Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers Mary M

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Journal of Popular Film and Television Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjpf20 Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers Mary M. Dalton a a Wake Forest University Published online: 18 Jun 2013.

To cite this article: Mary M. Dalton (2013) Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers, Journal of Popular Film and Television, 41:2, 78-87, DOI: 10.1080/01956051.2013.787352 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01956051.2013.787352

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Abstract: This article establishes a context for evaluating bad teacher characters and provides a close reading of the 2011 film Bad Teacher by focusing on the plot, the depiction of major characters, and aesthetic elements followed by an assessment of the implications of this film for audiences.

Keywords: curriculum, films, Hollywood, popular culture, teachers, teaching By Mary M. Dalton

Bad Teacher Is Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 or twenty years, I have tion are surprisingly slight, though there Election and Half Nelson that compli- studied representa- are some differences between patterns cate how audiences see the good teacher tions of teachers in displayed in Hollywood films and on character (Dalton, “Revising the Holly- popular culture and the implications of American television (Dalton, The Hol- wood Curriculum”) and the remarkable thoseF depictions for teachers, students, lywood Curriculum: Teachers in the film Elephant, which presents a school and those who interact with teachers or Movies; Dalton and Linder). Only rarely as a collective social space where the students (Dalton, “The Hollywood Cur- does a film emerge that challenges pre- point of view of students marginalizes riculum: Who Is the ‘Good’ Teacher?”). conceptions and expectations. High- adults, including teachers (Dalton, “The By employing categorization schemes lights are revisionist teacher movies like Hollywood View: Protecting the Status to examine how Hollywood casts teachers on film and television, broad patterns have emerged of “good” and “bad” Bad Teacher is altogether different from the films educators, and additional research has revealed that these general archetypes released before it because, in the final analysis, vary in predictable ways according to the sex of the teacher, but that dif- every teacher is revealed to be a bad teacher ferences in characterization related to race, social class, and sexual orienta- operating within a corrupt educational system.

78 Bad Teacher (2011). Directed by Jake Kasdan. Shown from left: Justin Timberlake, Cameron Diaz. Photo courtesy of Claridge Pictures/ Photofest. (Color figure available online.) Bad for Teachers Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 Quo in Schools Onscreen”). If those are also numerous characters in main- are highlights among the hundreds of stream Hollywood films playing the Context teacher movies I have seen, one 2011 bad teacher role, usually providing an When I started writing about teach- release presents a high-profile lowlight unyielding, one-dimensional contrast ers in the movies, there were few voices that is both different and disappointing. to the good teacher or serving as an already engaged in the conversation: Bad Teacher is not a lowlight solely unsuccessful foil in a supporting role Stanley Aronowitz, William Ayers, Rob because the main character is a bad opposite a more prominently featured Edelman, Henry Giroux, and Roger I. teacher. There have been a number of good teacher. Bad Teacher is altogether Simon. Now, the conversation is much provocative films in which good teach- different from the films released before richer. While my own perspective as a ers cross the proverbial line to do bad it because, in the final analysis, every scholar has remained basically one of things (such as Election and Half Nel- teacher is revealed to be a bad teacher critical media studies employing cur- son, mentioned earlier), notable por- operating within a corrupt educational riculum theory, feminist theory, queer traits of complex characters deploying system. This article will establish a con- theory, narrative theory, aesthetic analy- their influence unethically with tragic text for evaluating bad teacher charac- sis, and other theoretical frameworks as consequences (The Prime of Miss Jean ters and provide a close reading of Bad needed to explicate the texts at hand, Brodie), and softcore films featuring Teacher focusing on the plot of the film, others have brought more direct appli- teachers as sex objects (or even a mur- the depiction of major characters, and cations into play in ways that, I believe, derous seducer in Xtra Credit). There the aesthetic treatment of the story. expand the conversation meaningfully.

