'Dangerous Minds' Film Review

The 1995 film, 'Dangerous Minds' directed by John N. Smith, highlights a group of troubled students' lives and the lengths a teacher will go to change their lives. The story begins with Michelle Pfeiffer's character, Louanne Johnson applying for a student-teacher job but instead is asked to be a full-time teacher at the 'Academy.' The English literature teacher was thus unprepared for what happened next. As an ex-marine as well, Mrs. Johnson was expecting a well-behaved classroom of students ready and excited to learn. Instead, the classroom was full of students calling her 'white-bread,' making loud noises, intimidating her, and even sexualizing her. Wade Dominquez's character, Emilio Ramirez, thus comes into play, as he hits on Mrs. Johnson it is clear he is the leader, so to speak, of the class. Upset and angry, Mrs. Johnson walks out of the room and believes she cannot teach these students. Her new coworker, Hal Griffith played by George Dzundza, speaks with her and convinces her that she can do it, all she needs to do is get their attention and respect. For the next few classes, Mrs. Johnson teaches karate, mirrors the energy of the class (dresses in black and leather), and tells the students they all have A's and all they have to do is try. One of the first lessons she gives the students is to pick a verb to replace 'want' in the sentence 'we want to die.' The theme of choice is thus introduced as it invokes a thought-provoking concept amongst the students.

For the rest of the movie, the concept of always having a choice is repeated. It is seen in Renoly Santiago's character, Raul Sanchero- he has a choice to fight Emilio, a choice to get expelled, and a choice to come to class. Along with Emilio Ramirez, he has a choice to fight Raul, to murder an enemy, and a choice to come to class. Mrs. Johnson's determination and unconditional willingness to help her students gave them the light and inspiration for a better future. By telling her students they have a choice to be on the streets or in class, she also receives their respect. Despite this, outside responsibilities still take control of some of the stuents' lives. It is seen in Bruklin Harris's character, Callie Roberts, who becomes pregnant or Emilio who had to fight an ex-convict and consequently is murdered.

 

'Dangerous Minds' is a powerful movie for anyone who is or has been involved with the school system. Instead of having a setting in a white-dominant school, the film is set in a poorer environment which highlights the complex lives of troubled students, and the reasons for their behavior in class. Michelle Pfeiffer's character is able to gain their respect and attention which steadily increases throughout the movie. 'Dangerous Minds' not only highlights the issues of troubled students in school and the student-teacher relationship but it also highlights the underlying issues with the board of education. Namely, Mrs. Johnson was hired after three teachers quit because they believed they were not getting enough money for the amount of work and amount of stress that is involved with the job. Additionally, how there isn't enough funding for supplies and more teachers hired to make the over-crowding in the classrooms more bearable. Off of that, the teachers that are willing to work there cannot always follow the strict curriculum, which does not always correlate with what the students are interested in or capable of learning. 'Dangerous Minds' further reveals the complicated spider-web of problems that is the school system. Despite this, there are some problems that I have with this film.

If I were to rate this movie out of five stars, I would give it three to four. I thought a majority of the content was interesting and extremely thought-provoking, although, I was concerned about the way the writers directed Michelle's Pfeiffer's character. She was perfect for acting as a naive teacher who eventually gained the balls to command the class and her overall character, personally, is an excellent example of an amazing teacher. Although, her unconditional willingness to help her students honestly seemed a little exaggerated and fake. I have never seen or heard of a teacher take a student out to dinner as a reward, come to a student's house, or even lend them $200. Do not get me wrong, I think Mrs. Johnson is an excellent teacher and if I wanted to become a teacher I would admire her work. My opinion may also be swayed because I did not grow-up in a poor environment and nearly every student knew how to respect their teachers. Other than giving an example of excellent teaching, I believe this movie's aims were to highlight the problems with the board of education. As I mentioned before, the movie had many example of the problems. The problems though, were only slightly dissected and I thought the writers could have gone more into detail by potentially comparing the issues to other schools or having Michelle Pfeiffer's character lash-out more. There were plenty of moments I thought the movie could have gone more into detail. I would have also liked more character development with the principle, Emilio and his girlfriend, and Hal Griffith. I thought they were important characters in Mrs. Johnson's life but did not have as much depth as I would like. 
Despite all of this, after watching this film for the first time, I would absolutely recommend others to watch it. I thought it was interesting how it was told from a teacher's perspective and how the main theme was about choosing your fate. I also believe we have the power to choose our fate.