"Detachment" Reminds us of the Hypocrisy Behind "No Child Left Behind" and Delivers a Memorable Film

Adrien Brody delivers an amazing performance as a substitute teacher that lives detached from people. He teaches inner city student, while dealing with a dying grandfather troubled by his past, and takes an underage prostitute off the streets and into his home. “Detachment” depicts the serious issues facing public schools, including staff and students, correlated with the amount of help received from the government. Director Tony Kaye reminds us that “No Child Left Behind” is bullshit, and which main concern is property value. The film narrates how unappreciated teachers are in the United States, the result of the lack of good parenting skills, and the external factors affecting the public education system. 

The film opens with real teachers describing how they fell into, or were inspired to be a teacher. As the stories progress, you soon understand that some of these people didn’t intend to be full time teachers, they had other plans, but the fallacy of comfort trapped them in. The movie follows a substitute teacher, who tends to live detached from people, throughout his encounters with students facing different problems. One student seems infatuated with hurting animals, another suffers from verbal harassment brought on by her parents, and so on. “Detachment” also explores how a teen may fall into prostitution just to survive, and asks, how long can she keep getting used before she just becomes a walking body?

The film comments on how the youth in America is under a marketing holocaust, limiting their mind’s capacity, pushing them towards an abyss of ignorance. James Caan interprets a teacher that pops pills and is not afraid of mocking narcissistic, empty-headed, problematic teenagers. One student comes in with a tiny top claiming to not be giving it up to “every dick in my face,” he showers her with pictures of gonorrhea infested vaginas. He humiliates another student by repeating what the kid said in opera form, and the list goes on. Without giving much away, throughout the movie, you understand how unappreciated teachers are in America, and how a simple, “Thank you,” can make a difference. 

Tony Kaye includes how the “No Child Left Behind” act’s only concern is raising property value through higher test scores. During a faculty meeting, a “No Child Left Behind” representative treats these educators more as real estate agents than teachers. The story exemplifies the result of lack of parental involvement in their children’s education, especially in inner city kids. The empty and silent hallways of this urban school on Parent Teacher night says more than a thousand word monologue. 

Finally, this film is an actual work of art; it’s a perfect reflection of our dangerous reality. The cast did a great job of bringing life to these troubled characters; the young cast did amazing, and the actors that portrayed the school faculty gave a soul to this film. Check out the trailer down below, and if you still don’t feel like watching it, watch it either way and tell me what you think! 

"Power Rangers" Hits the Feels not Just With the Nostalgia, but the Inclusion as well!

First of all, I must salute this film for having three out of five of the lead roles go to minorities, and even better, their individual story lines have nothing to do with their race! The movie followed a typical superhero film outline, but was embodied with nostalgia; leaving people who grew up watching “Mighty Morphin” walk out of the theater tempted to see it again. “Power Rangers” makes fun of itself at times, delivers surprisingly good performances, some subtle adult jokes, likable characters, and a decent story with three-dimensional teenage superheroes. 

The movie has such a diverse cast and breaks away from the subtle racism of the original show; having an Asian character play the yellow ranger, a native American being the red ranger, and an African American actor playing…  You get the idea. This movie did none of that! We never hear the yellow ranger, portrayed by a Hispanic, speaking Spanish, or see the Asian actor playing the black ranger studying, this film breaks away from those stereotypes. Each character has their personal story line, one dealing with her sexual preference, another dealing with his dying mother, and another being bullied while coping with his father’s death. “Power Rangers” portrays an autistic character with so much respect and in such a fun way, the blue ranger soon becomes a fan favorite. 

The film was endowed with so much nostalgia that it makes the movie even more fun! Anyone that grew up watching the first couple of seasons of the “Power Rangers,” including “Zeo,” enjoys recognizing certain things like, talk about the Zeo crystals, the comical Alpha, the ranger’s cheesy lines during fight scenes, and an epic theme song. Even the editing gave it a “Power Rangers” feel to it, where in every battle, the red ranger asks if their ready, the fellow rangers appear on screen individually responding. The movie surpasses expectation by giving Zordon and Rita a backstory, their own objectives, and understandable motives, which results in a well-rounded story. 

“Power Rangers” is fun for kids and adults. I’m not a kid-person, but even I can sacrifice being around children for this movie. The film offers superheroes for its younger audience, and subtle masturbation jokes for it’s older crowd. The five lead actors were surprisingly good; they each had their own time to shine, and delivered when their moment came on screen. For those of you that have already seen it, what did you think? Did you like it? Did it ruin your childhood? Lemme' know!