79 80 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

Some of the most interesting work published in recent years recounts how The bad teacher in the movies is generally professors of education use popular culture to prepare pre-service teachers for presented as a counterpoint to the good teacher the classroom. Ronald Soetaert, Andre Mottart, Ive Verdoodt, Dierdre Glenn lionized on celluloid or as a potential foil for a Paul, and James Trier contribute to this strand of discourse. Jacqueline Bach, band of teenagers. Robert C. Bulman, and Alan S. Marcus are among the scholars linking cinema to particular disciplines to provide useful analyses and resource guides. Some that established form, a set of common ers in the movies is their outsider status, of the more recent books go beyond the characteristics defines the good teacher though this characterization says more traditional study of educators in cinema in movies; I have termed this the Holly- about the rugged individualism champi- to include other popular forms, such as wood Model, and I outlined the traits in oned in Hollywood film than anything Education in Popular Culture: Telling The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers in particular about teacher characters. Tales on Teachers and Learners by Roy in the Movies (ch. 2). This model con- In terms of linking an actual theory Fisher, Ann Harris, and Christine Jarvis structs the good teacher as an outsider of curriculum to the movies, I have em- and Teacher TV: Sixty Years of Teach- not liked by other teachers, someone ployed a schema developed by Dwayne ers on Television, which I co-authored involved with students on a personal Huebner. When Huebner discusses his with Laura R. Linder. The discussions level, someone who learns from stu- five value frameworks for curricular in these works are vigorous and useful; dents, someone who personalizes the thought—technical, political, scientific, this is but an overview intended to con- curriculum to meet everyday needs in aesthetic, and ethical—he argues that vey the scope of the conversations tak- students’ lives, and someone who expe- none of the five values he proposes ex- ing place, conversations this special is- riences conflict with administrators. The ists in a vacuum separate from the other sue of the Journal of Popular Film and Hollywood Model of the good teacher four and that none is inherently good or Television will surely expand. is immediately recognizable to anyone bad. I have proposed that Hollywood The history of feature-length, nar- who has watched many American films constructs good teachers as those who rative cinema is not quite one hundred because of the iconic stature accorded use some combination of aesthetic– years old at the time of this writing. Yet, these characters, but much less atten- ethical–political values in the sense that movies about teachers date back to the tion has been paid to the antithesis of Huebner writes of them (Dalton, “The early days of the form, and the iconic the good teacher, such as the outrageous Hollywood Curriculum: Who Is the good teacher became a staple charac- middle school teacher Elizabeth Halsey ‘Good’ Teacher?”; The Hollywood Cur- ter during the Hollywood studio era, (Cameron Diaz) in Bad Teacher. riculum: Teachers in the Movies). The which had its heyday in the 1930s and The bad teacher is generally pre- bad teacher in the movies is generally 1940s. Starting in its primitive phase sented as neither liked nor disliked (by presented as a counterpoint to the good with Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) and de- colleagues) but as part of the system teacher lionized on celluloid or as a po- veloping widely recognized and firmly embedded so deeply into the structure tential foil for a band of teenagers. In

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 established conventions in films such as of the school as institution that he or either scenario, the bad teacher is a sup- Blackboard Jungle (1955), To Sir, With she must be accepted or at least toler- porting player, and in most cases, that Love (1967), Conrack (1974), Stand ated. While good teachers get involved teacher exemplifies Huebner’s technical and Deliver (1988), Dangerous Minds with students and genuinely seem to like or scientific value system. Bad teachers (1995), and Freedom Writers (2007),1 them, bad teachers find students boring, in the movies are also signified by the the good teacher movie has become are afraid of them, or are eager to domi- absence of the aesthetic–ethical–politi- such a mainstay of Hollywood produc- nate them. The good teacher often has cal value frameworks in their teaching. tion that cycles of the genre now include an antagonistic relationship with admin- While the latter is true for Elizabeth a parody, High School High (1996), and istrators, whereas the bad teacher fits Halsey in Bad Teacher, she departs from the revisionist teacher films Election into the administration’s plans for con- the typical depiction of the bad teacher (1999) and Half Nelson (2006). This trolling students. Finally, as good teach- by claiming center stage and reducing completion of the generic cycle suggests ers personalize the curriculum to meet all supporting players to her base level. that the good teacher movie has reached everyday needs in students’ lives, bad Although rarely depicted in films, maturity as a genre because parody and teachers follow the standardized cur- Huebner describes the scientific value revisionism cannot exist without refer- riculum, which they adhere to in order framework as “that activity which pro- encing a basic form that is built around to avoid personal contact with students, duces new knowledge with an empiri- a set of established conventions, all of or they ignore curriculum altogether ex- cal basis” (225), and bad teachers in which requires a consensus about what cept for personal gain. One characteris- the movies have been known to steal constitutes those conventions. As part of tic shared alike by good and bad teach- students’ work or to co-opt students into Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers 81

