{"id":42383,"date":"2024-05-03T21:30:48","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T21:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/03\/dead-poets-society-has-some-distinctly-australian-relevance\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T21:30:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T21:30:48","slug":"dead-poets-society-has-some-distinctly-australian-relevance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/03\/dead-poets-society-has-some-distinctly-australian-relevance\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Dead Poets Society\u2019 Has Some Distinctly Australian Relevance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/03\/world\/03ausletter351NL\/03ausletter351NL-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"\u2018Dead Poets Society\u2019 Has Some Distinctly Australian Relevance\" title=\"\u2018Dead Poets Society\u2019 Has Some Distinctly Australian Relevance\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-798hid etfikam0\"><a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/series\/nyt-australia-newsletter?module=inline\" title=\"\"><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\">The Australia Letter<\/em><\/a><em class=\"css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0\"> is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week\u2019s issue is written by Damien Cave, the Australia bureau chief since 2017.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With my 13-year-old daughter home for a break from her one-year adventure at a boarding school in the Australian bush, we put on an old movie the other night that she had asked to see: \u201cDead Poets Society.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As many of you probably know, it\u2019s a coming-of-age story set at an American private school, starring an inspiring teacher played by Robin Williams. I loved it when it came out in 1989 (I was a young teen then myself), but when the director\u2019s name \u2014 Peter Weir \u2014 appeared onscreen in my Sydney living room, I did a double take.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I\u2019d never realized that the movie, a beloved classic for many Americans, was directed by an Australian. Somehow, the same bloke responsible for Australian classics like \u201cGallipoli\u201d and \u201cPicnic at Hanging Rock\u201d was also the director of very American favorites like \u201cDead Poets Society\u201d and \u201cThe Truman Show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like me, or so I would like to believe, Mr. Weir seemed to be conversant in the cultures of these two English-speaking settler nations, able, perhaps, to see more clearly the deep grooves and dark shadows of each because he\u2019d had the chance to look from a distant perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I watched the movie with fresh eyes. I was already looking for what secrets and lessons it might hold for my daughter. I wondered if I would feel more sympathetic to the adults rather than the moderately rebellious teens this time (nope), but I also decided to look for what might make the movie more Australian than I had noticed in earlier viewings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">What, if anything, would Australian audiences have found relevant and relatable?<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At first, the movie struck me as extremely American. I recognized the emphasis on Henry David Thoreau, an American writer who lived not far from where I had grown up in Massachusetts. His quotes from \u201cWalden\u201d about the need to live deliberately and \u201csuck out all the marrow of life\u201d were already in our family mix: I\u2019d sent a bit of Thoreau to my daughter in letters, an analog exchange that I recently wrote about in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/03\/22\/world\/australia\/screen-free-school.html\" title=\"\">an essay for The Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Doing a bit of research, I could see that the film\u2019s screenwriter, Tom Schulman, who won an Academy Award for his efforts, based the story on his own experiences at the prep school he attended in Nashville. And there was a bit of Hollywood narcissism to be found as well \u2014 the lead character, Neil Perry, wanted to be an actor rather than, say, a poet or pianist. There\u2019s nothing movie people love more than to make their own business seem rebellious and heroic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But in Robin Williams\u2019s character, and how he was treated, I felt I could also see a touch of the Australian. Mr. Williams\u2019s performance was remarkably restrained, something that had to come in part from Mr. Weir\u2019s direction. It made the severity of the character\u2019s professional demise at the hands of more traditional forces all the more painful to watch. It worked in part, I think, because John Keating (yes, that\u2019s the name of Williams\u2019s character, no relation to the Australian prime minister) walked to the edge of something very Australian: tall poppy syndrome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Keating was an alumnus of the fictional Welton Academy where he taught. As a student, he was the captain of the soccer team, Cambridge-bound, a founder of the Dead Poets Society \u2014 and voted the \u201cman most likely to do anything,\u201d according to the yearbook found by his students, whom he encouraged to call him \u201cCaptain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He had every reason to toot his own horn, and the fact that the administrators at the school all knew him by his achievements and reputation hinted at resentment and the tall poppy phenomenon \u2014 which can mean a lot of things, but is generally defined as \u201ca societal attitude that occurs when people are resented, disliked or criticized due to their successes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In my experience, many Australians hate that this is a part of their culture, but they also find it nearly impossible to resist. As Ben