Bad Teacher

“Hi, I’m a math terrorist with close ties to algebra; I have weapons of math instruction.”

“You are going to get your teachin’ on!”
-- Amy Squirrel from Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher almost reaches the heights of getting on my list of favorite edgy teacher movies – I mean it is hilarious in parts and shows the absurdity of middle schools and teachers and just teaching in general– Cameron Diaz as Elizabeth Halsey is quite funny as the bitchy, self-centered teacher who is indeed in it for summers off and nothing more. She shows movies all the time; she has a false drawer in her desk with booze and drugs; she doesn’t know any of her students’ names. My favorite part, probably because I’m an English teacher myself, happens after she learns that she could earn a bonus if her students do well on the state test. So when she finally decides to actually try to teach To Kill A Mocking Bird she gives essays where she writes on them “stupid” and “stupider” and worse and has her class visit the gym where she wails a basketball at kids who give the wrong answer.

But, unfortunately, Bad Teacher misses comedic perfection in a lot of ways. The screen play is not very tight with throw away scenes here and there and a shameful underuse of some great character actors like Molly Shannon, Jillian Armenante (I always she think she’s hilarious in anything she’s in), and Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family). Plus, the student scenes in the movie are not very well developed.

But even with all those flaws, I got some big laughs out of Bad Teacher, and, you know, I just might add it to the list.

The Class

I’m a middle school teacher. So watching The Class, a gritty docu-drama about a tough French class of 14 year olds in France is fascinating and sickening at the same time. The teacher, Francois Begaudeau, or M. Marin as he is called in the movie, is a handsome man who seems to truly care about his students, challenging them to become better speakers, readers, and writers of French – he doesn’t let them get by with sloppy responses and he ignores a lot of sassy remarks. He’s fascinating to watch. The students, who are actual French students, are even more mesmerizing and so like the English speaking middle school students I know. They look bored; they question everything, and they put on a brave front but at the same time seem so awkward and unsure. I watched the DVD extras and director Laurent Cantet had the kids, actual students in the school that Begaudeau taught, do an improv class, helping them to work on authentic responses, and it really worked. These kids were making me uncomfortable – I felt as if they were in my class, and I had to get them under control.
The Class or Entre les Murs (Between the Walls), also made me wonder about the differences between American and French Schools. Sure in many ways these kids seemed like American kids, but there were some aspects of this French school I found odd. The kids seemed to have a lot of power within the school. They even had student representatives sit in on disciplinary meetings about other students. The teachers sat as group and tried to come up with a point system for dealing with discipline problems and the man in charge didn’t seem to have much control of the school. And then when one troublesome boy was finally dealt with, his punishment seemed extreme.
What was I doing watching a thought provoking teacher movie so close to school resuming, I do not know. It is usually my policy to have nothing to do with students, schools, even young adult literature, during the precious summer months, but I had really wanted to see this movie. And I am glad I did. Well worth watching, even if you are not a teacher.
The Class is going on my list of the Best Edgy Teacher Movies*:
• The Class (2008)
• Half Nelson (2006)
• Notes on a Scandal (2006)
• School of Rock (2003)
• Election (1999)
*NOT feel good teacher movies, I hate those