working on projects. Of these two value film. For the purposes of this article, I into the second and third acts of the film frameworks, the technical and the scien- am referring to the theatrical version. and the events constituting the midpoint tific, almost all the bad teachers in the Like it or not, people are watching. of the film. Despite the fact that the film movies represent the negative side of is promoted with an iconic image of the technical values. Huebner presents the main character, Elizabeth Halsey, in the technical value framework as one cen- Bad Teacher classroom either passed out or sleeping tered on measurable outcomes. Techni- at her desk, most of the plot is driven cal values include an effort toward ef- Plot by her personal desires. Bad Teacher ficiency and a focus on evaluation with The Hollywood curriculum linking certainly is not a film about learning probable moves toward quality control. these popular films delivers an enter- unless we posit that there is a hidden Huebner maintains that this curricular taining narrative that most audiences curriculum suggesting that all teachers discourse, which undoubtedly remains consume uncritically because the stories are bad and the system is corrupt—not the dominant discourse about public offer the drama of a perceived conflict the lesson we hope for in popular films. education, is both valid and necessary, (involving teachers and/or students) That is, however, essentially the subtext but it is reductive to take the whole of and the comfort of a familiar outcome folded into a film about one woman’s human knowledge and individual ex- (i.e., order is restored at the end of the quest for a bonus that ends, not unex- pression and contort the richness of film). The tension engages viewers, pectedly, in a relationship with a gym that experience to fit within this very but the probable outcome is seldom in teacher she spurns throughout most narrow educational model. Bad teach- doubt. This classical narrative structure of the movie, a character named Rus- ers in the movies place measurable out- simplifies complex issues and offers the sell Gettis (Jason Segel). In almost all comes—high scores on standardized assurance that every problem has a so- teacher films, women teachers are not tests or orderly classrooms are the most lution. The structure is reified in Aris- allowed to express their sexuality with- common—above unselfish interaction totle’s Poetics, and Hollywood writers, out being punished, a standard that is with students. While most bad teachers directors, and producers have canonized not applied to male teachers in the mov- in the movies are presented as caring it so that the formula has been repli- ies, who often have wives, girlfriends, only about achieving perfect discipline cated for decades. This way of thinking same-sex partners, or other love inter- or some vague notion of academic out- about stories, not to mention thinking ests. This is a remarkable pattern that come, I cannot recall another like the about the stock characters (such as good persists across time, a double standard main character in Bad Teacher, a middle teachers) that populate them, seems to that I have traced to the lived experience school teacher who ignores her students be the major recognizable reality in Hol- of actual teachers and explained with for the first half of the year then snaps lywood movies, and the boundaries be- the application of feminist theory and into action the second semester when tween popular texts and personal ones psychoanalytic theory (The Hollywood she learns that the teacher whose stu- are notoriously “leaky” (Fiske 126). Curriculum: Teachers in the Movies, ch. dents receive the highest scores on a Our expectations of teachers in real life 5). It is curious that the film Bad Teacher standardized test gets a $5,700 bonus, are informed by the interplay between features an dislikeable teacher who ma- an amount will make it possible for her commercial film and lived experience. nipulates and deceives men throughout to have breast augmentation surgery. Bad Teacher tracks the conventional the film yet ends up with a man who ac- Why should we care about Bad narrative construct Syd Field adapted cepts, and even adores, her while know- Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 Teacher? We care because people are from traditional Aristotelian structure, ing her flaws. While it is refreshing to watching and making connections a construct that dominates Hollywood see a double standard shattered, Eliza- among teacher movies and links be- cinema. beth Halsey manages to bring everyone tween these media texts and their lived Particularly interesting elements down to her level by the end of the film, experiences. Films like this are aimed at of the plot of Bad Teacher are the key which makes this story something of a teenagers and young adults and are ap- events situated as plot points leading Pyrrhic victory. pealing to tweens precisely because they are marketed as provocative. Even with bad reviews (though some critics ad- mired Diaz’s performance), the industry site Box Office Mojo (www.boxoffice Despite the fact that the film is promoted with mojo.com) puts theatrical earnings for Bad Teacher just over $100,000,000. an iconic image of the main character, Elizabeth The film opened June 24, 2011 on a healthy 3,049 screens in North America, Halsey, in the classroom either passed out or and the DVD has subsequently been released in conjunction with Columbia sleeping at her desk, most of the plot is driven Pictures on a disc that contains both the unrated and theatrical versions of the by her personal desires. 82 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

Bad Teacher (2011). Directed by Jake Kasdan. Shown from left: Unidentified, Cameron Diaz. Photo courtesy of Claridge Pictures/Photofest. (Color figure available online.)

The film begins at the end of an aca- offers a ready reply: “Some clips maybe. a table with Russell, where they banter demic year with Elizabeth leaving the But, you know, in a lot of ways, I think and drink beer while Amy gyrates on the job she’s held for one year while plan- that movies are the new books.” As the dance floor in front of the band. Russell ning her wedding to a wealthy man, weeks pass, movies continue to roll with asks Elizabeth out, as he has since the continues through the following year as less and less attention to content.2 first day of school, and she rejects him she schemes to get money for breast im- The plot of Bad Teacher centers on once again, which doesn’t put him off plants to attract Scott Delacorte (Justin Elizabeth’s quest to get breast implants in the least. Scott sings “Simpatico,” his Timberlake), and ends with her return- to attract Scott, and her first effort to first original composition, a song that ing for a third year at the school after raise money for the procedure involves reveals his feelings for Amy in front of

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 being promoted to guidance counselor. displacing Amy as supervisor of the their coworkers, which makes Elizabeth There are many scenes of Elizabeth in student car wash to raise funds for the livid. Only on the ride home, when an- the classroom during the fall semester spring field trip to the state capitol so other colleague mentions that there is a during which she shows movies to the Elizabeth can embezzle money to put $5,700 state bonus for the teacher whose students while she sleeps at her desk ei- in the fishbowl she has labeled “New students get the highest scores on the Il- ther nursing a hangover from the previ- Tits.” The major turning point at the end linois Standard Achievement Test, does ous night or getting drunk or high from of the first act takes place at the Christ- Elizabeth pull herself together, deter- the stash hidden under a false bottom mas dance, when Scott reveals to Eliza- mined to get that money for her breast in her lower desk drawer. She begins beth he is “crushing” on Amy, and an implants and to outperform the teacher showing old copies of teacher films the angry Elizabeth subsequently gets high who wins every year—Amy. very first day of class. Notably, three in the gym with Russell but still sees The second half of the film shows a of the four films she screens in class him as inadequate. The major storyline markedly different teacher in the class- are biopics shown in this order—Stand in the film is clearly the personal sta- room. Her desire to win the competition and Deliver, Lean on Me, and Danger- tus of the four main characters—Eliza- pushes Elizabeth to actually teach, but ous Minds. When Principal Wally Snur beth, Russell, Amy, and Scott. At the there is too much ground to make up (John Michael Higgins) asks her about midpoint of the film, the four of them and too little time to get there, so she showing movies in class (presumably are at a country music bar, the Cowboy seduces and drugs an official to secure Amy [Lucy Punch] has revealed this), Palace Saloon, where the teacher band a copy of the test. When the results of Elizabeth wears a sweet expression and Fifth Period performs. Elizabeth sits at the text are announced, John Adams Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers 83

