"To Sir, With Love" Movie Reaction

 To Sir, With Love" Movie Reaction

"To Sir with Love" is a timeless piece that is an award-winning film that came out in 1967. It was directed by James Clavell and takes place in London at North Quay Secondary School. It stars Sidney Poitier, who is the perfect actor for this role. He captures the depth of the character with the struggles and compassion of Thackeray's character that show the potential for positive change.

Poitier's character is Mark Thackeray, a black man from British Guiana. He has been trying to pursue an engineering job for the last 18 months with no success and takes this teaching job until his luck changes. The school is populated by mostly white teenagers that have behavior and academic issues. This is also around the time were there is a strict moral code against white and black relations. These issues also extend to their home life as well. The classroom has no boundaries and most of the other teachers do not know how to control their own classes. There is no corporal punishment so most of the teachers are afraid of the students and the principal doesn't really care much.

Mr. Thackeray starts the first day by checking what all his students know by having them read a few lines from their textbook. They do not take anything serious and push the boundaries with him. He does not let them get a rise out of him. The students continue to let them know that the classroom is their domain. The ringleader for bad behavior in the class in Bert Denham and Pamela Dare.

The day when Mr. Thackeray is walking into the school building, and someone throws a bag filled with water out the second-floor window hitting him, will be the day that things start to change. Although he kept his cool about the water, the turning point of the movie is when he goes into the classroom, and something is burning in the classroom grate which is assumed to be a sanitary pad. He orders all the boys to leave the class and says to the girls, he is sick of the foul language, crude behavior, and sluttish manner. He goes on to say he doesn't care who is responsible, that they are all to blame. If they are to do these filthy games, do them at home and not in his classroom.

He starts to implement a new teaching method in the class where he will treat the students like they are adults. They will treat each other with respect. He wants his student to wash up, fix their hair and start to dress nicer. They are to address him as "Sir" or Mr. Thackeray, the girls will be "Miss" and the boys will be called by their last name. He wants them to have respect for him and themselves. The students can discuss any topic they want as he will start giving them life skills for after they graduate. He tells them that he has also come from a humble background and that he is successful because of he has changed his language and the way he carries himself. He encourages them that they can do the same. Most of the students take to this new teaching style right away except for Bert Denham.

Knowing the class isn't even up on their own history, he suggests they go on a school trip to the British History Museum. He gets the approval from the principal and the students are very excited. When they show up for the trip, all the students are clean and well dressed. The movie shows the students having fun amongst all the sculptures and art.

Mr. Thackeray has to handle an issue carefully when he finds Pamela Dare flirting with him. He talks to the other teachers about it for advice. Aside from this he shows the students how to make salad and shows them that cooking isn't only for women that they could be on their own soon as should know this skill.

In Mr. Bell's gym class, he makes all the boys do the vault. Carl Buckley refuses to do it because he is afraid. The boys said the gym teacher is always picking on him because he is fat. He makes him do it anyway and he falls and break the vault. Potter picks up the broken leg and starts a fight with the teacher. Mr. Thackeray is called down to diffuse the situation. He makes Potter apologize even if he feels Bell was wrong because he said in life if it was a knife or gun what would you do. The boys are now mad with him.

A sad turn is when Seales finds out that his mother passed away. The class collects money for a wreath but refuses to take Mr. Thackeray's money.  They are also in fear to deliver the wreath to a colored person's neighborhood. Pamela said she will do it. Pamela's mother comes to the school to complain that her daughter is staying out late every night. She wants Thackeray to talk to her as she feels she would only listen to him. When he speaks to her Pamela gets really mad because her mother is with men, and she doesn't want to be around that, He tells her to give her mother a second chance that everyone deserves that. She gets mad and says he is like "one of them."  She said she will not take the wreath to the funeral. He has basically lost the respect of all his students in his class. On a good note, Mr. Thackeray finally receives an acceptance letter for a 3rd Assistant Engineer job. He is very happy knowing he can finally leave this teaching job.

At this point the principal said to Thackeray that the "Adult Approach " is not working, he has canceled all his future field trip, and he will be taking over the gym classes. To make this worse, Denham challenges him to a boxing match in gym class. While Denham gets some good punches in, Mr. Thackeray loses his cool and gives a big blow to Denham's stomach knocking the wind out of him. Denham waits for Mr. Thackeray in the stairwell to taunt him about giving up teaching. He gets surprised the way Mr. Thackeray handles it by saying he lost his cool and the fight was unfair and offers him a boxing teacher job to the younger students next year. Denham is impressed and tells him he will consider it. Denham tells the rest of the class and expresses his admiration for Thackeray and now convinces the class to do the same. The class invites Mr. Thackeray to the class dance. Pamela asks if he will save a dance for her. He accepts as long as it's not a fast dance, claiming he is old. When Mr. Thackeray shows up at Seales's mother's funeral, he is surprised to see the whole class there to show their respect.  

