Bad Teacher
by David
I really like the name of this movie. It is rare when a movie title truly captures the essence of what it is going to be about. While I appreciate the difficulties of naming movies as so many movie titles have been used up, I do still get annoyed when the movie title gives very little insight as to what is about to be watched. It is like that song that has that particular refrain that is said 10,000 times in the song, but instead of using that as the title, something like "Monkey Balls" is used. And is "Monkey Balls" a bad title? No. I mean it is a song about the first non-human soccer match, after all. Still, why not use the part of the song that everyone remembers and will remember later when they try to search for it, "Space Monkeys from Uranus Have Killed the People and Now Play Soccer in London"?
This movie pleasantly surprised me. I have been getting a little uneasy when going to see the latest "comedy" at the local theater. For whatever reason, movies like "The Hangover", "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", and "Junior" had been missing the mark for me. And I like SO many movies. And I like SO many "BAD" movies. And I like SO many "BAD" comedies. For them to miss the mark represents some sort of cosmic shift or intergalactic imbalance. So, while I'll never call "Bad Teacher" "one of the funniest movies I've seen", I will be strongly encouraged that a new movie came out that I found to be funny. Ahhh…the little things in life I guess.
What works in this movie is the unrelenting nature with which they portray the main character, played by Cameron Diaz. She is not a troubled, sad person deep down who grows throughout the course of the movie and ends up being that wonderful person with a heart of gold we all hoped she would become. No. She is a bad teacher. She is immoral, nasty, and rude. The friends she does make require immense work on the part of the friends. No one will (or should) aspire to be anything like this character at the beginning of the movie or the end.
So, why would anyone want to see a movie about such a terrible person? Great question! She is not entirely evil? In some weird way, she is endearing and I found myself rooting for her. Perhaps, some of the recipients of her misery deserved it? Perhaps some of her negativity was so over the top that the ridiculousness of it could only be taken as a joke? Perhaps her brash, vulgar, nature were so extreme that the absurdness of her being a 7th grade teacher made most of the moments amusing? But, maybe after being beaten over the head with movies about terrible people who ultimately redeem themselves, the assumption is that she will too, so during the movie she gets a free pass and by the time the end comes, it's simply too late to take back the laughter.
Slatron
David Stampor