The Power of Rituals [Dead Poets Society]

some movies start out with a big action sequence we're showcasing the film's movie star see the world looks very different from up here not so with dead poets society the opponent society starts off with what the movie is really all about honor discipline ceremony and ritual i don't remember when or where i first saw that poet society i probably saw it in the movie theater but i do remember watching it again later at a home viewing and my father coming downstairs and sitting on the couch deciding to join me in watching whatever show it was that i was watching and that was a bad idea um my father hated the movie and rightfully so didn't you ever dispute me in public you understand this after you finished medical school and you're on your own then you can do as you damn well please but until then you do as i tell you is that clear sir i'm sorry i think if i hadn't seen the movie as a father for the first time i probably would have hated it too for the first time in my whole life i know what i want to do and for the first time i'm gonna do it but my father wants me to we're not carpe diem but luckily i didn't see it as a father i saw it as a young teenager and i loved the movie it really affected me and changed my life actually and you could even say it led to me doing this channel because it gave me permission in a sense to value my opinions and to share my ideas the movie begins in the dark with voices speaking in hushed tones and then we focus on a mural depicting boys from the past a boy standing in front of it looks like he could have stepped out of the painting out of the past and we realized from this juxtaposition that nothing much has changed at this school the people are preparing for an event a ceremony the ceremony is made up of several rituals from the presentation of banners depicting the four pillars of the school to ceremonial clothing 100 years ago lighting candles 1859. and even the speech is a ritual 41 boys sat in this room that is given every year to parents bringing their new students into the school after the ceremony parents part ways with their tearful children make way for classes to start the next day the classes themselves are also ritualistic with well-established rules for taking role speaking only when called upon and staying in your seat let me urge you now not to test me on this point mr keating enters the room whistling the triumphant 1812 overture the same song we see in v for victory when parliament is blowing up come on he immediately leaves the boys out of the classroom i'd like you to step forward over here breaking from the norm proves some of the faces from the past and implements his own ceremony because you see gentlemen these boys are now fertilizing daffodils a ceremony that gets the students to think about life in a different way if you listen real close you can hear them whisper their legacy to you seize the day boys make your lives extraordinary that was weird but different spooky if you ask me later he teaches a similar lesson i stand upon my desk to remind myself that we must constantly look at things in a different way by having them stand on his desk and look around another no-no in most classrooms now when you read don't just consider what the author thinks consider what you think boys you must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait to begin the less likely you are to find it at all ceremonies and rituals are a big part of dead poets society a ritual is an act or a series of acts regularly repeated that may involve gestures words actions or objects performed according to a set sequence your morning routine including brushing your teeth and hair and getting ready for the day is a kind of ritual the title of the film comes from a ceremony can you keep a secret a secret club that mr keating helped initiate dead poets were dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life when he was a student at the school that's a phrase from thoreau we would invoke the beginning of every meeting see we would gather at the old indian cave and take turns reading from thoreau whitman shelley the biggies we didn't just read poetry we let it drip from our tongues like honey not a bad way to spend an evening eh the same mural from the opening shot is shown again now under cover of darkness revealing that this ritual too of sneaking off in the middle of the night was also done by boys long before the dead poet society consists of gathering at the old cave and then starting the meeting the same way each time by reading the same opening passage i went to the woods because i wanted to live deliberately i wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life i'll second that to put to route all that was not life and not when i had come to die discover that i had not lived others can then share stories poems and even music in the presence of pagan gods this is the god of the cave the god of the cave the ancient poets are included as members of the society as well okay who's next alfred lord tennyson a major conflict of the movie is neil's love of acting and performing in a play even though his very strict father has forbidden him from doing so before you say anything please let me just talk back to me pretty much everything the father says to his son is about himself you made a liar out of me neil and not his son you have opportunities that i never even dreamt of the only time he pretends to let his son speak is after he first completely shuts him down what is it is it more of this this acting business because you can forget that we see a similar lack of empathy from todd's parents what's gonna happen to mr keating i've had enough sign the paper todd the speech given by mr nolan to the parents during that first ceremony is all about getting their sons into prestigious colleges that will make the parents look good mr keating seems to be the only one who cares about the boys individually mr anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing i think you're wrong i think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal and doesn't see them as objects i always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself these boys aged not on your life tradition john discipline prepare them for college and the rest will take care of itself a scene that really helped me to understand the meaning of this story has to do with todd's birthday today's my birthday is today your birthday happy birthday thanks what'd you get my parents just gave me this isn't this the same desk yeah and it gave me the same thing as last year the ritual requirement of giving a gift was fulfilled by his parents but the meaning and purpose of the ritual maybe they thought you needed to celebrate that person and show them love maybe they weren't thinking about anything at all was lost and even had the opposite effect the funny thing is about this is i i didn't even like it the first time rituals without the original intention can create more harm than good we don't read and write poetry because it's cute we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion much like dead poetry dead rituals need us to imbue them with life but poetry beauty romance love these are what we stay alive for thousands of years before in new testament times you have beaten mockery of our little synagogue and of torah you will tell us your name your lenience your first you and now your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath another ritual that of keeping the sabbath day holy listen carefully have been twisted and lost from its original form sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath rituals can be used for both good and bad some of the ceremonies and rituals at welton that once taught and uplifted have now become hollow and meaningless and are followed merely out of obligation [Music] these rituals no longer serve the students the students serve the rituals slow down your horrible failings i want you to find your own walk right now your own way of striding pacing any direction anything you want whether it's proud whether it's silly anything gentlemen the courtyard is yours often a little bit of creativity self-expression laughter and love can revitalize our daily routines and so the boys go into the woods to find that marrow of life again come on listen to the music to seize the day to dance the elixir of life exalt shout skip roll on float on yes mr keating's teaching methods are unorthodox and a little extreme in this environment but having robin williams play this role who we know could act much crazier than he is teaches us about proper restraint it's a pretty lame stunt you pulled today while testing the imposed limits what about carpe diem and sucking all the marrow out of life taking the marrow out of life doesn't mean choking on the bone mr keating is a mature example of seizing the day there's a time for daring and there's a time for caution and a wise man understands which is called for season the day doesn't mean going crazy and doing whatever you want you being expelled from school is not daring to me it's stupid but it does mean going after what you love acting it's everything to me but doing it the proper way have you ever told your father what you just told me about your passion for acting never showed him that i can't why not or by getting the rules changed i can't talk to him this way and you're acting for him too unfortunately neil is unable to stand up to his father who is a man of ritual himself and whose wife has also been silenced and so neil sadly turns to suicide because mr keating is so different from the rest of the school and a threat to their dead system he of course can't stay and is blamed for neil's death [Music] i came for my personals but even in the short period he's been at the school gentlemen turn to page 21 of the introduction mr keating whose name means kite cameron has given his students wings and taught them how to fly that page has been ripped out sir he has taught them to think for themselves and establish healthy and productive rituals [Music] lives that are filled with meaning and purpose and that their voices matter thank you [Music] thank you and that is the moral of the story what story shall we tell next let me know in the comments below thanks for watching [Applause] you

Channel: Moral of this Story

Views: 31,118

Keywords: video essay, film analysis, dead poets society, o captain my captain, robin williams, ethan hawke, robert sean leonard, peter weir, dead poets society robin williams, dead poets society reaction, dead poet society explained

Id: pzsocYvvhXk

Length: 12min 40sec (760 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 02 2021