"The significance and appreciation of every poet and artist is in his relation to the dead poets and artists". Eliot

Rating: 10/10 (11 September 2012)

The arts and the sciences are so alienated and estranged from each other in their basic views towards life itself that William Blake remarked "Art is the tree of life and science is the tree of death" – a statement that was not only prophetic but also so radical and shocking that hardly anyone considered it worth mentioning because science was beginning to take charge of all knowledge that was 'irrefutable' and 'proven'. Art was slowly and surely being relegated to the 'entertainment', or at best 'leisure' category – something to amuse ourselves with, when we were through working hard everyday in unlocking the 'mysteries of the universe' revealed by science. The authority that science enjoys is so high today, that before it, art is made to look almost like an illegitimate activity when it is not confined to entertainment alone. This process continues till this day, and in schools, colleges and universities all over the world the entire emphasis has been placed upon science, technology and commerce. Arts like poetry are as good as dead.
In this movie, all the students in the expensive college have been sent by their parents so as to prepare them for a lucrative career for themselves as scientists, engineers, doctors or lawyers. There is thus the intense social pressure on them to do well in their science courses, and to ignore or minimize any time spent or activities related to art or humanities. When Keating is appointed as the new poetry teacher, he finds that he has to use every bit of his talent to generate a genuine interest in his pupils for poetry – which is in his eyes the ultimate human passion and for which life is really worth living.
Using unorthodox techniques and settings, Keating manages to generate a spark of passion for poetry in some of his students, who upon being provided the cue by Keating, form a secret Dead Poets Society to pursue their new found interest. Since the very nature of genuine art and poetry is to challenge orthodoxy and conformity, the new found enthusiasm by the students, not tempered with maturity, leads to childish pranks that will lead to trouble with the authorities. The real tragedy occurs when one of the brightest students discovers that his interest and passion lies in the arts – in drama and acting and wants to pursue it, but finds total resistance from his father who wants him to become a doctor, and will not tolerate any disobedience from his son. This is a kind of tragedy that occurs on a colossal scale all over the world everyday when parents force their children to study those areas for which they clearly have no interest and talent. Just the blind rat-race to make lucrative careers for their children, the parents will impose their will even if it ruins the life of the child.
The sad but powerful message that is conveyed by the film is that the commerce based system of education throughout the world has killed 'humanity' in its blind pursuit of 'science' and thereby made the 'dead poet' Blake's prophecy come true. The full force of this truth is yet to be witnessed by 'humans', although the scientifically learned will deny this truth even at the moment of death and destruction.