Review of Waiting for "Superman" (2010) by Nikolaj Z — 17 Oct 2012

"In today's America, no child ever loses. There are no losers anymore, everyone's a winner. No matter what the game or sport or competition, everybody wins. Everybody wins, everybody gets a trophy, no one is a loser. No child these days ever gets to hear those all important character building words: 'Ya lost, Bobby. Ya lost, you're a loser, Bobby.' They miss out on that. Ya know what they tell a kid who lost these days?... 'You were the last winner.' ...A lot of these kids never get to hear the truth about themselves until they're in their twenties, when their boss calls them in and says: 'Bobby, clean the shit out of your desk and get the fuck outta here, you're a loser! Get the fuck outta here!' ...Of course Bobby's parents can't understand why he can't hold a job, in his school he was always on the honor roll. Well, what they don't understand, of course, is that in today's schools EVERYONE is on the honor roll. Everyone is on the honor roll because, in order to be on the honor roll, all you really need to do is maintain a body temperature somewhere roughly in the nineties." - George Carlin (It's Bad For Ya).

I respect the ideal that everybody deserves a chance to succeed. And this film does a great job of showing the lives of a few families who want their children to succeed.

However, I find the context that an education will prepare you for a successful life a bit insulting. It undervalues the importance and honor of many other successful people with ordinary, everyday jobs.

Success is subjective, and so is Happiness. So the value we place on education should also be subjective. And this film does a great job of showing the lives of a few families living in various districts who really want a good education for their children.

In the film, they use an analogy of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier in comparison with people who have given up on improving education... This analogy, though, should apply towards everything in life. Not just education.

"Our schools haven't changed. But the world around them has.".