MOVIE CRITIQUE

Dead Poets Society

Jamila Mesha B. Ordonez

Grade 11 – St. Alphonsus Liguori
 The movie directed by Peter Weir and written by Tom Schulman entitled “Dead Poets Society”. It’s
set in 1959 at the fictional elite school, Welton Academy in Vermont and was released on June 2, 1989. In
the movie, the main protagonists are John Keating, a literature teacher portrayed by Robin Williams,
Todd Anderson, the main lead’s roommate acted by Ethan Hawke, Knox Overstreet – Josh Charles,
Charlie Dalton – Gale Hansen, Gerard Pitts – James Waterston, Steven Meeks – Allelon Ruggiero, and
the mai lead or protagonist is Neil Perry portrayed by Robert Sean Leonard.

The film Dead Poets Society was made in 1989, and the setting is a rigorous all-boys preparatory
school named Welton Academy. The students generally belong to wealthy and influential families who
have made high investments for their children's education. Thus the boys live with high expectations from
their parents and teachers alike. Welton academy is structured on four key pillars: Tradition, honour,
discipline and excellence. The boys are taught to treasure these virtues and work hard to achieve
honourable positions in the future. The main characters of the film are Neil Perry, Todd Anderson,
Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron, Knox Overstreet, Meeks and Pitts. They are all students of Welton
Academy. A critical point in the movie occurs with the arrival of a teacher called Mr Keating. Mr Keating
follows the ideas of romanticism, a movement from the 18 Century that emphasised an attraction to things
such as art, beauty and liberalism. This introduces a challenge to the institution, as the organization of
Welton Academy is essentially against everything that Mr Keating stands for. Nevertheless, Mr Keating
tries to appeal to the boys' individualism, and bring out their creative qualities, making them see and
understand the world in a new light. Mr Keating instils the motto 'Carpe Diem' into the boys’ minds.
'Carpe Diem' is a Latin aphorism that means 'Seize the day', thus Keating tries to show the boys that they
should make the most of their lives, do what they love and just enjoy the beauty of life. This appears to be
the first time that the boys have been encouraged to view life from this standpoint before, so at first they
are unsure how to react, but gradually most of them learn to embrace Keating's ideas. Mr Keating teaches
the boys a poetry class…in a way the boys have never experienced before. He instructs them to rip out the
introductory pages because he disagrees with the rigidity expressed in them. The boys are at first hesitant,
but then they start to enjoy the unusual lesson. Mr Keating also suggests that the boys set up another Dead
Poets Society club, where they will meet at night to read and discuss poetry and the arts. And that is
where the name of the film arrives. The film is based around the ideas and events that are associated with
these Dead Poet Society meetings.

The movie was analyzed through Formalist criticism. The literary devices used in the movie are
Hyperbole: “Don’t mind him, he was born with his foot in his mouth”; Simile: “We didn’t just read
poetry; we let it drop from our tongues like honey”; Personification: “Chaos screaming, chaos dreaming”
(Todd’s poem); Onomatopoeia: “YAWP”. The movie also used Allusions where a certain patriarchal
theme especially centralizing on fathers like Neil’s life was controlled by his father. Other examples are
“Carpe diem” by Henry David Thoreau, Abraham Lincoln’s “O captain, my captain” and also allusions
contribute to Dead Poet Society by providing historical insight and values into a modern society. In the
aspect of the setting, there are so many setting in the movie but main settings are the school, the forest,
and the Indian Cave. If I were to describe the school, the school captures the strict and traditional mood,
and neat and orderly. For the forest, it portrays a creepy and eerie forest, and also it represents roads that
are less travelled. And lastly the Indian Cave, it is where the dreams and identity of the main characters
was held and it is a place where they were free to dream and be creative. Lighting influence the meaning
of a shot, affect the way colours are rendered and focuses attention on particular elements of the
composition. The colour lighting of the movie create various effects by using different colours in the
same shot and is used to influence the mood. While the low key lighting used to highlight shadows, it
associated with drama or suspense, is has a strong contrast just like in part of the movie when the boys
sneak out, chiaroscuro effect creates a suspense feeling. The cameo lighting in the movie focuses on the
subject and leaves in the environment, shots an “angelic shot”, and it shines down example of this is in
Neil’s performance scene where the light shines down that creates feeling of innocence. For the camera
angles, eye level shot, the audience is on equal footing with the character, provides comforting
atmosphere and it is easy to identify the expressions of the characters and while in the camera angle,
tracking shot, it allows the audience to capture every movement that actors make and it also allows better
gasp of the setting. Full shot camera angle shows the overview of the characters, unity between them, and
it is easy to identify and analyze each of the character and close camera angle of the movie usually occurs
when the character opens up to the audience and helps the viewer to relate to the character(s).

