Analysis of Reviews

After rewatching the powerful film, Waiting For Superman, that documents the lives of several children across the country, when it comes to public school education one can only visualize the same question time after time, “Where is our Superman?” The answer to this question is argued amongst educators across America, yet the answer still remains uncertain as our “invisible hero” remains missing after decades have passed. The absence of a strong advocate in the face of adversity is a common theme for public school education in America, and the film does an excellent job depicting the reasons behind this difficult inquiry. As the search for “our Superman” continues, it is quite unlikely that a solitary human being could overcome the greatest of odds to have the capability to help foster and aid the needs of its citizens. Two scenes throughout the film really separated themselves from the rest. Not only did both these scenes illustrate the importance of education in America, but they also showed how teaching and instruction has been a harness for the success of our nation as a whole, and demonstrated that without proper expertise in the field of teaching none of this could have become a possibility. The first clip marked a scene towards the end of the documentary where some of the children that were followed throughout the course of the film eventually became one of many unfortunate students to miss out on having the opportunity of a charter school education. The still photo depicts a mother comforting her child as reality begins to set in. The next initiative that needs to be taken in order to achieve a higher quality of education seems to be virtually impractical at this stage in time, thus, the search for Superman continues for many of these families. As a result, this is a life-changing decision for lower-class families who attempt to do everything within their power to increase the likelihood of their child becoming one of the rare students selected to receive a private or charter school education. The second clip depicts an education reformer and passionate spokesman for families, Geoffrey Canada, arguably the closest modern portrayal as Superman. The still photo of Mr. Canada gazing off into the distance is conceivably the most powerful shot in the entire film. The film perceives Mr. Canada as one of America’s most beloved and inspirational educators. A majority of his life has been dedicated towards attempting to change the culture of Harlem education, as well as education across America. I chose these two episodes because they are important to the film’s structure in establishing a sense of awareness in regards to public school education, which has become a substantial problem in America. Controlling the problem of education will include looking for solutions. Each of these two scenes are linked together because they represent the effect that public school education has on low-income families, and also the best alternative when it comes to countering the continuous growing problem of education systems. Through comparative analysis of the documentary one is able to depict the inequality of  education as being the deciding factor in whether one will receive a proper education that requires constant questioning of the adequacy of teachers and the disorganization of public school boards, resulting in an undesirable classroom setting for students.

Editing is also a pivotal technique used to interpret the intensity of the situation from different viewpoints. Through the use of the reaction shot, we are able to identify the montage sequence used in this scene, which cuts from family to family as they anxiously await the fate of their children’s future education. Lastly, the director does an excellent job portraying the mise-en-scene, which represents the different lottery locations. The bird’s eye view camera angle is used to show the dense population of people that attended each of the different lotteries. Camera movement and framing is used to develop an overall sense of depth in terms of emphasizing the clarity and practicality of the film. The technical aspects of filmmaking reveal the director’s approach of using unconventional strategies to convey a sense of irregularity.