Dead Poets Society

Rating: 9/10

"Dead Poets Society" gives a unique and moving appreciation of poetry. The efforts of a charismatic and energetic teacher to help his students think for themselves strikes a clear note for individuality in today's conformist society. Neil's death adds a poignant touch to the film, helping to bring it alive in a powerful way. However, it only scores a nine because the ending seems a bit abrupt and leaves a feeling of, "so, what happened?"

This film gets to the core of what poetry really is. It rejects the idea that one can numerically rank poetry, for poetry is more than numbers on a graph. Poetry is driven by emotion, rather than by logic; so describing it quantitatively makes no more sense than attaching an emotion to the number three. (Of course, it now seems somewhat ironic to be giving this movie a numerical rating.)

As for showing "Dead Poets Society" in an AP English class, my answer is that all students should see this movie. Its message of individuality and free thinking is too important for any person to miss.