"The Wave" is adapted from a true story. It tells the story of today, when modern technology is highly developed, and it only takes a week to organize neo-fascism.
In the movie, Teacher Wen Geer originally wanted to use such an experiment to let students understand the nature of authoritarian fascism. But the minds of this group of students who initially just wanted to get some credits were quickly formatted by powerful spiritual power. They immediately fell into a powerful collective unconsciousness. They named their organization "Tide" and spontaneously unified uniforms. More and more students were quickly brainwashed. They established their own websites and drew pictures. A unified icon has been adopted, as well as a unified gesture for greeting each other - the right hand making a wave shape in front of the chest. Fanatic students occupied the sports field and prevented others from entering. A student named Tim also bought a pistol online and stayed close to Mr. Wen Geer, saying that he wanted to protect the "leader"...
Things got out of hand. Mr. Wen Geer discovered the seriousness of the situation during the handball match and decided to stop the wave. However, the situation was out of control. Finally, at the assembly, Wen Geer announced the disbandment of the wave and told the students that this was The origins of fascism. At this time, tragedy inevitably happened. The fanatical Tim did not want to see the wave dissipate, so he shot his classmates and committed suicide...
"Dead Poets Society" tells the story of the threat posed by the wave. Newton Preparatory Academy has always used traditional and conservative methods to teach students. However, Keating, the new literature teacher who came to the school in the new semester, changed the school's routine and allowed the students in his class to liberate their minds and give full play to their talents. ability. He told students to "seize the moment" and act accordingly. In the first class of teaching, Keating did not teach in the classroom. Instead, he led the students to see photos in the school history building, asking them to listen to the voices of the dead and understand the true meaning of life. Keating even asked students to tear out the old-fashioned content in the textbooks, and the free teaching method allowed students to begin to understand their own interests, hobbies, futures and goals. His students even rebelled against the school's ban and re-established the secret group Keating had participated in when he was a student at the school - the Dead Poets Society, discussing poetry and life in a cave far outside the school. But soon after, the school discovered this group, and the school was very opposed to Teacher Keating's educational methods.
Keating's student Neil loves to perform and was a great success in a performance. But his father firmly opposed it and took him home and decided to transfer him to another school the next day. Neil was in extreme pain but could not talk about it, and committed suicide that night. One of the team members, Cameron, betrayed them. The school authorities forced the group members to sign a statement blaming Keating and expelled him from the school. When the teacher was about to leave the school, the students stood on the table and said, "Oh, Captain, my Captain!"
The endings of both movies are that the teacher became the scapegoat and left sadly. "Dead Poets Society" tells the story of how students in an elite private school begin to think independently under the influence of their teachers, trying to escape the shackles of the school's authoritarian and conservative school. "The Wave" describes how students in today's public schools, which have always been boasted of advocating freedom and individuality, enter a fascist-style collective unconsciousness in a dictatorial experiment started by a teacher on a whim.
The two films separated by twenty years are like a beginning and an ending. The bell of hope sounded twenty years ago, but the lingering sound of warning echoed twenty years later. The theme of pursuing personal independence and spiritual freedom in "Dead Poets Society" is relatively simple. In "The Wave", how the students actively transform from a free and loose anarchist tendency into a radical and highly collectivist group is even more thought-provoking.
True spiritual freedom always requires reason, not passion. The students in both films are passionate, rich in personality and versatile. They are willing to change and boldly try, so when a unique teacher appears beside them to guide them, they will listen to the teacher, agree with the teacher's actions and even worship him blindly. In order to let students understand the emergence of fascism, the teacher in "The Wave" became a dictator himself. At first, he was very clear-headed and tried every means to create such an atmosphere. But after three days, the teacher slowly turned into a dictator. He enjoyed this feeling of being "above all ten thousand people". He had a quarrel with his wife and said very hurtful words. Fortunately, he finally turned around and avoided a greater tragedy.
The school in "Dead Poets Society" is a bit like our current high school. It focuses on the admission rate and discipline. Discipline means rejecting diversity, rejecting different opinions, and using rigid means to achieve uniformity. The teacher exists as a knowledge instiller. At this time, an English teacher appeared. His slogan was to enjoy life, and his belief was to let students think and make their own choices. I don't object to the teacher's ideas, but his educational philosophy conflicts with the school's educational goals, and the outcome is doomed.
Especially the part about tearing the book apart, I think it is very unfair. First, he told the students to tear up the books, and then told them the specific reasons. Therefore, when children tear up books, the excited expressions on their faces are not because they understand some truth, but because of the increase in hormones caused by this pure "rebellious action". Of course, this can also be said to be one of Keating's strategies. First, ask them to take action, and then gain a kind of sympathetic support when giving theoretical lectures. Secondly, this behavior ostensibly encourages children to think freely and not be bound by rules. But looking at it from another angle, he forced all the students to tear up his introduction just because he didn't agree with another doctor's teaching philosophy - isn't this an authoritarian thought in another sense? If you are studying alone, it is understandable to disagree with other people's understanding. But Keating is the teacher. When he forces everyone to accept his thinking, regardless of whether his thinking requires freedom or restraint - this has nothing to do with the content of the thinking - this approach itself is already colored by the things he criticizes.
Both movies are due to the unbridled nature of teachers’ educational methods and the one-sidedness of educational concepts, which eventually lead to the opposite of these correct emotions. Teachers have not grasped the "degree" of education well for young students, a special group that is prone to emotions and longs for pioneering thinking.
The content of the two films can be said to be either opposite or the same. The idea of ??"freedom and independence" in "Dead Poets Society" is exactly opposite to the "totalitarianism" of "The Wave". The content is opposite but the mode is almost identical. Education route. The final tragic ending is surprisingly similar to this film. A child committed suicide by swallowing a gun. The few students who kept their minds clear could not save the tragedy. Although I prefer to think about "The Wave" in an irrational way, and its focus is not on education, it does not prevent a slight comparison from this aspect. He who does not obey himself will obey others. There are always stages in a person's life when he or she needs to "listen to others". Whether this "other" is worth listening to, how to listen, and what to listen to are really important.