Middle School places in the top five state and says goodbye to her colleagues objective measures (without cheating), percent of the entire state, and Principal at the final faculty meeting of the year, she is presented as mentally unstable Snur announces, “I want to single out immediately after which Scott suggests and unethical. There is no evidence that one of our own who shows that with that he and Elizabeth can “start over.” Elizabeth is an effective teacher even hard work and dedication, one teacher This time, Elizabeth brushes Scott off, when she begins to try in the classroom, can make a difference.” Russell and having decided that Russell may be a because she cheats for her students to Amy are both skeptical when the princi- better fit for her. When she goes to the get good test scores. And Principal Snur pal announces that Elizabeth’s students gym to find Russell, he begs her to find is easily misled by Elizabeth’s manipu- have earned the highest scores in Cook another job, any other job, but Eliza- lation. All of this leads us to the end of County, but Elizabeth smiles calmly beth says teaching is the only thing she the film. Clearly, viewers are supposed at the announcement, takes the bonus is good at, which should make viewers to think that Elizabeth has mellowed or, check, and snaps into action. She puts grimace. They banter, kiss, and leave to- even more difficult to believe, that she an apple on Amy’s desk that has been gether. When they return to school the always harbored good intentions deep tainted with poison ivy to keep her from next fall as a couple, Russell remains inside. There is no evidence to support chaperoning the field trip to Springfield a gym teacher, and Elizabeth has been this other than that she finally gets to- with Scott. Elizabeth fills in on the trip, promoted to guidance counselor. gether with Russell, decides to forego which launches a sequence of events The plot follows a conventional struc- the breast implants, and suggests split- leading to the resolution of the film. Go- ture that establishes the love story as the ting the check with a timid co-worker ing into the third act, Elizabeth engages primary storyline, though it intersects who treated Elizabeth to lunch the year in one of the most uncomfortable sex the teaching storyline with Elizabeth’s before. This second ending of the film scenes in teacher movie history when quest for money from the car wash (the new school year) feels tacked on she “dry humps” Scott and figures out and the state bonus. There are a series and false. Better to have ended with how to leave aural evidence of the en- of setups and payoffs and a number of Elizabeth leaving the gym with Russell counter on Amy’s mobile phone. It’s a reversals along the way. The linear nar- and giving viewers a more fluid ending frustrating encounter that reveals some rative is organized according to conven- with regard to her professional life. tion and plays against some of the rules of Scott’s quirks, and when Elizabeth of good teacher movie (a feat accom- runs into Russell in the hallway as she plished with more diligence if not suc- Character emerges from Scott’s hotel room, he is cess in the parody High School High), From the beginning, viewers are en- the one who rebuffs her without missing but the ending does not ring true. Since couraged to see Elizabeth as the bad a beat. we have never seen Russell engaged teacher and Amy as the good teacher, This crossing of lines, Elizabeth mak- in teaching and his laziness is implied though by the end of the second act, the ing out with Scott, Amy getting even rather than presented explicitly, it is not line between categories has begun to with Elizabeth by switching desks to clear whether he is good, bad, or sim- blur. Because these are the teachers who learn her secrets, and Russell deciding to ply falls into the shadow of all physical represent the two poles, and because stop his pursuit of Elizabeth, sets events education teachers in movies (Dalton, they are the two most often depicted in in motion for the resolution of the film. The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers the classroom, Elizabeth and Amy will At this point, the good teacher has de- in the Movies 77–80). Similarly, Scott be the characters specifically considered

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 scended to the level of the bad teacher, is never shown teaching but is presented here. It is unusual among teacher films which renders the distinction meaning- as a rich milquetoast with more than a to see the bad teacher presented as the less. Amy absolves Scott of blame in few kinks hiding beneath his preppy/ protagonist (established by Aristotle the encounter, a version of events he nerdy exterior. It is Elizabeth, Amy, as a heroic but flawed character) and meekly accepts, charges that Elizabeth and Principal Snur we have seen most even more unusual for the good teacher cheated on the test, and reveals that the clearly as educators throughout the film. to play the role of antagonist, but this bad teacher is using drugs. Amy, whose Although Amy has been effective by structure makes it easier to level the mental instability has been hinted at previously in the film, goes on a rampage. Ultimately, Elizabeth gets out of the test tampering charge by blackmailing the From the beginning, viewers are encouraged to official who gave her the test, and she gets out of the drug charge by implicat- see Elizabeth as the bad teacher and Amy as ing Amy. The principal and superintendent supervising the proceedings are ei- the good teacher, though by the end of the ther too dense to figure out what is going on or too afraid of bad publicity to give second act, the line between categories has in to the truth. At any rate, Amy is reas- signed to one of the worst schools in the begun to blur. 84 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

