Thursday, December 14, 2017

Lean On Me Movie Review

                                                                      MOVIE REVIEW


                Lean on me is a movie based on a true story a story about leadership, sacrifice and love. The main character in the movie is Joe Clark who is the principal. The supporting characters are Mayor Bottman who let Joe Clark to be arrested, Dr. Frank Napier the school superintendent, Thomas Sams, Leonna Barret the mother of one expelled student, Kaneesha and Miss Levias. In 1960, Clark started to run the school Eastside High in Paterson, New Jersey. Before Joe Clark became the principal of Eastside High he became a teacher there and at that time the image of the school was still good however he was transferred to other school. After two decades the school totally changed from good to worst and the superintendent thought that it would be good if Joe Clark would take over.

                After twenty years, Joe Clark go back at Eastside High, a school of drugs, violence and gangs. The student there failed the basic skill test for a couple of years. His mission is to change the school so he became a terror, dictator, arrogant, bossy and a demanding principal, he always wanted to get what he wants. He expels all the drugs users and dealers and also students who are troublemakers. Sam was one of the students that he expelled however he begged for second chance and so Joe Clark let him back in the school. He wants every student to learn the school song and every meeting nobody should talk aside from him. Maybe this kind of leadership is sometime ineffective because you don’t let other people voice out their feelings and their opinions. So if we become a leader someday we should always learn to listen to other people because sometimes we can gather brighter ideas from their opinions. He may have bad attitudes but he also had good characteristics like generous, caring and he is a man of his words. One time a bad guy entered the school so he let the security chained all the doors so that nobody else can enter. As time passed by the students in the school are learning to love him and they can see a big improvement. The school became cleaner and more pleasant including the students, no more drugs and violence. The culture of the school really changed during his reign before, the school was so dirty and a lot of rules are not being followed. When he takeover all of the bad things inside the school was totally gone. Maybe the past principals of the school did not achieve good results like Mr. Clark because they don’t have the courage and passion of being a leader. In the movie you can see that Joe Clark was so determined to make the school a better place of learning so first he disciplined the teachers and next to that was the students. Every time he met students in the corridors he always greeted them and when he spoke in front of the students he speak with great passion and enthusiasm which is so very effective kind of leadership.  We can say that it is effective because the students will be encouraged and they can boost their self-esteem. Someone won’t listen at you if you will speak non sense things in the movie the words of Joe Clark was so meaningful and it is good. He put a lot of efforts in the school, he prepared the students for the incoming basic skill test and he created a program where in there will be remedial class during Saturdays. The sports facilities in the school also improved including the school song. Many of the students and teacher liked Joe Clark however there are still some people who wanted him out of the school one of them was Mrs.Leonna Barret. She is a mother of an expelled student and she persuaded the mayor to remove Joe Clark in the school. The Mayor had decided that he will arrest Joe Clark because he chained the doors. Joe Clark already knew that he will be arrested because someone spied the mayor and he told Joe the things that the Mayor says. Days passed by and the examination for basic skill test came and Joe Clark was pretty sure that the students will pass. Then Joe Clark was arrested and put into prison. The students in EastHigh loved Joe Clark so much so they marched until they reach the Municipal. A lot of students demand Clark to be released from jail. The Mayor let Joe Clark to go out from prison and calm the student outside. While he was speaking in front he was interrupted by his assistant principal Ms. Levias to give the result of the test. When Clark read it, he announced the students passed the basic skilled test because of joy the students sang their school song.

                             A leader leads people to be a better person. From the movie we can say that Joe Clark achieved important results but that does not mean his leadership method is ideal. He should not be prideful and arrogant all the time and he should consider the feeling of someone else before making a decision, in that way he can improve his leadership style. Maybe a lot of people who watched the movie wants to imitate Joe Clark, well, that’s fine, however we should not imitate some of his bad characteristics like speaking bad words, demanding and bossy. In the movie Joe Clark’s leadership style led him into trouble when he was in prisoned and the cause of that was chaining the doors and it is prohibited by the law. But even though his leadership put him into trouble he still succeeded because many of the students and teachers learned to be disciplined. The theme of the movie is the essence of true leadership. The story was so good because you can learn a lot of lessons, for us the most important lessons are a leader wanted change, a true leader doesn’t want to maintain things because a true leader develops things. A true leader doesn’t do things right because the true leader does the right thing. We should always remember that “under a wise teacher, there are no stupid students”.

            Joe Clark is not just a principal of EastHigh, he is a good father to his students.  In the beginning of the story, the school was already like a hell but when he came back to the school he turned the hell into heaven, he turned the demons into angels. The movie is a proof to the saying that if you don’t want something, you always make excuses but if you want something you will do all things to get it. If we are to be asked if we will recommend the movie to other person of course we will especially to teachers, leaders, and fellow students. Our reason for that is that it can inspire students who are being lost in their life. It can also motivate teachers and leaders to perform much better because you they can learn a lot of lessons.



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