the rowdy students
Why do you think the students in the movie are so rowdy and undisciplined?
sharethey don't respect the teachers, always say rudy words and foul languages
share[deleted]
MovieChat Forums > To Sir, with Love (1967) Discussion > the rowdy students
Cause thats the nature of it, to show the difference between the middle class teacher with his okay job, and the working class kids who are all expected to end up in a factory
shareYou should spend some time in an innercity school in the US. The kind of thing portrayed in TSWL is not all that unusual in schools where the kids are disadvantaged and where social ties and structures are minimal. Nothing was expected of them and they received no respect from anyone--their parents, most teachers, and the rest of society around them.
This film locked onto that directly. I was surprised, after watching it on DVD quite recently, how well this film has held up after so many years--it was made 40 years ago. Poitier was terrific in this role, but I think it was the kids who pulled this movie onto a higher level. And they were all given a great script.
It's not just innercity schools though. There are a lot of students from upper middle class families who attend decent schools and even some private ones who act in the same way as the students in this film.
My husband taught in East London. Some schools were in posh neighbourhoods but most weren't. He's also taught in small town Canada and big city Canada. He's also taught Kindergarten to grade 12 and ran the GCSE music program in a couple of schools. Human nature is the same the world over. Some people are great and pull themselves out of tough situations and other people who have all the success in the world can't be bothered to try a little bit. Of course it does work the other way too doesn't it.
We love this film because it reminds us so much of some of the schools and students (and teachers)that we met in London.
Because the East End (as well as Coventry,Liverpool,Plymouth and countless other places) had been bombed flat and never recieved the rebuilding and investment that they were promised after hostilities ceased.It was a soul-crushing place to live in during the 50s and 60s when these kids were growing up. Because their parents who were usually the ones first in the queue to fight Hitler and for a better life mostly got cheated out of what they fought for after hostilities. Because for generations the people who lived in these places were regarded only as scum labour by the ruling elite. Because the popular image of the swinging 60s was one of hope, optimism and the generation of wealth that simply wasn't reality in these kinds of places. Because life had always been a struggle in these places and you had to be tough and a fighter just to survive. These were always forgotten areas and for every kid that got out or found success somewhere else there were five that couldn't. The education and social system of the day merely groomed them to provide sweat for the docks and factories as the country in general boomed. If everyone was a bluechip company director who would answer the phones? Even the largely now redundant class system put them at the bottom of the pile. If you keep poking someone in the eye over and over again they will eventually stamp on your face. Thackery came from a harsh environment but one where there was more hope. He recognised potential in what he saw. Thackery opened their eyes to something else that no-one else thought they were worth telling about.
shareThere is still a stigma attached to people in the East End. If I tell people that I lived in Hackney, they look at me funny and take a step back. Then I tell them that I would move back there if I could and I really get stared at.
some of my teachers live in hackney and started their teaching there. they said that coming to our school was a relief even though we have the usual amount of antics. they told us that the east end is still a bit rougher than many other areas of london
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OOOOH MATRON!
Do people really react like that, Cbudlong? I find that amusing! I grew up in East London (though not Hackney) and I consider myself lucky to have been part of such a multiculturally diverse part of the world.
Do people really react like that, Cbudlong? I find that amusing! I grew up in East London (though not Hackney) and I consider myself lucky to have been part of such a multiculturally diverse part of the world.
Then you probably know that Hackney and Tower Hamlets (where this film was set) are two of the poorest boroughs in the UK, yet they are situated a short bus ride from one of the greatest financial centres in the world.
Some people will look askance when you say you come from that area, but there is also an element of urban cool associated with it as well.
I don't know about Hackney, but Shadwell/Stepney is on its way to being "Hoxtonised"; I guess that means the huddled masses will be pushed a bit further out east to East Ham and Barking as a result. share
I think you can find no better answer to that question than to examine Weston's pervasive cynicism and scorn. His snide "these little bastards have a multitude of tricks" and the theme of his other comments are little different from what they hear and, often enough, feel, from the back of an adult's hand--or worse--all around them, at home and elsewhere. Their attitudes are the shield they have learned to create to try to insulate themselves from this constant attack on their self-respect; they are also a kind of retaliation.
Young people, indeed, all of us, will so often live up to the expectations others have of us--or down.