This movie came out several years ago, I know (I remember Dr. B. going on about it during literature class at Ave) but I only managed to watch it last week, so pity me and put up with a late review.

On the whole, the movie’s message is to encourage young minds to think independently and “seize the day” – or, in slightly looser terms, think what you want and do what you want.

Like most ideas, however, there is some truth to this: we can’t ever grow in knowledge if we restrict ourselves to the concepts of our fathers. However, at the same time, movies such as this encourage a restriction of our knowledge in many other ways: he glorifies free verse and stream-of-consciousness poetry, rejecting its objective assessment (when he has the boys rip out the introduction to the anthology), and encourages purposely ‘marching out of step.’

Though it is true that one ought to have intellectual independence and creativity, it is also true that such a total rejection of tradition is one which lessens our power over language. “Stream-of-consciousness” writing can be effective, certainly, but it is only one tool among many. Effective poetry often requires re-writing and careful consideration of every word, not merely the first description that comes to mind. Again, metre is not something which weakens poetry, but rather something which strengthens it. (As Dr. B. would say, anything sounds more convincing if you can say it in an iambic pentameter.) Free verse uses only one layer of rhythm – the accents within the words themselves. Formal verse uses at least two layers of rhythm, and the words’ accents are played off the beats of the metre to create more powerful and nuanced emphases.

Finally, one ought to study tradition before moving on to one’s own thought, if only to prevent oneself from re-inventing the wheel. What is the point of struggling for truth which has already been attained? One’s efforts can be so much more well-spent.

Throughout all this platitudinous and self-righteous argument, I guess my point is that the movie encourages one aspect of good thought (independence) to the elimination of all others (especially tradition and form). Interesting movie, but too far from the truth, in my opinion.