Lean on Me is a movie that is made to develop the myth that a school principal could raise the test scores of his learners through rejecting and downgrading the faculty members and students who failed to submit to his authority for reflexive obedience. The portrayal of students' scores, educational leadership, and school discipline all agree with Mr. Clark's success claims. John Avildsen directed Lean on Me to be both exciting and inspiring. However, the movie can be seen as simple and misleading, especially on the way the lead character, principal, Mr. Clark, helps the school become a high performer. It is paramount to note that the making of a film can greatly influence its success or failure. Lean on Me making is analyzed and all the critical reactions to it are sampled. Through combining aspects of cinematography, editing, special camera work, sound, and music the director, John Avildsen makes the movie a must-watch.
The making of the film, Lean on Me, shows the fragility of democracy. According to Hyman (1989), the Lean on Me film performed very well in the box office, whereby on March 11, 1989, it grossed 4.5 million dollars, becoming the best earner in the country. The popularity of the film can be attributed to some critics who viewed the movie as a portrayal of how the public can easily be deceived and their democracy corrupted by their willingness to accept easy solutions to the fears they have towards crime, drugs, teenagers, Hispanics, and blacks. The film is made to promote authoritarianism and support strikes as the most resonant idea among the Public for the success of their ideas in the American Republic.
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Joe Clark in Lean on Me is presented as a charismatic authoritarian who becomes an answer to the social problems in society. John Avildsen pushes for draconian methods as the approaches in solving the problems presented in the society. Lean on Me is made in such a way as to depict the notion that the end justifies the means, thus legitimizing the application of outright lies and other manipulations of the truth, in which the media helps accomplish the goals of the charismatic authoritarian Joe Clark. Therefore, Lean on Me became very successful in the box office because of the contributions of the public that wanted to live in the fantasies of the peaceful school environment presented by Mr. Clark.
Lean on Me film was very successful such that it was nominated severally for various awards. For instance, in 1989, the film was nominated for image awards NAACP and won the outstanding motion picture award (IMDb, n.d.). More so, Beverly Todd was nominated as the best lead actress, in the film. The movie was also nominated for the Los Angeles Film, Critics Association Awards 1989, in which the best actor acknowledged was Morgan. In the year 1990, the Lean on Me film was nominated for the Young Artist Awards, in which producer, Norman Twain won. In 1991, the film also won the outstanding motion picture award, in which Morgan Freeman it's lead actor was also acknowledged and awarded (Bioglio & Pensa, 2018). Therefore, the Lean on Me film was a great motion picture drama, which is evident through the various awards it was accorded.
A film's success is measured through professional critic’s opinions. There are several critical reactions to the film, Lean on Me. Brown (2015) views Mr. Clark, the principal of New Jersey's Eastside High as a person that applies tough love to the African-American students as a way of making them responsible. Brown (2015) states that the underlying message of the Lean on Me film is that the public education system is failing parents, students, and society. By being intolerable to the teachers who do not comply with his ruling, Mr. Clark shows that teachers are becoming an obstacle instead of saviors as perceived by society.
Teachers can portray their teaching passion, which originally motivated them into their profession if they are freed from the public system regulations. Brown (2015) perceives the message of Lean on Me as a call to action. The public system acts as a hindrance to the achievement of the school's main goal, which is shaping the future of students, thus the need for a change. The schools can perform well if it starts operating as private enterprises, in which the teachers are not assessed based on how they meet their professional standards on the educational aspects. Brown (2015) views Mr. Clark's ruling of Eastside High as desirable, in helping shape the lives of unruly learners. Therefore, Mr. Clark is important in solving social issues in school.
Some critics view the Lean on Me film’s hero as a danger to democracy. According to Hyman (1989), the Lean on Me film is misleading and simplistic. It shows how the public is easily deceived by being offered simple solutions to their immediate problems such as crime, drugs, blacks, and teenagers. The film is also perceived as misleading by encouraging the ruling of an authoritarian leader by showing that school test results can be raised by rejecting and downgrading the faculty members and students that refuse to submit to Mr. Clark's ruling. According to Hyman (1989), Lean on Me is a film that rationalizes the idea that the end justifies the means, thus legitimizing the use of inappropriate means of disciplining students and leadership. It also depicts how the few people in leadership use media to achieve their selfish goals.
Some critics view Lean on Me as a film portraying the serious dilemma in society, whereby schools out of control can easily be brought back into shape through the use of a serious administrator. However, most critics discredit the film in which they assert that learning cannot take place through intimidation, and the public system regulations are necessary for ensuring the safety of both teachers and learners.
John Avildsen can portray the theme of Lean on Me through his ability to interconnect the storyline with cinematography, editing, sound, music, special effects, and camera work. In the film, the editing mainly focuses on the principal, Mr. Clark. For instance, there is a long continuous shot in the Lunchroom scene in which Mr. Clark is pushing the students into singing the school song. The long continuous shots are the trend in the film, whereby the transitioning is cut to cuts. In the dialogue scenes, the camera is held at an eye level. For instance, in the scene when Mr. Clark is talking to a student, the camera remains at an eye level of the principal and then moves to that of the learner. Most of the shots in Eastside High hallways begin with a faraway focus of the character, and then the individual moving towards the camera.
The sound in the film is interesting, especially when illustrating the motivational speeches of Mr. Clark. For example, on most occasions, the head teacher's voice goes through frequent transitioning of normal to a very muffled state. The music used in the film is significant in the happenings in the film. The music playing in the background aligns with the mood portrayed in the film, which helps in conveying its message effectively. However, Mr. Avildsen did not use special effects in the film Lean on Me, instead, he dramatizes the fight scenes. Inclusive of everything, the look of Lean on Me is real especially, the color scheme. For instance, in portraying the sad moments in the film, Avildsen uses a gloomy look to match the scene. Therefore, the application of these filming techniques has helped to illustrate the main themes of the film.
References
Bioglio, L. & Pensa, R. (2018). Identification of Key Films and Personalities in the History of Cinema from Western Perspective. Applied Network Science, 3, 50.
Brown, T. (2015). Teacher on Film: Changing Representations of Teaching in Popular Cinema from Mr. Chips to Jamie Fitzpatrick. In K. Jubas, N. Taber & T. Brown, Brown Popular Culture as Pedagogy: Research in the Field of Adult Education. (pp. 49-66). Sense.
Hyman, I. (1989). The Make-Believe World of Lean on Me. [Ebook]. Retrieved May 8, 2021, from https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-the-make-believe-world-of-lean-on-me/1989/04
IMDb. Lean on Me (1989) . IMDb. Retrieved May 6, 2021, from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097722/awards .
