Dangerous Minds Coursework

At the start of Dangerous Minds the kids are divided up into two groups. The first group, which is in the coloured part of the film, consists of the well brought up kids who have hope for a brighter future. The second group that is in the black and white part of the film consists of the kids that have no hope of getting anywhere in life. At the start of Dangerous Minds there is a group of girls who are talking to each other. They are wearing big baggy cloths that a normal person would not wear. They have a lot of makeup on. They look very scruffy but would want to fit in with the rest of the crowd. This makes the viewer think that they don’t care about what they look like with the kids that care about their future but they care about what they look like with the people that they hang around with. After that we see a boy running behind a bus that he is late for. This makes us think that some of the kids actually do want to go to school and make a life for themselves and believe in the American Dream. Later the director shows us a drug deal happening.

This shows us that the place that they come from is a dangerous place. The drug deal happens is broad daylight. This tells us that the teenagers are not afraid of the cops, and it seems like a normal thing where they live. The director is trying to make us realise that these kids don’t come from a very educated or civilized part of the society and come from a very dangerous place. At the very beginning of the movie there is a soundtrack (Gangsters paradise). That sound track fits in very well with the movie because of the lyrics, “You better watch how you talking, and where you walking, or you and your homies might be lined in chalk” meaning that you have got to be careful of what you say and of what you do or you will die. This is related to the movie because in the movie there is a knowing that if you mess with the wrong guy, you will get badly hurt, or even die, and this happens when Raul owes Emilio money and does not give it to him so he gets beaten up. Also when Emilio steals Sorties girlfriend and ends up dying.

In this section I am going to write about Emilio, who comes from a broken and poor family where nobody cares about education. He is the fighting type of guy, who enjoys hitting people as he says to Lou Anne after a fight with Raul. He is also the type of guy who likes to flirt with new teachers. This is shown when Lou Anne enters the classroom for the first time he tries to flirt with her and tries makes her feel uncomfortable in his presence, in front of the whole class. He normally wears a dark shirt with the buttons undone showing his body to make him look strong. This tells us that he is a hard person who shows off his strength by showing his body and by fighting with people.

Emilio reacts to Lou Anne with a smile and lust in his eyes. Gazing at her body as she walks into the classroom. After she takes some of her things out of her bag Emilio walks up to her very slowly and looks at her whole body. He also remarks by saying that (that bitch was too ugly to eat, I fed her to my dogs. but I’ll eat you.) meaning that she is better looking than the other teacher. At the end of the film he is not the same. He is willing to cooperate with her after she gets the other two boys suspended and tell his parents good things about him. Then other kids start to cooperate as well. Also at the end when he tells her that someone is trying to kill him. She tells him that he could come to her house with her, and he eventually agrees to go with her and tells her the whole story. In the start of the film Emilio is a villain who wants to stop Lou Anne from staying. But towards the end of the film he is shown as a typical heroine which is a reward to Lou Anne. One of the reasons why he doesn’t do what the rest of the class does is because he is the leader of the class. The class does what he does. So if he didn’t cooperate then the class would also not cooperate.

Most of the kids that Lou Anne teaches are people that come from a rough and dangerous part of the society. Most of them come from broken families or from a family where the dad beats his wife. After the fight Emilio says to Lou Anne that “it felt good to hit him in the face””I like to hit people.” Here he is shown as a hard and tuff man. He is shown as the type of guy that likes to inflict pain on other people whom he does not like. Here he is wearing a black leather jacket and a thin tight vest to show his strong hard body. This is also a way that shows how strong he is. In this part of the film Lou Anne is playing the part of the mother that Emilio might not have. Also, she is playing a part of a helper as she is trying to know the situation and sort it out. She said that she will save Emilio’s life but in the end she is not able to and Emilio ends up dying and she does not fulfil her promise.

The director represents the teenagers in Lou Anne’s class first by showing how bad and disobedient they are and then slowly through the film shows how they change and cooperate with the teacher. Also by the end, all of the teenagers have realised the American Dream that if they work hard and put in effort they can change their lives.