Film Review: Waiting For "Superman"

I'm not a trained reviewer of documentaries, so forgive me if this isn't quite as consistent as it should be. Each year there is at least one event documentary that everyone pays attention and that people say will change the way people think. In 2006 it was An Inconvenient Truth. In 2005 it was March of the Penguins, although in retrospect, I don't quite understand how it changed the way people thought about penguins. This year, everyone is flocking to see Waiting for "Superman", the new film about the evil and corruption in the education system. Corruption does play a pivotal role in this film, and that may get some public school teachers more than a bit riled up.

This is the type of inspirational documentary meant to stick with audiences so they feel an obligation to change their society, and for that purpose it was quite effective. A lot of the points are made through these interesting little animated vignettes. The film does take on several broad subjects of what's wrong in the education system, and I was able to easily relate to some of the situations. There are quite a few teachers that I've been stuck with over the years, and they don't do anything. A teacher shouldn't be idly looking over his/her students, and whenever the film was showing an example of a good teacher, they were taking active participation with the children they were teaching. I kind of wish I had teachers like that when I was younger. Then I might have gotten less stupid sooner than I actually did.

However, the film also focuses on a few individual children who are trying to get into some of the excellent charter schools, and the process by which these students actually get in is rather heartbreaking. This film only gets better from the beginning to the end. They keep piling on information to back up their points, and I can't find any faults in their opinions. Maybe that's because I'm too stupid because of my poor elementary school education. In any case, Waiting for "Superman" becomes even more powerful by the ending, which will reduce you to tears. There's not even an argument in the matter. If you see this movie, you will cry.

The thing that makes it all feel so much more inevitable is the fact that you have to see this film. There are films that people simply have to see, because they bring about issues that people would not normally think of. This film should be required viewing for anybody in the education system or anybody who intends on going into the education system. The only thing I can possibly hate about this film is that it would take a large group of people for any real change to happen, so it brings us back to the same perilous question. What's the point? Still, there are things that are worth fighting for, and this cause is definitely that. This is the sort of film that's worth lying for and telling people they're the scum of the earth for not seeing. Oh, and by the way, if you don't see Waiting for "Superman", you're the scum of the earth!

A