Through Feminist criticism, this movie was critique. In 1950’s, male dominate society where males
portrayed their views of women through their literature and men and women were not seen as equal. Just
like in relationships of Neil’s parents, between Chet and Chris, and Knox and Chris. In Neil’s parents,
where Mrs. Perry didn’t say anything while her husband and son were in a heated argument, and also the
males are in charge leaving the women to say nothing. In Chet and Chris, Chris tries not to get Chet mad
that simply means that he dominates their relationship. And also just like in the relationship Know and
Chris, Knox used “carpe diem” to get with Chris, he also knew that she had a boyfriend but he still tries to
get her and didn’t care about the consequences for Chris. In the “Dead Poets Society” feminist criticism is
shown throughout the movie in many ways. The audience believed that women are treated poorly and are
disrespected, with no power in the household or society. Just like what happened to Mrs. Perry who
always thought that the dad’s decisions made towards the son were wrong, but never she never spoke up
and told them her own opinions. The examples that show men empowering women in the movie are
points out the males’ power in the society during the time period, also shows how women are not equal to
men, and women’s opinion is not important. It is noticed of how women are mistreated and even though
the women were not a big part in the movie, their parts were significant once it was evaluated their
actions using this theory. In the right of education, boys education were valued more, there are no female
teachers in the school, and females were expected to become housewives after school, while the boys go
to school. The ration of men to women who went to college is 9:1. In poetry, men used poetry to woo
women and the poetry written by men was only discussed. In addition to the position of females in the
society, females are not recognized, not valued, they are not also welcomed to join the Dead Poet Society
just like when Knox bring to female in the cave.

Using Marxist criticism, the movie was critique. The students and parents took the role of the
working class by following the professors’ orders while the professors and Neil’s father took the role of
the persons who are rich owners. Interpolation had also occurred within in the movie because the parents
and students were taught to believe from professors that success is only achieved through only studying.
And predicted, the students had started a revolution by getting on their desks to rebel against the
professor.

Formalist criticism has given us an objective view of the movie. It allowed me to dive deep into the
hidden messages and meanings in the movie and as well as, understand the different effects, emphasis and
elements used in the film. In feminist criticism, the new insights and perspectives that this criticism bring
to the film are I can look at the film in a new perspective, look through a new lens, I can notice how
women are mistreated and although women weren’t a big part of the movie, their parts were significant
once I was able to analyze their actions using this criticism. Furthermore, the movie demonstrates how
men in the 1950’s were shown as the more dominating sex then females and women were not considered
as equals. Going back to feminist criticism where the restoration targets that the Dead Poets Society was
only revolved around a masculine point of view. It is interesting because in the movie the female
characters followed the stereotype of being quiet and always listening to others. As well, it is accurate that
females were viewed as a sexual object because there was a scene where Knox holding an image of a
nude woman. This criticism can be compared to Marxist criticism because if everyone lined in a
communist approach, everyone including females would be able to be treated in live equally and the four
thing that I have in the movie are, first, it’s not who you are but what you do that defines you where I
shouldn’t be held back by my preconceived ideas. It’s not about race, gender, age, or even experience. I
am measured by what I accomplish. Second, act as if you have nothing to lose like risk-taking by moving
outside my comfort levels. The worst thing that can happen really isn’t all that bad. Making it OK to take
risks and fail, and I’ll be amazed at what I accomplish. Third, change the angle that when I think I have
something all figured out, it’s time to look at it from a new perspective that encourages independent
thinking and to avoid conformity. And lastly, Carpe diem—seize the day. It’s OK to talk and dream, but
in the end, its action that will allow me to grab the prize. I must encourage action in my people. All of the
talking, planning, and strategizing will get me nowhere unless I put them into action. The time I waste
today is gone forever.