"Now in my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again."

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2018)

It's with a sad sense of irony that one watches the film today, knowing that Robin Williams took his own life at the age of sixty three a few years ago. No one can truly know what personal demons another person faces daily to bring about such a tragic event. His suicide defied all rationality to anyone who followed his career and he is sadly missed.
I think everyone deserves a teacher like John Keating at least once during their time in school. I came close, there was a teacher in my high school who was as well regarded as Mr. Keating but I was not in one of his classes. Yet he was a personal favorite and always took the time to chat when the opportunity presented itself. Insisting that one learns to think for themselves is probably the most valuable lesson any teacher can inspire, and when that lesson takes hold, you have the triumphant acknowledgment that that teacher is not only a capable instructor, but a valued human being as well.
I've seen this film a number of times and it always manages to impress. You can see the young men of Welton Academy mature as students and as individuals over the course of the story. The death of Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard) certainly strikes a discordant note, but serves to dramatize the inner turmoil one faces when forced to accept outcomes that don't come from the heart. It was unfortunate that he could not seize the day in his own good time, while attempting to conform to his father's accepted principles of Welton - 'Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence'. There should have been some room left over for Humanity.