playing field and make the point that by dressing like a tour guide and talk- earning the $5,700 bonus to pay for her there really are no good teachers at John ing to students through a megaphone surgery. In keeping with a characteristic Adams Middle School, often referred to about how “cruising through eighth of all teachers who play leading roles, as JAMS. grade social studies” is “going to be a whether good or bad or somewhere in As noted previously, the Hollywood crazy ride,” but it is clear from cutaway between, Elizabeth maintains her out- Model constructs the good teacher as an shots of students that they are shocked sider status. She is situated as an out- outsider who is not liked by other teach- rather than engaged. One element of the sider through her own actions: smoking ers, someone involved with students on Hollywood Model that does hold true pot in her car, drinking in class, hook- a personal level, someone who learns for Amy is her continued conflict with ing up with Chicago Bulls to try to get from students, someone who personal- Principal Snur over Elizabeth, reporting pregnant, stealing money from the car izes the curriculum to meet everyday her for embezzling, drug use, test fraud, wash fundraiser, cheating on the stan- needs in students’ lives, and someone and other infractions that are true but dardized test, stealing a figurine from a who experiences conflict with admin- unproven. student’s house to give to the principal, istrators. From the outset of the film, If she does not perfectly fit the Hol- making cruel remarks to every character Amy’s positioning as the good teacher lywood Model of the good teacher, then she does not need, and lying whenever is suspect according to some of these who is Amy? She is an imperfect fac- it suits her purpose. There is no level measures. The only teachers she inter- simile designed to evoke the impression too low for Elizabeth to go if it suits her acts with in significant ways onscreen we have of a good teacher—maintains needs. At the end of the film, when Scott are Scott, who becomes her boyfriend, a perfect classroom, places desks in tries to strike up a relationship with her, and Elizabeth, who becomes her neme- groups rather than rows, possesses a she does not rebuff him because not sis. Aside from these two characters and perky demeanor, supervises extracur- doing so would be dishonest but walks Principal Snur, Amy does not interact ricular activities—but failing to pos- away because her wants have changed. enough with other characters to deter- sess the most important characteristics mine whether or not she is liked. There is of good teachers on the screen. Amy Aesthetics one tongue-in-cheek reference to learn- does not make authentic connections ing from students. Just before students with students and transform their lives. The film opens with the 1980 song return to school, Elizabeth comes to Amy’s character, by necessity, must “Teacher Teacher” by Rockpile under- Amy’s classroom door and surveys the be less likeable than the protagonist— neath a montage of found footage of immaculate, brightly decorated room, the promiscuous, gold-digging, potty- teachers and students across time peri- noting that there is an apple on each mouthed, self-absorbed Elizabeth. How ods and cultures. Some of the images student’s desk before picking one up to achieve this? That is the dilemma. convey an idyllic view of the classroom and biting into it. “I thought the teach- What do viewers like less than a bad with lots of instruction, apples for the ers were supposed to get the apples,” teacher? Amy is a hypocrite. teacher, and students raising their hands says Elizabeth (setting up the scene As for Elizabeth, she reveals her enthusiastically, but there are also some later in the film when she will place a character time and time again. Recall strange concoctions in the lunchroom, tainted apple on Amy’s desk). Notably, that the bad teacher character is usually a shot of the Three Stooges, and an Amy Squirrel’s red hair is bound up in a part of the landscape rather than some- animated clip. The opening is a visual a ponytail that is styled to look like the one overtly liked or disliked by his or hodgepodge, and the song itself strikes

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 bushy tail of a squirrel. Amy replies, her peers. This is the case for Elizabeth, an ironic note. The music sounds like a “Well, I think the students teach me at too, in Bad Teacher. Also, bad teach- bright pop tune, but the lyrics describe least as much as I teach them. That’s just ers find students boring, are afraid of a student in love with the teacher and something I say sometimes.” There is a them, or are eager to dominate them. eager for instruction on matters far out- beat between the two lines, and Amy de- For Elizabeth, students are nonentities, side the approved curriculum. Even livers the second line with uncertainty, and she never learns their names, even though she has a bad disposition and which makes the first statement a refer- in the second half of the film after she lack of interest in them, it is certain that ence to what is expected of good teach- tries to cram facts into their heads be- many of the male students at JAMS (and ers while the second statement reveals it fore the test. She cares nothing about their fathers, gym teacher Russell, and to be an untruth. Amy tries to personal- her students and whether or not they one teacher who, it is implied, is a les- ize the curriculum the first day of class learn; she cares only for herself and bian) have carnal thoughts about Eliza- beth Halsey. Despite the dissonance cre- ated by the conflicting images, which dissolve from period footage into a shot From the first scenes of the film, a clear of students spilling out of the front doors of JAMS on the last day of school, and distinction is drawn between Amy and Elizabeth the difference in tone between the pop sound of the opening song and its mes- by their cars, living spaces, and classrooms. sage, the overall mood established from Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers 85

