MovieChat Forums > The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972) Discussion > INSENSITIVE TEACHER

INSENSITIVE TEACHER

posted 17 years ago by blainefielding
8 replies | jump to latest

I bought the new DVD of this movie and was struck by one particular scene.

There was an episode in this movie that I found disconcerting to say the least. Usually I try to be politically incorerect, but I found the teacher's handling of the extra Christmas tree to be quite offensive.

Remember she asks the class who doesn't have a Christmas tree at home. This of course the exposes the two girls who raise their hands as too poor or even un-American. What American family doesn't have a Christmas tree ? She then plays a silly game whereby the heroine Addy wins the tree, thereby leaving the other girl whose single mother is unable to afford a tree exposed-and still without a tree.

Admittedly the movie is set at a different time- 1946 small town Nebraska. But still I cringed for the child who was treated so insensitively by her teacher.

I realise this sets up a way for Addy to show her goodness by giving the other girl's family the tree. But still.

Blaine in Seattle

[–] fivefids 17 years ago

To me the teacher, Kathryn Walker, is still "Anita McCambridge" from Slapshot. When I saw this movie again after 30+ years and saw her, all I could think of was the scene in Slapshot where Paul Newman tells her off.

[–] blainefielding 17 years ago

I haven't seen that movie in a long time and do not remember her.

Blaine in Seattle

[–] Itsamoomoo 11 years ago

I disagree. This was a nice gesture on the teacher's part. She knew the tree was going to go to waste so she thought she should give it away to a student in her class who might need it. She didn't know there would be more than one who needed a tree. It was a risk any teacher would no doubt have to take in that situation. It was better to take that chance than to have a nice tree go to waste in the bonfire after the holidays. The teacher wasn't being insensitive at all. There are levels of poverty in all walks of life and at any time, and all kids know this.

You're being too critical.

[–] chicago85 10 years ago

In the early 1960's I went to a school in a suburb but there were plenty of poor people who worked in blue collar jobs. Each homeroom had a tree, We each brought an ornament and a gift for a child. We were told the sex and age to get. Boys brought a gift for a boy and the girls brought one for a girl, When we broke for two weeks at Christmas the tree and gifts went to an unknown family.

At Thanksgiving we would bring a couple of canned goods and they went to unknown families. I don't remember where the turkey or ham would come from. We knew a teacher who taught in an elementry school. She told my mother she had a student in her class who brought a can of food not knowing his family was one of those who would receive help. All this was done to spare the feelings of the children.

I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else

[–] cluvonj 10 years ago

What a sweet story about the student who brought the can of food.

I also remember growing up in the 60s and we also drew names where the boys bought gifts for boys and girls for girls. I remember one year I wished I would draw the name of a friend and I did. We did Christmas plays my first 2 years of school. I did the first grade but not the 2nd grade play. THe pictures from my first grade play are priceless as well as seeing pics of my 2nd grade class even though I was not in the play. We had a tree in the classroom every year too. I really love and miss those days.

One thought I had regarding the teacher and the tree is I thought she said classes when she said the trees went to a bonfire. Well why didn't they think of the 1st to 4th and 6th grade classes and their trees. If everyone in those classes had a tree one of those trees could have been used for Carla. I remember first thinking that as I watched it that the teacher was going to suggest that.

[–] dalemidex 10 years ago

A couple of thoughts...

(a) I thought the teacher's reaction suggested she was surprised and caught off-guard to find that there was more than one family without a tree. I suspect she assumed it would go the house of the girl everyone knew was poor. Had it been something she expected, perhaps she'd have addressed it differently.

(b) The trees from other classrooms would have not been hers to promise, especially on the fly.

(c) The action fit the period relatively well. The modern sensitivity (which some people disparage) as political correctness sprang as reaction to the blunt insensitivity more common in the past. Race, religion, handicap, etc. were more often spoken of in ways which raise our eyebrows today.

[–] neglndr 9 years ago

I had no idea the people in town viewed Jamie Mills as un-American.

I disagree that the teacher's actions fit the period relatively well in fact it's just the opposite. Back then people had more pride in themselves and would be embarrassed to be looked on as poor. They also didn't pry into other people's business like how much money they made or their religious beliefs like they do today. If the parents would have found out what the teacher had asked she would have been chewed out.

[–] sleepingtiger (712) 7 years ago

There's nothing "embarrassing" about being poor---it's just something to work your way up from. I think that, thanks to social media, people know way too much about other's business today, for real. And that' sonly because people are all too willing to put WAY too much of said personal business online. I remember reading about this flick in a TV Guide book (remember those) there was an interview with the young actress who starred in it. I'm not sure if I ever exactly saw it, but I used to watch a whole bunch of Christmas specials as a kid--live-action and animated.