2010: The Year in Film: "Waiting for Superman" Review

I'd be damned shocked if I still had any loyal readers left.. and kids, I can't say I blame you. I've been awful, read: awful at updating this thing, and I'm sorry about that, because lord knows I've got the thoughts and opinions to fill this bad boy up. A lot has happened since we last spoke: the election, the fact that the Gator chomp is ok but this: Devier Posey taught me how to Dougie, isn't, the world banned Four Loko, but right now I'm here to review some GD movies, so let's get to it. I actually saw this flick weeks ago, but for some reason just never got around to blogging it. So here goes nothing.

Now documentaries don't usually find their way to my movie schedule too often, I like to consider myself pretty damn well informed, and usually already know 99% of what's in them (let's be honest: almost every documentary ever made is a dumbed down version of a book, which is a dumbed down version of some research because Americans are damned stupid), but since I'm obsessed with how stupid people are, this one was right in my wheelhouse. Acclaimed documentarian Davis Guggenheim (the director of "An Inconvenient Truth") takes aim at the American education system, once the envy of the world, and now a glaring eyesore.

This documentary does an amazing job at certain things but fails at others, and seems at times to lose sight of its actual mission. It focuses on the failings of public schools, especially in inner cities, where "dropout factories" often fail to graduate 60-70% of their classes. Considering the demographic reality of what a high school drop out can hope to achieve in modern America, the devastating long term impact these failing schools can have on their surrounding communities is evident. Guggenheim chooses to give the subject matter heft by focusing on 5 families, each who have their hopes for their childrens' future pegged on gaining admission to prestigious charter schools that succeed where the public schools in the same communities fail miserably.

Guggenheim sets his sights on two things in particular: teacher's unions (which, like all public employee unions - can be pretty damn evil), who focus on keeping jobs over ensuring quality education and school bureaucracies, which hog resources and shift the focus from educating. The emergence of charter schools over the past 20 years has made it evident that inner city kids can be educated, so it is the school systems themselves that are failing. Of course, there are counter-points to everything, but Guggenheim does a great job in effectively and often powerfully demonstrating the societal costs of shitty teachers, shitty schools, and a shitty education.

This flick's major failing, for me, was in not demonstrating the actual techniques that allow these charter schools to succeed where their traditional brethren fail. That is a major shortcoming in an otherwise powerful message. Guggenheim focuses on those who seek to reform education, and have had success in doing so. There should be no doubt that the American educational system is an embarrassment, one we should all be ashamed of. People are dumb, very dumb, and without outrage, that's never going to change. Actually this flick reminded me a lot of the absolutely essential television series "The Wire", which if you haven't watched, get the fuck off of the internet and go make that happen already, in that the failings aren't due to any bad intentions on anyone's part, just ossification of institutions and a whole lot of CYOA at all levels(that's cover your own ass) without taking any chances.

While it can be manipulative at times, on the whole, the flick does a good job of effectively delivering a much-needed message. If we don't wake up, and sooner rather than later, it will be too late, and our society will lose those advantages that allowed America to become what it is today. Education is the foundation of "democracy", and dumb kids become dumb voters become dumb workers and so on.

7.5/10.