“Dead Poets Society” - A Lesson in Living

When watching a movie from over 30 years ago, viewers tend to worry the movie will show its age. Whether it is through dated jokes and references or bad effects, most movies, when viewed in the future, are shown to be from a bygone era. 

This was a fear I had when I watched the “Dead Poets Society” for the first time this past week. Everyone had always told me it was an amazing movie, and Robin Williams is at his best in the movie, but I worried they were seeing it through rose-tinted glasses. 

After watching the film, I realized I had made a mistake waiting this long to watch this masterpiece. It combines comedy, drama, growing up, staying young, standing out and conforming to society into one beautiful film that can still teach a first-time viewer years after its release. 

The camera work will leave the viewer in awe. Director Peter Weir sets up incredible shots that leave the viewer feeling like they are in the movie at the most important spots. 

When Robin Williams’ character, John Keating, huddles up with his students, the camera is positioned so the audience is in the group. It makes the audience feel like they are a part of this group and need to learn what he is teaching. 

At the end of the film, when Mr. Keating is being relieved of his duties as a teacher, the students stand up and say, “Oh captain, my captain,” which refers to the poem by Walt Whitman. Weir shows the students standing up from different angles, but it also feels like they are from different perspectives. 

One of the final shots feels like we are seeing it from the perspective of Mr. Keating as he is looking at his student, Todd Anderson. This helps put even more emotion in an already emotional scene as it shows Anderson in tears, staring at the man who helped change his life for the better. 

The camera work is amazing, but what helps the viewer appreciate it even more is the future stars they are looking at. While there are established stars like Robin Williams, Kurtwood Smith and Norman Lloyd, it also helps launch the careers of rising stars of the time like Robert Sean Leonard, Josh Charles and Ethan Hawke. 

Hawke portrays the nervous, anxiety-riddled Todd Anderson, who grows to learn how to accept himself. Leonard plays Neil Perry, who just wants to live his own life, not the one his father has planned for him. 

Charles plays the role of Knox Overstreet, who is deeply in love with someone who is in a relationship with someone else. Williams’s character, Mr. Keating, teaches poetry to his students but also teaches them how to be themselves. 

Keating’s main lesson  is “Carpe Diem,” which is Latin for “Seize the Day.” Perry and Overstreet use the lesson to help them overcome their fears of being rejected, Perry by his father and Overstreet by the girl he loves. 

Perry wants to be an actor, while his father wants him to be a doctor. Mr. Keating helps Perry realize this is his life to live, not his father’s. 

Anderson is the nervous, introverted student who overthinks everything, but with Mr. Keating’s help, by the end of the movie, he becomes confident in who he is and is not afraid to stand up for himself. 

The movie teaches many lessons, but the main one that sticks is to seize the day and live your life not in fear. After watching the movie, it helps the viewer realize that living a life in constant fear is not a life worth living. 

While the movie does tell the audience to pic

k their battles, if something is important to you, it is worth fighting for. Perry expresses this best in his character arc. 

Perry wants to be an actor and an entertainer but is afraid to stand up to his father, who disagrees with this lifestyle for his son. After gaining some confidence, Perry auditions for the local theater and gets the main role. 

He crushes it, but when his father finds out, he is furious and plans to send him to a military academy, then medical school. Perry’s life for the next 10 years will not be his. Late at night, Perry grabs his father’s gun and seizes the day one final time by taking his life. 

This movie plays with the viewer’s emotions as each character has comedic moments but then will have a scene that will hit you in the feels. This is not only one of the best movies I have seen all year, but one of the best of all time.  

If this is not on your watchlist, put it on it immediately. It will inspire you to take control of your life and seize the day.