Movie #484 ........................."Waiting for Superman"

Movie #484 "Waiting for Superman" -- I was told this was "Crap," and it would make me angry on the one hand; and on the other hand, it was one of the best documentaries ever made (Oprah) and that it was good because it got best documentary at the Sundance award. Well, I saw its worth --- it is a well made documentary full of graphics, pertinent interviews (we follow a couple of kids), diversity in age of interviewees, some conflicting views, etc. It seems a bit weighty against unions, but I was thinking that there was a reason for that --- in an effort to bring out both sides equally (Michelle Ree, the woman in D.C. who wanted to get rid of tenure vs. the President of Afta) it was the longest section of the movie ---- I also didn't like the graphic depicting teachers opening heads of their students and pouring in information --- in fact, I would resent that a lot if I saw that as the only side presented, but it wasn't. This documentarian did an earlier doc. on how wonderful teachers are --- that they are a national treasure, so I know he doesn't have an ax to grind here (like an earlier doc we saw called "Race to Nowhere," which I really thought had an ax to grind, and it wasn't filmically close to this one in quality) Therefore, I think he was really searching for an answer. In typical fashion, he dumps out a bunch of problems (like we don't know them) in the opening 40 minutes, and then goes to a major one he sees: the teacher's union and the government. I think this movie offers a bunch of ideas that teachers and parents and others could chew on --- and I would suggest we don't dismiss this film because it doesn't exactly go along with our thoughts on a solution, and instead talk about it and come up with our own solutions, because Lord knows we need changes in our educational system. I thought an undercurrent theme in this was that education really hasn't changed since the 50s and shouldn't it? And if it takes putting tenure back a few more years to fix it, let's do that! Something needs to be done and we need more films about the topic! One more thing --- I was told this was a huge supporter of charter schools, and that's not true, either. It shows that some charter schools are being successful with some kids, but mostly it shows how awful it is to sit and wait for your name to never be called ---- very sad. It just serves as an impetus to get things done so we don't have kids disappointed in their schools!





I rated this 4 out of 5 stars
Waiting for "Superman"
(2010) PG
Dynamic documentarian Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) weaves together the stories of students, families, educators and reformers to shed light on the failing public school system and its consequences on the future of the United States. In this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary, Guggenheim deftly examines the options to improve public education and provide America's teachers and students with the help they need.
Genre: Documentaries, Political Documentaries, Social & Cultural Documentaries