Tow #28: Waiting For Superman

            Waiting For Superman is a documentary from well-known American director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott. This film examines the flaws and failures of the American public school system in relation to that of other developed countries and the evolving expectations of education over time. Several children of different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds are followed throughout the film and their difficulties in the public education system are documented. Social activist and educator Geoffrey Canada, as well as other education-authorities, offer commentary throughout the film. The exposé-type nature of the content offered by Waiting For Superman responds to obvious failings of schools, teachers, and students in America over the last few decades, and a subsequent growing call for reform.

            Though this documentary embodies a sentiment of the masses, the direct voice behind the information of the film is director Davis Guggenheim. With this piece of work, Guggenheim aims to inform his audience of average American viewers of the bad state of public schools throughout the nation. By spreading awareness, the ultimate purpose is to rally the American people to get involved and eventually change the failing system. Though parents of children enrolled in “drop-out factory” inner city schools may be well aware of the deplorable state of American education today, middle or upper class Americans living in the suburbs may not have such a keen awareness. Guggenheim uses this documentary as a means to spread information beyond the direct pool of people it affects most.

            This film is not only heavily saturated with necessary information; it is also entertaining and contains many elements of good cinematography. The soundtrack is one prime example of a cinematic factor that helps to achieve the film’s purpose. The sad, slow piano pieces that play during clips of less-fortunate children and schools create an instant emotional appeal to the viewer that makes them feel personally invested in the issues that are being depicted. The information being presented is proved credible thanks to the wise selection of education-authorities such as Geoffrey Canada and former DC school superintendent Michelle Rhee that comment of the film’s content. The abundance of data and statistics relating to the failures of public schools is also instrumental in exemplifying the terrible state of the American public education system today. The inclusion of data appeals to the reader’s sense of reason and rational thinking, as well as proving that the views included are not biased and can be backed by cold hard facts.