With tonight's movie, "Educating Rita", I'd kind of like to make a case for a strong sub-genre within the major film genres, and that's the school genre. I think we've got so many movies about school simply because we all have such strong memories and feelings about that time in our lives. Now, the sub-genre consists of a lot of little conventions. For example, it seems like English and Math are the subjects that most appear in this sub-genre. It seems to be the kind of subjects that students continue to be the most afraid of. We've also got the inspiring teacher convention, with movies like "Goodbye Mr. Chips" and "To Sir With Love", things like that. And we've got the unruly students. Essentially, the diamonds in the rough. They've got great potential, but they have to be moulded or shaped somehow. And we get a very large range in this sub-genre. We have light comedies like "Summer School" and serious movies like "Lean on Me". What it's all about though, is socialization and accommodation. How do these students learn to get along in the real world? In a lot of ways that's what movies are essentially about. Trying to teach us how to accommodate or socialize ourselves into t

In "Educating Rita", we see a teacher who essentially doesn't want to teach what a student wants to learn. Now , you could argue that he doesn't want to do that because in a sense he's a bit jealous, or that he wants to keep her in her place somewhat, as lower class entertainment, which she accuses him of at one point. But the reason he gives, and it's a pretty good one, is that he's afraid that what he teaches her might force her to lose her individuality. In fact, to a great extent, it will force her to lose some of her character, and what she's really like. There's a common theme in a lot of sports movies, how people have to lose, well, a lot of colourful characteristics in order to become working members of a functional team. That's what's going on here as well. In "Dead Poets Society" though, we have the complete opposite point. Now, he's trying to warn her of the dangers of doing what she's doing. It's not all fun and games, it's not all positive, this education thing. He says at one point that she hasn't really found a better song to sing, just a different one, because everything is still at a superficial level for her. Knowledge rather than wisdom, and lifestyle, rather than true happiness. That she's becoming a stereotype based on the material she's studying and the people she's starting to hang out with. And she's still got a lot to learn, but he is, after all of this, still one of the conventional inspiring teachers. Even though he falls apart in the end, and has to get shipped off to Australia. And she is still, despite her ups and downs, an inspiring student. So very much a movie in this whole school sub-genre. So until our next lesson, take it easy. Kick back with a book.

One of the things that movies can do, on occasion, is reflect social change in our society. Whether they do it by

Some common words found in the essay are:
Educating Rita, University It's, Poets Society, Born English, Summer School, Frank Brian, Rita I'd, Sir Love, You'd England, English Math, educating rita, force lose, reflect social, class struggle, lower class, school genre,
Approximate Word count = 1220
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)