Rated R for... Resign?

When I was in middle school, our social studies teacher wanted to show us Schindler’s List.  The idea was that words on a page can only go so far to communicate the horror of National Socialism.  Our teacher was trying to reach us through visual representations of those events.  Although the movie is rated R, the value of it seemingly outweighed the rating.  As an adult now, I get that.  As an adult then, my mother did not.

She was actually borderline outraged.  Which surprises me now, looking back, as my mother is one of the most eloquent, intellectually curious, and continually academic women I know.  The teacher had sent home a permission slip to watch the movie, and my mother not only refused to sign it, but also wrote a scathing letter of offense and explanation as to why I, a middle school student, would not be participating. 

In part, it read: “Even a conscience-less entertainment industry feels that this movie is inappropriate for children. You don’t need to watch graphic violence in order to build empathy.” Etc. etc.

And I wholeheartedly agree!  Because the world as we know it today is so filled with violence, death, and even emotional torture, I do not feel we need to expose young minds to movies which feature those things in a warped sense of awareness.  That is why the recent event in Mississippi of a veteran teacher using the movie “Dolan’s Cadillac” in her 10^th grade class is disturbing to me.

As a teacher now, I could debate the merits of showing an entire movie during precious class time as an issue of its own.  Don’t we always want more time with our students? Don’t they watch enough television and movies over the weekend?

I had another history teacher in high school who wanted to show us the movie Elizabeth to enhance our understanding of life and politics of the Tudor period.    This movie is also rated R.  This particular teacher decided ahead of time to show us only select portions of the movie, a few of which I still remember, in a tasteful and decidedly PG-rated fashion.  No permission slips.  No hate mail from parents.  And was it effective? Like I said, I still remember it.

This eliminated so many problems from the situation: angry parents, uncomfortable students, reprimanded teacher.  In Mississippi, this teacher caused an unintended situation for a few students:  there were some who were uncomfortable with the movie being shown, and as a result of their objection, there was an investigation and the teacher resigned.  Students supportive of the teacher and not offended by the movie (allegedly) subsequently harassed students who complained.   There are walkouts and campaigns to reinstate the teacher, with much support on social media for her case.

Now, not only did a few students (even one is too many!) feel uncomfortable watching the movie, but now they are being marginalized for reporting their feelings.  As teachers, we should be leaders of tolerance and exploration, but also leaders of safety and high moral compasses.  We need to set the example that glamorous actors and musicians so very rarely set: have a standard.

Perhaps the question shouldn’t so much be, what is the movie rated? But rather, is this movie worth my job?