Shewry, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/06\/13\/dining\/chef-ben-shewry-melbourne-attica-restaurant.html\" title=\"\">the internationally renowned chef<\/a> at Attica in Melbourne, told me when I had just arrived in Oz, Australians are still terrible at celebrating each other\u2019s successes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If Keating had been too big a personality, exuding arrogance or simply resembling Robin Williams the standup comedian, many Australians wouldn\u2019t have connected with the character. But instead, in my reading, he was a tall poppy who found humility while holding onto conviction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As an English teacher, rather than some high-falutin\u2019 university boss, he was quietly calling for carpe diem. He was a guru, not a maverick (\u201cTop Gun\u201d reference!), calmly encouraging nonconformity as he raised his head high and climbed on top of his desk. Yes, he was cut down and blamed for something awful that he was not ultimately responsible for. But maybe that\u2019s the point the movie, and Mr. Weir, wanted to make?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The filmmakers were aiming to call out the guardians of rigidity who see nonconformity as arrogance, regardless of whether it is or not. Americans may gravitate to the antihero in such situations. But while Australians like to see themselves as cultural rebels or Larrikins, in fact, most of the country tends to go along with the wardens and whatever rules there are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I\u2019ve never interviewed Mr. Weir (mate, if you see this, drop me a note), but I know he knows this dynamic from firsthand experience. He attended a conservative all-boys school in Sydney (Scots), where he has said he would have been thrilled to join a version of the Dead Poets Society that gave the film its name.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If there was a message that he wanted to convey, perhaps it was a criticism of Australia\u2019s tendency to denigrate the iconoclast, to tear down the bolder, more creative collaborator \u2014 to see sticking together and staying roughly the same as everyone else, even if that means hovering in mediocrity, as the best way to live in Australia, and in general.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of these struggles came up for me just the other day, when I found myself teaching a journalism class at the University of New South Wales. After running through a lesson on feature writing, I was encouraging students to take on longer, complex, thought-provoking stories, no matter what job in journalism they might have. I told them to go out and report on what they were passionate about without asking for permission.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I did not channel Keating. I did not stand on any desks or ask anyone to call me Captain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But one of the students asked if I had any advice about how to get beyond a narrow role while avoiding disdain \u2014 and being labeled a tall poppy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">I admit that I stumbled with my answer. As an American who has written <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.simonandschuster.com.au\/books\/Into-the-Rip\/Damien-Cave\/9781760857097\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">a book<\/a> in part about the perils of my home country\u2019s culture of extreme individuality, maybe I am more accepting of Australia\u2019s pressure to remain unpretentious together.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Where I ended up was with a suggestion to stay humble as you pursue ideas that do not necessarily fit your job description; to try and show, with the work and not self-promotion, what your passion could add to the publication and for its audience.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like Keating, like Weir, I think I was trying to find a middle ground between the virtues of America and Australia, to build a relationship between the two for the next generation. Maybe that\u2019s something that both countries would benefit from if they both made it a priority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Now here are our stories of the week.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<h2 class=\"css-9ycfei eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-4252d6fd\">Around The Times<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<hr class=\"css-7ad88g e1mu4ftr0\"\/>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Are you enjoying our Australia bureau dispatches?<\/strong><br \/>Tell us what you think at <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/03\/world\/australia\/mailto:nytaustralia@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback\" title=\"\">NYTAustralia@nytimes.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\"><strong class=\"css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10\">Like this email?<\/strong><br \/>Forward it to your friends (they could use a little fresh perspective, right?) and let them know they can sign up <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/newsletters\/nyt-australia\/?te=1&amp;nl=nyt-australia&amp;emc=edit_aust_20190621\" title=\"\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/03\/world\/australia\/dead-poets-society.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Australia Letter is a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau. This week\u2019s issue is written by Damien Cave, the Australia bureau chief since 2017. With my 13-year-old daughter home for a break from her one-year adventure at a boarding school in the Australian bush, we put on an old movie the other night that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/05\/03\/world\/03ausletter351NL\/03ausletter351NL-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[755,169,43862,34573,33983,1642],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42383"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42385,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42383\/revisions\/42385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}