The ending of the film we saw this Friday was clearly meant to be an inspiring triumph of free thinking. Students rebelling against the establishment to should a wrongfully persecuted teacher that they still believed in what he showed them. Yet, I was left feeling somewhat troubled with this ending, and with the entire film for that matter. Robin Williams’ character intended to teach his students that making your own decisions is an important skill to have. However, it seems like all he taught these boys is to do whatever you want regardless about the situation around them. They begin to break both societal and personal rules in the name of freedom. One student kisses a girl who has passed out at a party, hardly the epitome of freedom. And another student commits suicide simply because he can’t be an actor for 2 years. The writers of the film clearly tried to address this when Williams’ character reminds his students that taking unnecessary risks and being impatient are not exceptional things to do. I think that his point is that you shouldn’t simply break things or make rash decisions, rather that you should consider all your options in life. So the victorious ending with students flaunting all cares in the world to make a statement lacks any virtue to me. I constantly think of the scene from the Great Gatsby when an incomprehensibly drunk man continues to drive his car after a wheel has fallen off. The students and that drunk man are no different, they make rash decisions because they don’t care about the consequences. There are no consequences for their actions that they can even think of. Therefore, to me this movie completely missed its mark, it reads like a celebration of all the loathsomely spoiled characters from every book in the world.