by Hannah Simon CollegeMagazine.com
1. Professor John Keating in Dead Poets Society
English Professor John Keating uses his unorthodox teaching methods to inspire his students. From having the students stand on their desks to ripping pages out of their textbooks, Professor Keating uses whatever tricks he can to instill the idea of carpe diem to the boys who eventually become the Dead Poets Society. Who would not want a professor that insists on being called “O Captain! My Captain!”?
2. Professor Charles Kingsfield in The Paper Chase
“You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking like a lawyer.” Contracts Professor Kingsfield is the terrifying adversary to young first-year law student James T. Hart. Perhaps the toughest and most intimidating professor to ever grace the silver screen, if Kingsfield were real, there is no doubt you would leave his class nothing short of brilliant.
Except a number of those are high school teachers.
ReplyDelete"Except a number of those are high school teachers."
ReplyDeleteWell, it was written by a college student....
It was definitely written by a college student -- one who could use another writing course or three.
ReplyDeleteLeaving aside the question of the level at which these teachers teach, can you imagine the evals they would get? Pace the movies, varying combinations of strictness, caring, and eccentric teaching methods do *not* magically reach all students, and those who aren't reached will complain vociferously about the strictness and the eccentricity (probably focusing on the eccentricity, but actually disliking the strictness more).
I think the list (9 men, 1 woman) reveals a lot about the nature of the challenges women face in getting into, and getting ahead in, the professoriate. We have a deeply ingrained cultural image of the 'great professor' as male, which female scholars are constantly having to battle against. Female job candidates may easily be seen as 'teachers' by hiring committees, but male candidates are more likely to be seen as 'professors', because of the gendered nature of our (partly unconscious) assumptions and expectations. The same goes for student evaluations of teaching staff -- the reluctance, or outright inability, of many post-secondary students to see the female professor as anything other than someone occupying the 'school-teacher' role they know from their K-12 days.
ReplyDeleteNotice that, in the Single Man scene, the student didn't just bring the Huxley novel and read the summary of the back. Nor did he say "Dunno." He actually READ it and could, at the very least, summarize it correctly. That's more than my students can do.
ReplyDeleteHow many woman professors have there been in the movies? Could the lack of examples here not be a reflection of the lack of choices?
ReplyDelete@MAandM -- Yes, surely. And that both reflects and reinscribes the gendered cultural expectations. (I wasn't criticizing the article's selection, but the underlying state of affairs.)
ReplyDeleteCBB: OK, I understand.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Keating RUINED MY LIFE as an English teacher.
ReplyDeleteOMG JUST TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS NO NEED FOR INTELLECTUAL INQUIRY JUST BE GENUINE!!!!1!1!
Ugh.
"Who would not want a professor that [sic] insists on being called 'O Captain! My Captain!'?"
ReplyDeleteI certainly can't think of ANYONE who would not want a professor who insists on being called "O Captain! My Captain!"!
Who could be so churlish and unlikeable as not to want a professor who insists on being called "O Captain! My Captain!"?
Inconceivable!
MISTER (not Professor) John Keating is the reason I thought English was the stupidest major ever: don't do the reading, and then talk about your feelings. Who would ever major in that? Fortunately PROFESSOR Brilliant TheoryGuy taught me structuralism and poststructuralism in the first semester of my freshman year. Thus, English is what I now profess.
ReplyDeleteFor every freshman alienated by "reading too much into" literature or "jargon," there's another like me, thrilled to learn actual methodology (even close reading) and to think abstractly.
Also, if I recall, Mr. Holland turned someone into a talented clarinetist by instructing her to "play the sunset."
ReplyDelete"Play. the. sunset."
Ugh, again.
Did he "insist" on being called that, or did the little sensitive snot noses just start calling him that as he got sent packing?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if Indiana Jones taught at my college, I'd have majored in anthropology. Hell, if he taught feces appreciation, I could have majored in that. I double majored in physics and chemistry b/c my hot quantum mechanics professor recommended that I take P-chem. I mean I think I'm resistant to that sort of influence now, but when I was 20...
The portrayal of professors in tv and movies is laughable, so I can't really answer. Look at that David Krumholz show - he marries his research student and it's no big deal.
From the last line about Keating (who never "insists" that his students call him, "O Captain! my Captain!") to the glaring error that several have pointed out (that this list contains more high school teachers than professors), I wonder at state of J schools in this country, especially as the author of this crap is enrolled in one a school that is allegedly one of the best in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThen there's the lack of women on the list, as also already mentioned.
Well, here's my list of favorite professors from movies. Not all play starring roles, but I like them.
1. Nick and Susan Potter, "Holiday." Played by Edward Everett Horton and Jean Dixon, these two have always been my faves.
2. Indiana Jones. Seriously, what Wombat said.
3. Frank Bryant, "Educating Rita." Played by Michael Caine.
4. Rose Morgan, "The Mirror Has Two Faces." I like Barbra Streisand. Sue me.
5. Ella Bishop, "Cheers for Miss Bishop." Played by Martha Scott, Bishop is a professor who sacrifices her personal life for her career. Where have I heard that before?
6. Peter Morgan, Jr. "Vivacious Lady." Jimmy Stewart in love with Ginger Rogers. Sweetly played by everyone.
7. Tommy Turner, "The Male Animal." Played by Henry Fonda. Every fan of college football and jock v. brains rivalries should watch this film.
I'm sure there are others that I'm not remembering, but these come to mind immediately.
One frequent refrain from students when asked to consider older movies is, "But that's from before I was born!" Most of these were made way before I was born, too--but I managed to find and enjoy the older ones when I was in my twenties.
What about Dr. Benton Quest, from Johnny Quest? Oh right, he's a research scientist, he's never shown teaching any classes: in fact, Race Bannon was the boys' teacher. Dr. Quest has got to be the most versatile scientist I've ever seen: one week he's working with lasers, the next week he's developing a missile guidance system, the next week he's doing undersea research, and the next week he's doing archaeology.
ReplyDelete> "But that's from before I was born!"
A snappy comeback to this is: "PLEASE don't remind people how you were born YESTERDAY!"
> Indiana Jones
Just goes to show you: women don't always go crazy 'bout a sharp-dressed man. ;-)
Honestly, if Charles Kingfield (from The Paper Chase) were real, students would complain to the dean so fast it'd make your head swim. The wailing, "HE'S INTIMIDATING!" alone would drown out the rest of the whole law school.
ReplyDeleteI want to teach in a movie. I'd be SO great in a movie! Students would be inspired and have changed lives just because I showed up and made them write.
ReplyDeleteI admit to loving the deluded Miss Jean Brodie, who is not a college professor, but fancies herself above her station as a high school teacher.
ReplyDelete