Some schools have banned the film outright. Others allow it only with a signed permission slip. This censorship, however, only solidifies the film’s legacy. To ban Dead Poets Society is to prove its point.
The message landed like a thunderclap.
The aftermath is brutal. Welton, desperate to avoid scandal, blames Keating for filling the boys’ heads with dangerous ideas. Forced to sign a document attesting to Keating’s guilt, the boys watch as their mentor is fired. Yet, in the film’s most iconic sequence, as Keating walks out of the classroom, Todd Anderson—the boy who couldn’t speak—stands on his desk and declares, “O Captain, my Captain.” One by one, the other boys follow, defying the headmaster’s threats. Dead Poets Society Film
Is the film dated? The score by Maurice Jarre (synthesizer heavy, very 1989) feels nostalgic. The pacing is slower than a Marvel movie. But the Dead Poets Society film is perhaps more relevant in the 2020s than it was in the 1950s or 1980s. Some schools have banned the film outright
It is essential because it captures the terror and beauty of adolescence. It is essential because of Robin Williams, who proved he could break an audience’s heart as easily as he could make them laugh. And it is essential because of Todd Anderson, the stuttering boy who finds his voice—not in a poem he wrote, but in an act of defiance. To ban Dead Poets Society is to prove its point