The United States is a mixed country, classified for ethnic reasons, for skin color, for immigration, and for rich and poor. This is a practical problem that cannot be avoided, even after the 1960s and 1970s. For those liberation movements, this conceptual problem has never been substantively resolved. Therefore, the confrontation continues, the war continues, and only the right to survive is stagnated. When a black man was severely beaten by four white policemen in Long Beach, a hidden hostility among the people suddenly appeared in the media. Therefore, the birth of this film is more socially social than youthful campus movies such as "American Pie". Significantly, a group of students living in the society are definitely not in love.
A teacher guides a group of heretical students to a bright path. There are no shortage of classics such as "Death Poetry Society" and "Smiling Mona Lisa". But in comparison, the students in the two films "Death" and "Micro" are mostly personal issues, which are far from the cruelty of society. On the contrary, the violence in "187 American Social Archives" makes people Feel the real fear. The students in "Street Diary" also live in this violent atmosphere. They don't even know the origin of this violence. It is just an inheritance and inheritance of the violence conveyed by the real racial and class problems.
When teacher Irene, played by Hilary Swank, asked which children had been shot, we saw a violent environment in society, and we saw a breath of despair. Therefore, the problem faced by this teacher is not just the mischief of the children, but the hatred of the whole society, especially the lower class.
As a new teacher, Irene never thought that the students in her class would have such terrible hostility between each other. When a handful of students gather together unscrupulously and stand alone, this is a reality of society. Just like the experience of loving a baby in the play, descriptive words such as beauty have nothing to do with them. In order to survive, toughness is the most important thing. This is a concept that has been deep-rooted since childhood, and it is a kind of survival of the fittest to maintain oneself. Philosophy of violence.
Irene was very sensitive to the mutual hostility among the children in Class 203, so she took various measures to make these children understand each other, and can truly become a group to dispel this hostility. But every effort she made failed. As a white, she couldn't get the respect of the children at all. What's more, the children thought that going to school was just for messing around. When she reached the age of eighteen, the battle would be waiting. They, it was a battle about race and social status and dignity, and the aloof whites obviously didn't understand all of this. The idea of hatred of other races makes Irene extremely distressed, but the children don't even know what genocide is.
Children who use other races and other classes as imaginary enemies do not know the meaning of genocide. This can only show that they have not truly become hopeless, and have not completely lost their humanity, and this knowledge has directly led Irene to find The breakthrough to solve the problem, so the history of the most terrible genocide was included in the scope of Irene's teaching. The life of the Jews during World War II deeply touched this group of children. In their young hearts, that kind of brutality was terrible, cruel and inhumane, and a crime. But this is only a reflection for the children. When they face the young lives that died tragically in World War II, they can only feel ashamed of their past behavior, but they still can't find the real direction. Thus, "Anne's Diary" became a guiding light for children.
As a Jewish girl, Annie wrote down all her feelings about life in the horrible days. Although this was only a kind of hope, although she inevitably lost her life, this hope was retained. So, this is also Provided a kind of hope for this group of children, that is to face their true thoughts, don't be afraid of this difficult environment, don't destroy yourself because of the hostility in life. In the process from despair to hope, Irene used cruel history to teach the children a lesson worthy of reflection. The children also used their pens to not only record the painful disasters of the past, but also record their own. Change.
There is no doubt that Irene is doing an extremely noble thing, but in fact, all noble things will inevitably attract some resistance. First of all, Irene’s husband, Irene has invisibly ignored herself for the student’s contribution. Husband, so the husband left him. Irene’s father was originally a civil rights activist, but due to his age, he had already lost his original enthusiasm. Fortunately, this kind of public consciousness flowing in his blood eventually made him become Irene’s most powerful supporter. The roles of the two men are not many, but there is a transformation between each other, and this transformation has the meaning of paying tribute to the civil rights fighters, and at the same time strongly affirms what Irene has done.
But the biggest resistance still comes from the school. The children in classroom 203 are undoubtedly a group of children abandoned by the education system. The so-called compulsory education is just a process and a form. Irene said well, when children know that their teacher is not doing their best, how can children try their best to learn? The school is a paradise for the top students, and for those students who are stigmatized, the school is just a system. But thanks to Irene’s efforts, classroom 203 has finally become a paradise for this group of students. It is their home and a place different from street life. Here, they can live for their own hopes, and can live with other races. When people make friends, the hatred rooted in the heart in society can be completely eliminated here.
After watching the film, the author had to be moved by Irene's noble sentiment, and also felt sad for the suffering of this group of children. Fortunately, the film was a perfect ending. However, the author has always had a question, in the face of strong social pressure, can Irene really succeed? Can these children really change just by relying on the history that has been far away? Although this is a film adapted from real events, the author's gloomy psychology does not hold any illusions about Irene's efforts. Is it because the film has whitewashed the reality or the author is trapped by the inherent thinking like those teenagers on the street?
Undoubtedly, the focus of this film is on the character Irene, who has made tremendous efforts and sacrifices to change the hatred in the hearts of the children. But perhaps it is for this reason that the children in the film are too group-like. Although Ewa's role is indeed outstanding, it is difficult for us to see the separate communication between Ewa and Irene. In other words, we can’t see the true growth trajectory of a certain child, or change the trajectory. Those books, including the recorded street diaries and Annie’s diaries, seem to have all the children’s changes synchronized in every episode. This synchronization has caused the thinness of the children's image, and of course it has also made the film less realistic and credible.
I'm afraid this is the biggest problem for the director. Compared with the previous films, this film's overly simple description of the opposite of Irene appears to be very formalistic. Therefore, although this film sensitively touches the sadness of children being plagued by social problems, it rarely shows this sadness, and the notes recorded by each child appear empty and artificial. However, it is more like a choreographer and ghostwriter.
Of course, the problem of the film itself can never obliterate the personality charm of Irene, the teacher, nor can it obliterate the courage of these children to change themselves. In this regard, the message conveyed by the film is indeed sufficient. Finally, I quoted teacher Irene’s words as the end. Perhaps it is not only an explanation of the film, but also a concept of education: "The profession of teachers has become the most respected profession in the entire country, not only in the United States, This is the case all over the world. Sometimes, the future destiny of children is in your hands...but they usually encounter some irresponsible teachers, guardians or schools. Schools are a kind of fusion of diverse cultures. The place should withstand the various tests brought by race, economy and culture, and should not be eroded by violence. On the surface, Wilson High School is perfect because it accepts students from all walks of life, and there is no rich or poor. There is no racial distinction. However, this does not mean that the malignant tumor in the school does not exist." I
also dedicate this sentence to Chinese children who cannot choose their own learning environment due to regional differences and various factors such as money. People, of course there are teachers!
Han Xi
2007-5-31 in Tongzhou
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