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Abstract

This paper explores three distinct characteristics surrounding the representation of teachers in films. The “good” teacher, the “bad” teacher and the “ambiguous” teacher. It aims to understand and analyse the characteristics and perspectives in a selection of films where teachers are represented in order to better understand the changing attitudes in society of teachers and teaching. There was an identified change in what type of teacher was being presented dependant upon societal issues, different representations emerged in opposition to the changing attitudes of authority figures in society. The good teacher possesses a set of strict conventions that all good teacher films appear to follow, they are identified by academic Mary Dalton who lays out these conventions, these conventions are then supported by filmic analysis. The bad teachers are the opposite of the good, it possesses no strict conventions making it harder to define but allows for more range in the representations and often present. Certain type of bad teacher dependant on genre. The ambiguous, a mixture of good and bad is often presented as an anti-hero. They suggest a separation between the person and the job. As there are no set conventions either this characterisation allows for a lot more range and varied representations and in turn the allows the space for more realistic representations. The paper demonstrates that the representations of teachers in film has gone through a journey, starting off as the heroic protagonists. Changing to the stereotypical villain, a comical relief or a manipulator. Finally, in more recent years, being the anti-hero, having both good and bad within them.

Course: Film Studies - BA (Hons) - C1256

Date Deposited: 2022-08-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13975.html