the outset is light, bright, and airy. That will soon change; after all, the film has The bad teacher is the main character. been termed a black comedy. From the first scenes of the film, The good teacher is not very likeable. a clear distinction is drawn between Amy and Elizabeth by their cars, living spaces, and classrooms. When Elizabeth can tell that Amy drives a nondescript, Amy is her antithesis. Amy has a more leaves the school following her first blue-green station wagon, which evokes natural look than Elizabeth. Her makeup year of teaching, she plans to marry her a nostalgic sense of family. is muted. Her hair, though usually worn wealthy fiancé and never return to work. The contrast between the two charac- down after the opening scene’s ponytail, She leaves the faculty meeting, climbs ters in terms of costuming and makeup is more subdued than Elizabeth’s blonde into her red Mercedes sports coupe, and is equally stark. In the scene near the mane. The biggest difference between tears out of the parking lot in reverse beginning of the film when Elizabeth the two is their clothing, however. Amy while smoking a cigarette and nearly goes to the final faculty gathering, she is costumed in looser-fitting outfits, plowing into a school bus. The Illinois is wearing a demure yellow dress and usually pants and tops in earth tones license plate on the back of her car, sipping champagne as colleagues she and pastels incorporated into printed flanked by hearts, reads “HERS.” Not seems to hardly know wish her well patterns. There is nothing suggestive for long. When Elizabeth’s fiancé real- with her upcoming wedding and pres- or provocative about Amy’s costuming, izes she is a gold-digger, he dumps her, ent her with a gift certificate for $37 to with the exception of the scene at the and she returns to work three months Boston Market. She seems a little dis- Cowboy Palace Saloon where the Fifth later driving a compact car that looks tant, perhaps, but nothing like the bad Period plays. At first, she is wearing like a clunker. It is red and sports the teacher she will become the following jeans, a leather jacket, and a knit shirt same tag, but everything else is dif- year when forced to return to teaching beneath. When Amy takes off the jacket, ferent this time around for Elizabeth. for the paycheck. Most of time, Eliza- it turns out she is wearing a tight-fitting From her fiancé’s palatial home, she beth’s hair is flowing wild, her make- tank top. After Scott sings “Simpatico” has moved into a dumpy little apartment up is harsh around the eyes and mouth, and Elizabeth becomes angry about the shared with a man she met on Craigslist. and her clothing is tight and suggestive. situation, the camera focuses on Amy’s The small rooms are beige, impersonal, She wears mostly black and red, some- generous cleavage bouncing up and and appear slightly unkempt. Elizabeth times accented with gray or white, and down in slow motion from a perspec- seems to have little regard for her apart- usually sports extremely high heels that tive approximating Elizabeth’s point of ment or for her classroom, viewing both accentuate her height and long legs. view. Amy, who clearly wins this round of them as way stations before she lands When she wears red, it is usually in an of their competition, is wearing neither a rich man to provide for her. Her class- attempt to inflame the passions of those an earth tone nor a pastel as usual but a room is too Spartan to be unkempt. The around her, and her lipstick is dark red rich purple color, a tone associated with chairs are in rows facing the blackboard until the end of the film. Not only is her royalty. and the teacher’s desk, where Eliza- wardrobe overtly sexy, but Elizabeth of- Finally, it is important to look at the beth generally sleeps while the students ten crosses the line into what might be position of the camera to tell another watch movies on the television mounted termed “trashy” attire, which reinforces layer of the story. Throughout the film,

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 on a rolling cart. her status as an outsider. It is worth not- Elizabeth is shot from an angle slightly In contrast, Amy’s classroom has stu- ing that while under investigation by lower than eye level, which gives her dents grouped in workstations around the principal and superintendent over an implicit authority and also conveys the brightly decorated room. In the fall, Amy’s allegations, Elizabeth dons black power dynamics among the central there are autumn leaves on the bulletin glasses and pulls her hair back, though characters. Three scenes in particular boards and tones of yellow, orange, and the black dress she wears is formfitting. illustrate the point. First, consider the red throughout the room. During the In the final scene of the second school scene in Amy’s office when Elizabeth spring term, pastel colors decorate the year, Elizabeth is wearing looser cloth- takes an apple. Amy sprawls across one boards. The room is vibrant and well ing, dark slacks, a white blouse, and a of the desks as Elizabeth stands opposite organized. We see less of Amy’s living gray sweater. Her lipstick is a pale pink. looking down at her. Amy says, “Look, space and, without an establishing shot, As stated before, this is the natural end I know you kind of skated by last year do not know if she lives in an apartment of the movie. In the actual final scene doing the bare minimum thing, but I just or a house, but the interior is comfortable of the film, the lipstick is still pale, but wanna say, now you’re back, I just know and homey. She has a pet turtle, a healthy Elizabeth is wearing an incredibly short, you are going to get your teachin’ on.” plant by the sofa, and the dominant col- tight dress. She is carrying an assort- Amy is making a cutting remark about ors are a cheerful yellow and chocolate ment of cacti in a terracotta pot, osten- Elizabeth, the bad teacher, but visually brown. From a quick shot of her car sibly for her new desk. The ending may Elizabeth is the more powerful figure when she drives up to JAMS to confront not work, but the plants in the pot seem as she looks down (literally and figu- Elizabeth after the school field trip, we fitting for her personality. ratively) on the good teacher. The first 86 JPF&T—Journal of Popular Film and Television

