The Dead Poet’s Society is a perplexing movie that brings up many questions about parents and teenagers. Who has the right to tell you how to live your life? Should we “seize the day?” or pace ourselves and enjoy small victories? I think the movie was shocking and emotionally riveting, but not something I can say I enjoyed.

I think that the main character, Neil, had extremely controlling and brutal parents. This is not to say I did not understand their point of view. Although they were fortunate enough to get Neil into the exclusive boarding school, they seemed to have worked hard and endured much to get to this point. However, they could have let Neil blow off some steam and done at least one thing he wanted. Participating in the play would not have ruined his chances at Harvard and medical school, it would have probably made him more well-rounded and might even have helped his application. These days, even theatre majors can end up going to top medical schools. I feel that the film is unrealistic to this extent.

In addition, I thought the characters took “carpe diem” to an extreme in that they took it to mean doing reckless things such as going to rowdy parties, heavily drinking, and smoking cigarettes. These events were passed off in the film as “normal teenage behavior.” However, I saw it as an unraveling of the characters’ carefully curated lives. Not only are these health risks, but also give them a distorted view of what happiness means and how happy people behave.

Overall, the movie was gripping and I couldn’t look away. The conclusion felt unresolved, though. I felt as if Neil’s death wasn’t fully explained. It left me wondering whether the characters fully understood and processed what he was going through.