Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Teachers I


















The setup for Arthur Hiller's Teachers (1984), starring Nick Nolte and backed with a large cast of supporting character actors, reminds me of a gazillion other school-related books, series and films. On any given day, an American school might resemble any one of the following. If applicable, what was your experience?

Also, the school names in fictional tales are always a sort of lame inside joke: compare the "great person" (sometimes not great at all) they're named for vs. the more conflicted realities on the grounds of each institution.

Lord of the Flies -- deserted island
Room 222 -- Walt Whitman High, Los Angeles, California
Dazed and Confused -- Robert E. Lee High, near Austin, Texas
Fast Times at Ridgemont High -- California
Teachers -- JFK High, Columbus, Ohio
Freaks and Geeks -- William McKinley High, Chippewa, Michigan
Welcome Back, Kotter -- James Buchanan High, Brooklyn, New York
Election -- George Washington Carver High, Papillon, Nebraska

Another running joke name for schools is Millard Fillmore High, named after the usually low-ranked one-term US president of 1850-1853, last of the Whigs.

Today's Rune: Partnership.  

4 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

I am sure I saw this, but can't remember it at all.

the walking man said...

St. Francis de Sales (Detroit) of the 50's- 70's was a kind of joke name for what really went on there.

Charles Gramlich said...

i like Nolte but I don't think I saw this one. Don't remember it.

nunya said...

My graduating class was over 500, so all of the above, at different times, lol