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musings on
synchronicity
and the value of
paying attention

My, how far we've come — or have we? Some things, like the trials of adolescence, never seem to change. The only differences are the context and the forms. Dead Poets Society shows us the tug of conformity from one of the most conformist of American decades, the 1950s. But wait! Doesn't every decade or social framework demand some kind of conformity? Are bobby sox and saddle shoes all that different from tattoos and body piercings? Belonging somewhere is so important for us social creatures. How do we decide where we do or don't fit in? Films have been exploring such questions forever.

Set in what seems to be a New England boarding school or "academy" for boys of, say, eight to eighteen years of age, Dead Poets immerses us in the world of navy blazers and whitewall haircuts, "tradition-discipline-honor-excellence" codes, raging hormones, and the struggles of young men to discover themselves and their place.

Bucking mom or dad to pursue acting instead of law or medical school — speaking truth to power, as we know it now, was virtually unheard of in 1956. (It's hard enough to find yet today.) In the context of a boys' prep school, with tradition and discipline enshrined, breaking out of the mold was heretical. Teachers were enforcers as much as imparters of knowledge. But, on occasion, a teacher shelters his own spark and becomes the mentor and example we crave. After that, anything can happen.

Nearly twenty years on, this film holds its meaning and is worth a look for affecting performances. Robin Williams plays the academy graduate who returns to teach poetry, challenging and inspiring his youthful charges to break out of the conformist constraints. A young Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Fast Food Nation, Lord of War, Gattica, Waking Life) gives an memorable performance as a youngster virtually invisible to his parents and struggling with how brave to be at school. Robert Sean Leonard (seen between 2004 and 2006 in the TV series House), looking like a young and skinny Jim Carrey without the craziness, catches the fire and finds his muse but struggles to counter family pressure.

This is also the film that gave us a cultural catchphrase in Latin, Carpe Diem (Sieze the Day), which, over a decade or so, morphed into everything from festivals for carp (yes, the fish) to calligraphic wall hangings. Who knew?

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