An eloquent apology for the Arts

Rating: Null/10 (30 March 2004)

Dead Poets' Society is one of my favourite films. The story itself may be sentimental at times. However, as an English teacher, I think that one of the most important aspects of this film is its eloquent apology for the Arts, speaking up against all those grey, colourless, unimaginative forces of society who claim that only those things that are "profitable" in terms of dollars and cents are worth while doing.
Teaching and studying poetry, literature or even the arts in general has an infinite value in itself - and still we are oh, so often met by the question: "what are we going to use this for?", or "what possible value does this have?".
John Keating's words - I've memorised them by heart - are the most eloquent reply I have yet heard to such pathetic, Philistine questions. He says: "We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Business, law, medicine, engineering - these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love - these are what we stay alive for!" These are words which should have been forcibly fed to all those right-wing politicians who seem to think that government grants to culture and the arts is only a waste of money. It is not - on the contrary, it is an investment in life itself!
To me, the most touching scene is the very last one, where Keating returns to his room to pick up his personal belongings after having been fired, and the boys, one by one, starting with the shy, modest Todd (Neil's room mate) step up on their desks, saying "Oh Captain, my Captain!" - one final act of defiance against the rigid school rules, one final proof that the seeds sown by Keating have borne fruit after all: the boys will remember what he taught them about thinking for themselves, about avoiding the dangers of conformity, and about striving to see the world from new perspectives.