Dead Poets Society: Legacy and Impact

“Carpe diem! Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary!”

There are very few films that can boast to teach an entire generation of movie-watchers a phrase of Latin, and have them remember what it means over thirty years later.

Dead Poets Society was up to the task.

In the ‘80s, the late 1950s into the 1960s were a huge talking point in entertainment.  Starting in the ‘70s, sitcoms like Happy Days explored a typical family of the 1950s, deconstructing a few of the myths that had been set in entertainment of the decade in question.  Movies like Grease retrospectively (albeit not deeply) examined the youth of the decade and how they were beginning to express themselves.  Films like Back to the Future took an affectionate look at the decade in a wacky ‘time-travel’ plot.  Stand By Me took the ‘idealized’ childhoods of the 1950s and turned them on their heads, taking a more realistic look at the time period through the eyes of pre-teens. 

In other words, filmmakers of the 1980s were taking a critical look at their childhoods, and making movies about what they were finding there.

Dead Poets Society was one of the later additions in a trend of films analyzing the youth of the 1950s.  Set in a boarding prep school in 1959, Dead Poets Society is a film out to explore, not just youth in America, but the active stifling of it, and the hollowness of pursuing success without passion.

Released in 1989, Dead Poets Society became the fifth highest-grossing film of 1989, and the highest-grossing drama film of the year, and was overall well-received by critics (with a few exceptions, notably, Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars), and even more so by audiences.  A movie made in the golden age of movies about the youth, in a string of films made about decades past, it’s no small wonder that the film did incredibly well.

Even more impressive, however, is the impact this film had on a cultural level.

With one simple image of teenagers, standing on their desks and shouting: “O Captain, My Captain”, Dead Poets Society took the culture by storm.  The idea of looking at life from another perspective, of shaking things up, of never allowing yourself to conform to a mold that you do not fit, is a powerful one, explored in many, many different stories, but for some reason, Dead Poets Society remains one of those rare films that is cited as a life-changer, an inspiration.  

The question is, why?

Like I said, there are dozens of movies teaching people to be themselves, not to let the world force them into a box.  There are even dozens of stories focusing on the power of literature and words, and there are countless movies and television specials that teach their audiences that success isn’t everything.  

Despite the fact that the film’s cultural footprint seems to be in a Latin phrase and a few lines of poetry and the image of kids standing on their desks, the real impact of this film appears to be, not so much in the visuals and memorable dialogue, but what it meant, the reasoning behind it.  This film, these elements, captured people’s hearts and imaginations, not simply because of instant iconography, but because of the themes, the ideas, that Dead Poets Society was trying to impart through them.

But again, other films have done the same.

So, why did this one seem to work so well?

Why is it that this film, these images and ideas, stuck with people to the point that over twenty years later, Robin Williams’ death was met with the resounding cry of ‘O Captain, My Captain!’?  Was it people’s fond memories of the late, great Robin Williams?  Was it just an example of a film that knew how to play its audience?

Why did this film mean so much to people?  What was so special, and so different, about Dead Poets Society?

Like I said, there have been countless movies exploring the same types of themes, and even the same types of characters as this film.  But that’s the case with every film.  There’s nothing new under the sun, after all, and each creative endeavor is unique in some way, leading to the popularity of some efforts over others.

So, what was unique about Dead Poets Society?  

What was so distinct about this film’s ‘verse’ that over thirty years later, it stands out, apart from the crowd, as a memorable, iconic movie, different from the rest?

As you’ve probably guessed, that’s what we’re going to be looking at in the articles ahead.I hope you guys will join us for an in-depth study of Dead Poets Society!  Thank you guys so much for reading, and I hope to see you all in the next article.