those underprivileged students at Mal- This type of narrow and negative stereotyping colm X High School.” There is also a reductive exploration of gender, par- in a widely seen film like Bad Teacher is ticularly among women characters, with women falling into the dichotomy destructive and frames expectations of viewers of “good girls” and “bad girls” based on their sexual behavior. Elizabeth and who see the same patterns repeated onscreen Amy represent this most broadly, but it is suggested that these are universal in other films … types that are replicated in the younger set and represented among students by Chase Rubin-Rossi (Kathryn Newton) school day after Elizabeth has learned teacher is not very likeable. The bad and Sasha Abernathy (Kaitlyn Dever). about the state bonus for the highest test teacher is photographed in such a way There is also the implication, presented score, there are big changes in her class- that she is trashy-looking but powerful. in unflattering ways, that a teacher room. The scene opens with a wide shot The good teacher turns out to be at least named Ms. Pavicic (Jillian Armenante) of Elizabeth standing in front of her desk as deeply flawed as the bad teacher, and is a lesbian. Finally, it is clear that most in the empty classroom waiting for the she ends up taking the blame for some of the students at the school are from students. She wears a pencil slim beige of the most egregious rule-breaking upper-middle-class families while most skirt and red top and is photographed perpetuated by the bad teacher. No one of the teachers, especially Elizabeth and from lower angle than usual, making operates from a position of moral au- Russell, are having a much harder time her seem even taller. As the students en- thority. None of this makes sense in the making ends meet. The parents seem ter, she sits on the desk, and one student schema of conventional good teacher to care less about what the children are asks, “Where is the TV?” It’s a logical movies, but the competing messages learning than about the grades and test question, but the visual cues—including do lay a foundation for a film in which scores they receive, and many of them the fact that there are questions related the central premise is that there are no are willing to pay Elizabeth “for sup- to the curriculum written on the board— good teachers—the dominant ideology plies” to make sure their children get should have given the students pause. of Bad Teacher—despite the fact that the grades their parents want. This type When one boy cracks a joke, Elizabeth viewers are encouraged to root for Eliz- of narrow and negative stereotyping in kicks him out and informs the students, abeth Halsey and to feel positive about a widely seen film like Bad Teacher is “We’re here to learn.” This is the first her romance and promotion. destructive and frames expectations of time Elizabeth has thought about student viewers who see the same patterns re- learning, and it is happening because of peated onscreen in other films, even in her self-interest. The only character in a supposedly “serious” recent film like the film that shares Elizabeth’s social Implications Won’t Back Down (2012), intended to space within the frame as an equal is Why is the film bad for teachers and impugn teachers with tenure and under- Russell. In their scenes together, and in others? Most obviously, the film is bad mine unions representing teachers.The his scenes with other characters, Russell for viewers because of the overarching implications of film depictions affect

Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 is also consistently photographed from message that there are no good teachers teachers, students, parents, and policy- an angle lower than eye level, a visual and that the educational system is cor- makers. I think idealized “good” teach- cue that Russell and Elizabeth are linked rupt at every level. There are also im- ers, who are simultaneously heroic and from the very beginning of the film. plications regarding our understanding ineffective, cause viewers to dichoto- While most of the aesthetic elements of race, gender, sexual orientation, and mize real teachers into camps of “good” of the film reinforce major ideas and social class. Elizabeth utters two ethnic and “bad” in ways that are not only themes, some of these elements conflict slurs in the film with impunity. There is reductive but that also foster a lack of with them. That is not unexpected, be- very little racial diversity in the class- trust in teachers, their training, and their cause popular films are rich texts filled room, and the one African American professionalism. When all the educators with competing messages—even when student who is given a name and lines of are bad, as in Bad Teacher, the effect some ideologies are dominant in partic- dialogue, Shawn (Adrian Kali Turner), is amplified. This film may have been ular movies or in genres of films—and is depicted at the Christmas dance argu- marketed as provocative and as a chal- that conflict is part of what drives the ing with Russell about whether LeBron lenge to the status quo, but there is noth- drama of Hollywood narratives. From James is a better basketball player than ing radical about this bad movie even the outset, Bad Teacher breaks some of Michael Jordan. When Amy announces though it could have unintended con- the established rules, but its conflicts are that she is leaving JAMS to go to one sequences by inadvertently reinforcing not so much internal to the film as ex- of the worst schools in the state, she actual educational policies that focus ternal with films in the genre. The bad says, “And, boy, I am looking forward on accountability and outcomes mea- teacher is the main character. The good to bringing my brand of zany energy to sured solely by standardized testing. In- Bad Teacher Is Bad for Teachers 87

