Prior to teaching college, I taught public high school for twelve years. During that time probably my greatest lament and challenge was the adopted "reality" of many young black men that education was "white" and they were not interested. We all are products of our own generational cultures, but this cultural notion was especially disturbing to me as an educator, knowing that education was what these young men needed most, to be able to live the lives they would desire within their society. I longed to find a way to get through to them (and to all students) the importance of being educated members of society. If The Great Debaters had come out then, I would have used it as a tool!
The first great movie I've seen this year, The Great Debaters is based on the true story of an award winning 1935 debate team at Wiley College, a small black college in Texas. Amidst the backdrop of the Jim Crow South, the story of this group of young college students and their passionate professor, played by Denzel Washington who also directed the film, will inspire to greatness people of every generation, every race, and every gender.
As an educator, the quality of research, the level of critical thinking from all angles, and the desire to excel, demonstrated by these young debaters, inspires me to ask where these skills have been lost in our system and how we can reclaim them, that we may offer more productive futures for all our students.
The movie is rated PG, and I do not recommend it for children, due to some horribly violent images of racism in the South. There is also one mild scene with a sexual theme.
The official trailer:
Personal criticisms of the film: Despite the exceptional story, it is in some ways the typical 21st century Hollywood production, aimed at attracting the typical American movie-goers. There is a romance added to the story that seems quite out of character for the female debater; and the debates themselves most assuredly have no resemblance to the actual 1935 debates, but have been watered down and emotionalized to fit the contemporary American audience. A Harvard debater even makes reference to Hitler, quite prematurely for the time period.
