Last Friday, I rewatched the Dead Poets Society with other Rose scholars. The movie follows a group of high school seniors who attend an elite boarding school. The boys are inspired by a new English teacher who helps them pursue their dreams and break out from their parents’ expectations of themselves. As the movie takes place in a prestigious boarding school, some of the themes it explores resonate with some of the problems we face here at Cornell. The boys deal with high expectations from parents and their general social circles. This pressure and suppression of their true dreams reaches an ultimate high when the protagonist Neil commits suicide. This aspect of the movie shows the real ramifications of the high-stakes pressure of chasing perfection. I think this can help ground us as we struggle with the pressure of doing well on prelims and hoping to achieve our goals.

While I appreciate the gravity by which the movie reflects the pursuit of perfection, I do think that it is important to look at the movie in perspective. In a way, it romanticizes the idea of dying for your dreams and art. Neil’s death is not in vain as his friends’ learn to see beyond the mold that society has pressed upon them. However, the struggles that the boys face showcase their privilege. They face problems that straight, white males face and as such the movie neglects to show any characters of other races, sexual orientations and even really gender. The largest female role goes to a Kris, a girl, that one of boys Knox has a large crush on. Knox kisses her while she is intoxicated and Kris is portrayed to be fine with this lack of consent and even falls for him. As a whole, Dead Poets Society has many salient points about societal pressures but does overlook the narratives of more marginalized communities.