# I need movies about a teacher helping underprivileged kids. The more patronizing/cheesy the better. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267 "2012-11-17T01:57:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/41 "2012-11-17T22:00:23Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Talk about underselling a movie. From what I gather from the trailer, this film is about The Chairman from Iron Chef America inspiring troubled teens and fighting gangsters using Capoeira (Brazilian dance fighting). Oh, it’s an awesome slice of martial arts cheese - Brazilian dance-fighting army vet takes on Brazilian dance-fighting drug-lords to win the hearts and minds of troubled youths via the power of Brazilian dance-fighting - and Mark DaCascos really ought to have been a bigger star than he was. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/42 "2012-11-17T22:08:20Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Mr. Holland’s Opus? Not exactly what you were looking for, but it is about a teacher inspirationally finding fulfillment. Funny, I just made the connection that my two least favorite movies (this one and _The Trial of Billy Jack_, whose trailer I was unable to locate above) are both about teachers. Just another form of monster movie, I guess…! ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/43 "2012-11-17T22:17:45Z")
Make that _three_, with _Good Morning, Miss Dove_–the only American movie I can think of that doesn’t ballyhoo rebellious individualism, but the necessity for a community to have a wise, self-sacrificing leader/shepherd to bring social cohesion. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/44 "2012-11-17T22:26:01Z")
Family Guy “Fast Times at Buddy Cianci Jr. High” Brian becomes a teacher for some hopeless students. Looks like it can be found under Season 4 on Hulu Plus. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/45 "2012-11-18T03:30:58Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > This would be perfect, except that my friend is an Asian man. What, like Mister Miyagi? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/46 "2012-11-18T05:04:55Z")
> [@SecretaryofEvil](#): > > Speaking as someone who’s had more interaction with Baltimore criminals than is seemly, I didn’t find the episodes of The Wire that I saw to be terribly realistic. Although I never saw any episodes from the 4th season. Hope that doesn’t reduce your enjoyment of the show. I watched Season 4 as a second-year (I think) teacher, and I spent many episodes curled on the couch in the fetal position. A little too close to home. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/47 "2012-11-18T12:33:36Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > Did you mean _Full Metal Jacket_? :smack::smack::smack: Yes, I did. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/48 "2012-11-18T18:40:02Z")
Two TV movies based on Torey Hayden’s books are Untamed Love & Trapped in Silence. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/49 "2012-11-18T20:07:06Z")
Slight hijack - in the 70’s a very lily-white guy from a nearby small town in Illinois got his first job as a teacher in a ghetto area of Chicago. First day of teaching - mostly black kids - he pulls one student aside on their way out of class. As was the fashion of the day, this kid had a rather large afro hair style. Mr. Lily-White Clueless said, “I didn’t want to embarrass you in class, but you accidentally left your comb in your hair.” ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/50 "2012-11-18T20:29:39Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Stand and Deliver is the quintessential example of this. Pretty much. My mother was a high-school teacher at the time and the movie enraged her… “Give me a class with only a half-dozen students and I’ll teach them all to be geniuses, too!” She was further enraged when her high school was “lucky” enough to hire Jaime Escalante as a superstar mentor teacher… and he proceeded to accomplish nothing much for his inflated salary and special funding. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/51 "2012-11-18T20:32:08Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The Faculty? > > Although in that one the teachers are aliens, not the students. Cross-referencing the Heinlein threads here, if you watch, the book Clea Duvall takes off the library shelf is _The Puppet Masters_. ---
**Author:** ![claramorena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2acd7d/32.png) [@claramorena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/claramorena)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/52 "2012-11-18T22:54:14Z")
[Hamlet 2](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_2) Dana Marschz: You can’t let your ethnic narrow-mindedness stop your son from thriving in our culture. Mr. Marquez: I have to take exception to that characterization. that scene reminded me I was a teenager of a teacher/counselor ( not my high-school counselor) who said I was selling my self short because I was Latina. Oh, I was an honor student at the time too. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/53 "2012-11-18T23:17:47Z")
[A Smile As Big As the Moon](http://www.avclub.com/articles/a-smile-as-big-as-the-moon,68438/) - Dedicated teachers send special ed kids to Space Camp. [Front of the Class](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1292594/) - Teacher with Tourette’s overcomes odds to become an award-winning educator. StG ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/54 "2012-11-18T23:30:34Z")
[Beyond the blackboard](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Aj6Q7LeI10) about an innocent young Mormon teacher getting a job in the ‘school with no name’ at a homeless shelter. Can’t get much more underprivileged than homeless and being part of an ethnic minority in Utah oughta count extra. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/55 "2012-11-18T23:58:25Z")
\*\*Hamlet 2 \*\*is one of those terrible/wonderful movies that makes you cringe and howl with laughter at the same time. I can’t really think of any patronizing classroom movies other than ones that have already been listed, but the little-known\*\* The Emperor’s Club\*\* starring Kevin Kline, is kind of a good one - the main message being that while a good teacher can’t help ALL of the students (one of the teacher’s favorites is proven to be a cheater) he can help SOME of the students to be better people. Also includes a lot of politics within the school (funding, legacy students, morality/ethics) that a new teacher might find interesting. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/56 "2012-11-19T20:18:24Z")
There’s a lot of urban hip-hop movies that take place in schools where delinquent kids end up finding confidence in themselves through dance, but most of them don’t have a focus on the teachers. [Take the Lead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446046/), with Antonio Banderas does, though. Watch Antonio get through to urban thug-life kids via the SEXY POWER OF TANGO. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/57 "2012-11-19T20:55:58Z")
It’s not about inner-city kids, but the Dead Poets Society is cheesy enough for a pallet of Ritz and a few cases of wine. ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/58 "2012-11-19T21:24:44Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > There’s a lot of urban hip-hop movies that take place in schools where delinquent kids end up finding confidence in themselves through dance, but most of them don’t have a focus on the teachers. > > [Take the Lead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446046/), with Antonio Banderas does, though. Watch Antonio get through to urban thug-life kids via the SEXY POWER OF TANGO. Which is based on a documentary about a real program in New York City: [Mad Hot Ballroom](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0438205/). Never underestimate the glorious SEXY POWER OF TANGO. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/59 "2012-11-19T21:35:23Z")
No one has mentioned [Boys Town](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Town_(film))with Spencer Tracy. ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267/60 "2012-11-19T21:52:50Z")
Really? No one mentioned _Stand and Deliver_ or _Dangerous Minds_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-movies-about-a-teacher-helping-underprivileged-kids-the-more-patronizing-cheesy-the-better/641267.md?page=4)