyWithTimmyMustBMerlin 10 years ago

Some things you might consider: whites are still the majority in America (so typically, depending on a movie's setting, they will be the majority that will be shown). Also, and maybe even more importantly, the majority of film-makers are white. It wouldn't be realistic if all of the sudden the majority of people in a movie were say, Asian, or what-have-you. There are plenty of "black" made movies where the majority of people are black. Does anyone care? No - because people typically hang out with (more often/at a higher percentage) their own race. Not because of racism, but take me for example, I don't hang out with many people in general, so most of the people I associate with are white (because...they are relatives lol) - though I am married to a hispanic man...just fyi...
There are plenty of movies that come out that are not "white majority". Just a few off the top of my head, Machete, Harold and Kumar, Madea films, The Help, Django Unchained, I am Legend, etc.

Again, my main point either way is, America and it's filmmakers (and thus - the main target demographic) are white people, because they are the majority and likely the majority that go see movies on the big screen. Now, I can speak for myself, I honestly don't care much what race is the majority in a movie as long as the movie is good and the characters are relatable (though honestly, a movie about gangbangers living in a ghetto or people living in a "Chinatown" might not be as relatable - depending on the way the movie is made - yes, minority cultures might not be as relatable to your average American - not because of racism, but because of different lifestyles/etc.).

Point is, if minorities are unhappy with the current movie selections or the way minorities are portrayed, then perhaps they should write directors more or make their voices heard, or just plain become movie directors themselves. I understand what you are saying and I have noticed it myself from time to time, but again, we have a majority "white" culture here - sometimes directors/writers might not know how to write for a black/hispanic/asian/etc. person (so especially if that were the case - would that make sense for them to be the main character?). I just think you are getting a little too hurt over it. I don't think directors/writers are purposefully trying to demean the minority communities. Honestly, how many black writers/directors would make their main character(s) white? We just do what we know best, that's all.

Would you like some hot coffee - in your face?!!! - Bert Macklin, FBI

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[–] LemonTastic 10 years ago

Actually I would be happy if skin colour wouldn't be an issue at all and if directors were free to cast actors according to their skills

It's amazing how you claim you would be happy if the skin colour wasn't an issue yet you're the only one I've seen on this entire board who brings up race

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[–] nmtoday 8 years ago

Thank you. The ones who are the biggest race bean counters have to find 'racism' or their exercises are just futility. Some of course are PAID to count races. They are merely exhibiting racism for money.

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[–] ThoseLittleRabbits 8 years ago

hispanic is not a race. the teacher was white.

i've got feelings too, ya know - inbetweeners

http://melanoidnation.org/white-man-warns-all-black

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[–] first-things-first 11 years ago

He stepped out of bounds by talking about something private about someone else in his class. But no one has the right to touch you unless it is bodily harm you are avoiding, you are threaten with physical violence (they attack first).

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[–] GIRobotII 10 years ago

That's right, first-things-first. You do not have the legal right to physically act against another person, unless that person is physically attacking you (or trying to) first. Then you would be legally allowed to use physical force against them (but only to subdue them, until they are no longer attacking you). You cannot physically strike another individual, merely for unkind words they say. While I understood where Kale was coming from...sure, the man had no business talking about his father that way...nevertheless, he didn't do anything physical, merely verbally insulted him, and that's what got him in trouble with the law, and thus the house arrest (not striking the teacher by itself; there were other petty crimes Kale had committed, not just that. That was just the final straw.) Again, you may only use physical force against another, if they are the one to initiate the attack/conflict.

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[–] lazarillo 10 years ago

Well, I doubt any teacher in real-life would do something like that--don't expect realism from a movie like this. But I bet male teachers everywhere would relish a douchebag like Shia Lebouf taking a swing at them just so they'd have an excuse to deck HIM. He's a Hollywood pretty-boy who isn't even all that pretty. . .

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[–] HorrorFanatic24 9 years ago

I would have punched him too.

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[–] marct009 9 years ago

This was the intention of the movie makers I would imagine. It was a very simple way to turn sympathy for Kale into support, gives us a sense of in that situation we would all like to do this to the teacher.

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[–] Legion_89 8 years ago

Yes, it was definitely out of line. Perhaps it was meant to be a way to get a rise or spark out of Kale by using his father as a motivater, but the way the teacher worded it was wrong. He should have just left it well enough alone, and been more respectful of a kid who just lost his father.

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[–] sonoftom 8 years ago

Yes it was deserved, but I can understand what some of the previous posters where saying about it been intentional that it was deserved. One has to sympathize with the main characters plight.

I am the son of a man named Tom.

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