Dead Poets Society was everything I expected it to be: a generally upbeat film, with a few of tragic occasions, that ends on a vaguely pleasant note. The movie focuses on individualism, finding your voice and not conforming to the majority. However, the movie had a few issues, one of which was that not every aspect of the movie encapsulated this idea effectively.

The most memorable scenes in the movie were of the teacher, John Keating. The scene that stuck with me in particular was when he encouraged the students to stand on his table, to view the world differently. During this scene, the camera is focused on Keating from a high angle. He is centered in the frame, delivering a monologue about finding your identity and voice, while the students move past at the edges, forming the backdrop. The dialogue and direction indicate that this is a significant point in the movie.

However, the message of this scene and the events leading up to it are somewhat contradictory. At the beginning of this event, Keating stands on his desk and tells the class about how he sees the world differently from up here. To convey his point, he asks the class to do the exact same thing. The form a line, and one by one, walk up onto the desk and walk right off. It was odd to watch characters mechanically perform this task while Keating spoke about individualism.

During the scene, he asked the students not to be walk off the edge like lemmings. When discussing this scene, I later found out that the idea that lemmings ‘mindlessly’ jump off cliffs was a myth (Propagated by a Disney documentary called ‘True-Life Adventure’). The use of a phrase of a popular, yet incorrect, phrase added to the irony of the situation.

Overall, it was a feel-good movie because of the relatable nature of the themes. However, the presence of contradictory instances throughout the movie made it appear like Keating was almost imposing his idea of individualism upon the class.