Ferris Bueller Day Off Sociology

In many fictional narratives, teachers are displayed as prominent figures that influence and affect the behavior of their students, and this influence can be either positive or negative, depending on the narrative. There are fictional narratives that represent teachers as life changing figures in the students’ lives by the way in which the help students gain confidence. An example is Mr. Keating in the film Dead Poets Society. There are also narratives that depict teachers as stale figures that result in bored and uninterested students. An example is the economic teacher in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Fictional narratives of teachers create interesting characters and plots, however these narratives oversimplify student learning by focusing

None of the student’s in the class participates to answer one of the many questions he asks the class. While hearing his monotone voice lecture on economics, the camera focuses on individual students. The students in the classroom are shown as completely uninterested by staring blankly into the chalkboard, with one student arising from a nap. The lack of interest that the students show while the dull teacher lectures reveals to viewers that the attitude of teachers determines the way in which students behave. The influence that boring teachers create an uninterested group of students is dangerous for a student’s effort in class. For example, a student begins his first day of school, and in his first class, the teacher begins to speak in the same monotone voice that he heard from the economics teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. This student would begin to emulate the behavior that the students in the film had, and would begin to act uninterested like the students in the

It creates influential teachers who impact the lives of their students, and creates entertaining and dynamic teachers for audiences to be entertained by. An imperative aspect that fictional narratives do not accomplish is the aspect of student learning. It is hard to blame entertainment companies for not showing teachers teaching subjects similar to the way in which students are taught in real life. It would not be entertaining. Movies cannot show a teacher lecture on Hamlet for 90 minutes and go through the effort that students must exert to understand major themes of the play. Instead, movies create teachers that have a purpose and possibly create conflict and drama. Unfortunately, the need for fictional narratives to be entertaining undermines the difficult aspect of learning, where learning is simplified and the process of learning is not imperative to the lives of students. This is not to say that films and television shows that depict teachers as heroes should be shamed, but it is important to recognize the influence these narratives have on students. If there were no fictional narratives that would influence students to rely on teachers for their learning and determine their effort, would school become more effective? Without the existence of fictional narratives of teachers, students would not have the idea that teachers are the prominent figures in their learning, but that their learning is built on a