Stick it to the man!

Rating: 10/10 (27 November 2016)

Every once in a while there comes a piece of work focusing on disillusionment. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" looks at the conversion of Christmas from a religious festivity to a cynical excuse for frenzied commercialism. Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy consisting of "L'avventura", "La notte" and "L'eclisse" focuses on the alienation resulting from modernity. And now, Richard Linklater's "School of Rock", which looks at anger arising from the co-opting of popular culture. Jack Black plays a raucous, unambitious musician who poses as his friend (a substitute teacher) to take a position at a prestigious elementary school. He proceeds to teach the students about rock's rebellious origins, and how it got turned into a dumbed-down product. Soon, he gets the class to form a band.
In addition to how Black's character gets the students to stick it to the man (his words), the movie also addresses the obsession that many parents have with seeing their children be the best at everything. Joan Cusack's strict disciplinarian is the embodiment of this attitude. Basically, the movie is an excuse to have fun, and it succeeds in every way. It was also interesting to see Sarah Silverman in an early role (I didn't know about her until a few years later, although it turns out that she had appeared in some movies by this point). True, the movie isn't a masterpiece, but it's not supposed to be. If you laugh while watching the movie, then it's done its job.