At the dance all the teachers and principal praise Mr. Thackeray and state that he should reconsider leaving. At the dance Barbara Pegg announces a "ladies' choice" dance. Pamela gets Mr. Thackeray to dance. It's starts out slow but gets faster and Mr. Thackeray shows off his great moves. After they finish dancing Denham announces that they have something special for Mr. Thackeray. Miss Wong presents it while Barbara Pegg starts to sing the movie's theme song, "To Sir with Love". Mr. Thackeray is speechless and moved and he goes back to his classroom.

With tears in his eyes as he opens the student's gift of a pewter mug which is accompanied by a card. While he is in deep thought, two rowdy students burst in and say they will be in his class next year. At that moment it is clear that this is where he belongs, he has found his purpose. He reaches in this pocket for the job offer letter and rips the letter up. As the theme song begins to play again Thackeray leaves the classroom.

This movie shows a theme of transformation for the teacher as well as his students. He addressed real world issues and critical thinking. It also explores prejudge, stereotypes and the potential for change.

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EOTO # 4 Reaction

 EOTO # 4 REACTION

There were a lot of great presentations by my classmates both positive and negative sides of the 60's and 70's. Each time I see their speeches, I learn from them.

Abby E. spoke about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission which is responsible for enforcing federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee because of a person race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age or disability.

Josh spoke about the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. He was the Democratic presidential candidate and was shot hours before winning the Democratic primary in California. He was hope for the nation and a civil rights advocate.

Max spoke about the Assassination of Malcoln X which took place in New York City at the Audubon Ballroom. Just as he started to address the audience, several gunmen rushed the stage and shot him multiple times. He was pronounced dead. His death marked a significant and tragic event in the civil rights movement.

Grace Ann talked about the Assassination of MLK. He was very prominent and the peaceful voice of the civil rights movement. He was known for his "I have a Dream" speech. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray.at a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Hudson spoke about America in the 1960's and how after the assassination of MLK, tension was on the rise with massive riots.

Kayla spoke about the Anti-Miscegenation Laws which meant that interracial marriages or sexual relations was considered a felony. It prohibited marriage licenses, ceremonies or sexual relations between mixed racial couples. 

Brad talked about the Federal Housing Agency and how African Americans had a tough time getting mortgages. "Redlining" was marks made on a map to indicate the mixed-race and African American neighborhoods. This was overturned in 1968, with the fair housing act. Today, they seem to have somewhat of the same issues in some neighborhoods.

Gabby spoke about the Boston Bus Riot and when the Supreme Court demanded the desegregation of schools and buses. The first day of school, the police were there in combat gear to prepare for the bottles and glass thrown at the buses. Most African Americans were afraid to come back to school.

Jonathan explained about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which was civil rights and labor laws in the United States that outlawed discrimination against race, religion, color, sex or national origin. The act required equal access to public places and employment. It enforced desegregation of schools and the right to vote. This act was passed by Lyndon B. Johnson. 

Kacie talked about Voting Rights Act of 1965, this act was to overcome legal barriers on the state and local levels that prevented African Americans to exercise their right to vote that was guaranteed under the 15th amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Lindsey spoke about the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in the housing market based on race, religion, color, sex or national origin. This helped African Americans move into neighborhoods with better schools, opening doors for more diverse communities.

Elliott spoke about Thurgood Marshall and that he was the first African American who was elected to serve on the supreme court on August 30, 1967. He won 69-11 in votes. He was a civil rights lawyer who used the courts to fight Jim Crow and dismantle segregation.

Lucy talked about Affirmative Action and how it caused more equality in the workplace by building a diverse country and help create opportunities for people who have been underrepresented in this country. Clara raised issues against affirmative action. The reason it had negative consequences is because it created a different form of bias that could sometime be called reverse discrimination. Julia stated Affirmative Action is not positive because it is racist and based on the preferential treatment according to someone's skin color. 

Abby A. explained why Racial quotas were necessary to ensure that African Americans received equality. Lynx explained about Board of Regents v. Bakke and how it wasn't fair how blacks couldn't get into good school because of their skin color. Ariel spoke about the historical overview on the times leading up to the case and how there was improvement among races. Kasen spoke about diversity in colleges and said that race is important for acceptance in college to have a diverse mix of students.

All of my classmates' points of view that they portrayed showed great representation from both sides of how people felt during this time in history.