Movie Review: Dead Poet's Society

by Keira Ballard

  “O’ Captain! My Captain!” - Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass

Whether or not you have seen Peter Weir’s 1989 classic, Dead Poet’s Society, for many, the line brings to mind the great Robin William’s iconic performance as John Keating. Though this movie is now over 30 years old, the memorable lines about “finding your own voice” and “seizing the day”, as well as the themes of learning to break the mold and taking life by the horns hold true.

Starring Robin Williams as John Keating, Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry, Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson, Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet, and Gale Hansen as Charlie Dalton, Dead Poet’s Society is a coming-of-age drama about an unconventional English teacher and the students whose lives he flips around. Through unorthodox methods, John Keating (Williams), who recognizes the importance of individuality and expression, teaches his students to unshackle themselves from the restrictive boarding school and inspires them to become free thinkers.

I do not want to lead you the wrong way, though. This movie is not about John Keating; he is only a catalyst. It is not even really about Neil Perry (Leonard), despite what it might seem. The true protagonist of the movie is Todd Anderson (Hawke). Throughout the movie, we see many of the boys start to chase what they want. Knox (Charles) pursues cheerleader, Chris Noel, from the local public school who is dating a football player. Charlie (Hansen) publishes an article in the school newsletter insisting to allow girls into the school. Neil reveals his love for acting and gets cast in a local play as one of the main characters. Finally, Todd, with the help of Keating, breaks out of his shell and spontaneously constructs a poem in class. 

Near the end of the film, after a tragedy has befallen one of the boys and Keating is leaving the class, the last person we expect takes a stand. Todd embodies "carpe diem" and stands on his desk defiantly, exclaiming proudly as Keating leaves the class, “O’ Captain! My Captain!” Unfortunately, only half of the class stands with Todd. The rest stare blankly ahead in their seats, abandoning the teacher they had once loved. It raises the question: “Did they regret this later on? What if they had seized the day and stood with the rest of the class?”

 

Carpe diem is not the only lesson to be learned from the movie. The film is also about creativity, feeling, and passion. Neil’s domineering father, though only wanting his son to succeed where he has not, puts pressure on Neil and highly disapproves of his son’s yearning to act, despite Neil’s clear natural talent for it. What his father did not understand, was that the humanities are just as important as math and science. They are part of the foundation of our society, then and now. While math and science are constantly improving and used to further our advancements, humanities, at its core, is about the outpouring of emotion.

Dead Poet’s Society is a fantastic movie for finding inspiration and encouraging us to move. If you have not seen this classic, I urge you not to continue skimming over it; sometimes the most unlikely suspects end up being incredibly impactful in our lives.  As John Keating teaches, we should resolve to lead lives of following our passions and seizing the day. The end might already be written, but we can write the script. So go out, give a barbaric yawp, and write your verse. As Henry David Thoreau states: “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.”