stead of wasting time with Bad Teacher, Aronowitz, Stanley. “Working-Class Iden- Giroux, Henry A., and Paulo Freire. “Fore- either open it up to critique or seek bolder tity and Celluloid Fantasies in the Elec- word.” Popular Culture: Schooling & visions. Find films and other texts with tronic Age.” Popular Culture: Schooling Everyday Life. Henry A. Giroux, Roger I. and Everyday Life. Ed. Henry A. Giroux Simon, and Contributors. New York: Ber- radical teachers who use the Hollywood and Roger I. Simon. New York: Bergin & gin & Garvey, 1989. Print. Model as a springboard for political Garvey, 1989. 197–217. Print. Huebner, Dwayne. “Curricular Language action that at least nudges at the status Ayers, William. “A Teacher Ain’t Nothin’ and Classroom Meanings.” Curriculum quo.3 Teachers who fit the Hollywood but a Hero.” Images of Schoolteachers in Theorizing: The Reconceptionalists. Ed. Model may be not mount serious chal- Twentieth-Century America: Paragons, William Pinar. Berkeley: McCutchan, Polarities, Complexities. Ed. Pamela Bo- 1975. 217–36. Print. lenges to the status quo on screen, but lotin Joseph and Gail E. Burnaford. New Marcus, Alan S., ed. Celluloid Blackboard: in real schools, teachers like these might York: St. Martin’s, 1993. 147–56. Print. Teacher History with Film. Charlotte: In- disrupt the efficiency of the system. It Bach, Jacqueline. “One Size Does Not Fit formation Age Publishing, 2007. Print. is no accident that current educational All: Cinematic Approaches to the Teach- Paul, Dierdre Glenn. “The Blackboard Jungle: Critically Interrogating Holly- policies and practices limit the power of ing of Shakespeare.” Changing English 16.3 (2009): 323–31. Print. wood’s Vision of the Urban Classroom.” individual teachers and students, and it Bulman, Robert C. Hollywood Goes to High Multicultural Review 10.1 (2001): 20–27, is no help that films like Bad Teacher School: Cinema, Schools, and American 58–60. Print. diminish respect for the profession and Culture. New York: Worth Publishers, Soetaert, Ronald, Andrew Mottart, and Ive distract people who view it from more 2005. Print. Verdoodt. “Culture and Pedagogy in Teacher Education.” The Review of Edu- serious and potentially transforming Dalton, Mary M. The Hollywood Curricu- lum: Teachers in the Movies. 2nd ed. New cation, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies 26 ideas. York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2010. Print. (2004): 155–74. Print. ——. “The Hollywood View: Protecting the Trier, James. “Inquiring into ‘Techniques of NOTES Status Quo in Schools Onscreen.” Mirror Power’ with Preservice Teachers through the ‘School Film’ The Paper Chase.” 1. The genre continues with films like Images: Popular Culture and Education. Ed. Diana Silberman Keller, Zvi Beker- Teaching and Teacher Education 19 Here Comes the Boom (2012), in which a (2003): 543–57. Print. teacher starts competing in mixed martial man, Henry A. Giroux, and Nicholas C. Burbules. New York: Peter Lang Publish- ——. “‘Sordid Fantasies’: Reading Popular arts contests to earn money to save the school ‘Inner-City’ School Films as Racialized music program. The teacher in charge of the ing, 2008. 9–22. Print. ——. “Revising the Hollywood Curricu- Texts with Pre-Service Teachers.” Race music program is played by Henry Winkler Ethnicity and Education 8.2 (2005): 171– (see note below). lum.” Journal of Curriculum and Peda- gogy 3.2 (2006): 29–34. Print. 89. Print. 2. The final film clip shown onscreen ——. “Reconceptualizing Literacy through in the classroom after winter break is the ——. “The Hollywood Curriculum: Who Is the ‘Good’ Teacher?” Curriculum Studies a Discourse Perspective by Analyzing Lit- scene from the slasher movie parody Scream 3.1 (1995): 1–22. Print. eracy Events Represented in Films About (1996) in which Principal Arthur Himbry (an Dalton, Mary M., and Laura R. Linder. Schools.” Journal of Adolescent & Adult uncredited Henry Winkler) is murdered by Teacher TV: Sixty Years of Teachers on Literacy 49.8 (2008): 510–23. Print. the masked killer. Television. New York: Peter Lang Pub- 3. Advocating change without the trans- lishing, 2008. Print. parent political agenda of Won’t Back Down Mary M. Dalton is Professor of Communi- Edelman, Rob. “Teachers in the Movies.” (2012). Any narrative that advocates the cation and Women’s and Gender Studies at American Educator: The Professional Wake Forest University. Her documentaries broad transfer of public funds to support pri- Journal of the American Federation of vate enterprises (without an improvement in have been screened at various festivals, mu- Teachers 7.3 (1990): 26–31. Print. seums, galleries, and libraries. Her scholarly assessment results) should be carefully ex- Field, Syd. Screenplay: The Foundations of amined and critiqued. publications include articles, book chapters, Downloaded by [Wake Forest University] at 08:07 12 July 2013 Screenwriting. New York: Dell Publish- and the books The Hollywood Curriculum: ing, 1994. Print. Teachers in the Movies, Teacher TV: Sixty WORKS CITED Fisher, Roy, Ann Harris, and Christine Jar- Years of Teachers on Television, and the an- Aristotle. Introduction to Aristotle. Ed. Rich- vis. Education in Popular Culture: Tell thology The Sitcom Reader: America Viewed ard McKeon. New York: Modern Library, Tales on Teachers and Learners. Abing- and Skewed. 1992. Print. don, England: Routledge, 2008. Print.