Photo by Wallace Chuck on Pexels.com

by Ruby Milburn

          Released in 1989, Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir, is a crucial coming of age film to be experienced during one's adolescent years.  The film follows a group of boys at an all-boys' boarding school who navigate their ways through independent hardships, ultimately discovering poetry as a collective escape.  Poetry was something they learned from their teacher, Mr. Keating, played by Robin Williams, who acted as a father figure for the boys throughout the film.  The student/teacher relationship is a wholesome, caring connection focused on enhancing education and guidance through friendships, romances, passion and nonconformities to the way kids are taught to think while growing up.  

          One scene early on in the movie depicts flocks of birds flying outside the school along with the dissonant, unsettling sound of a clock striking five.  Birds often symbolize thought and imagination, as well as departed souls, both of which become significant later on in the film.  The birds in the film represent the students, which is shown when the sound of birds crowing blends with the students' voices when the scene cuts to a shot of the kids in the building.  The birds show the kids at school coming together to form bonds and learn as a team, and foreshadow the death of one of the main characters.  The birds frantically flying away also represent the fleeting feeling of leaving childhood behind, which the boys experience as they grow up in school.

          Neil's death is foreshadowed in other parts of the movie as well, first in the scene where Mr. Keating introduces the class to the display case of alumni from previous years at that school.  He introduces the phrase, "carpe diem," or "seize the day," to the students, and continues to explain that, "each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing…"  During this explanation, a shot focused on Neil who seems to be uncomfortable with this topic predicts that he will be the first to "stop breathing."  In this scene, Neil is also one of the few individuals to be wearing a white shirt without a coat over it, just like their teacher, showing that the teacher relates to the students on an emotional level, and that his relationship will become more influential to them in the future.  This element of costume design also makes Neil stand out more in order for the audience to focus their attention on him from the beginning of the film.

          As for the relationship between the students and Mr. Keating, he acts as a father figure for many of the students who may have festering relationships with their parents.  We see that Keating is their most formative teacher because of examples of the ways other teachers conduct their classes, and how the students are more out of tune with them than they are with Keating.  The film also acts as a patriarchal social commentary, not only because of the limited number of female characters, but the way many of the students' are treated by their parents.  Specifically, Niel's and his father.  Niel expresses his interest in performing in theater, which is a stereotypically feminine activity, and the idea is immediately shut down by his father.  This is one depiction of toxic masculinity shown throughout the film which is abolished by Mr. Keating's influence.  He encourages the boys to pursue any activities they desire, such as theater and poetry, and is there for them every step of the way.  

          The film as a whole is, subjectively, one of the best films created, and is influential as well as heart-warming.  Watching this group of young boys innocently going through the motions of growing up and finding their place in the world sheds light on how quickly childhood flashes before our eyes, and allows us to feel the inclusiveness they experienced while growing up, despite the tragic and inevitable ending.