Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Cinematography Bob Richman Erich Roland Editing by Jay Cassidy Greg Finton Kim Roberts Walden Media Participant Media Paramount Vantage
Studio Distributed by Release date(s) Running time Country Language Box office
102 min
Waiting for "Superman" is a 2010 documentary film from director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott.[2] The film analyzes the failures of the American public education system by following several students as they strive to be accepted into a charter school. The film received the Audience Award for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.[3] The film also received the Best Documentary Feature at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards.[4][5]
Details
Cast
Geoffrey Canada as himself The Esparza Family as themselves The Hill Family as themselves The Jones Family as themselves George Reeves as Superman (archive footage) Michelle Rhee as herself Bill Strickland as himself Randi Weingarten as herself Eric Hanushek as himself Bill Gates as himself
Release
Waiting for "Superman" premiered in the US on September 24, 2010, in theaters in New York and Los Angeles, with a rolling wider release that began on October 1, 2010. During its opening weekend in New York City and Los Angeles, the film grossed $141,000 in four theaters, averaging $35,250 per theater.[1]
Title
The film's title is based on an interview with Geoffrey Canada wherein he recounts being told (as a child) by his mother that Superman was not real, and how he was frightened because there was nobody to save him.
Waiting for "Superman" them."[21] Anderson also opined that the animation clips were overused. In New York City, a group of local teachers protested one of the documentary's showings, calling the film "complete nonsense", saying that "there is no teacher voice in the film."[22]
Author and academic Rick Ayers lambasted the accuracy of the film, describing it as "a slick marketing piece full of half-truths and distortions."[23] In Ayers' view, the "corporate powerhouses and the ideological opponents of all things public" have employed the film to "break the teacher's unions and to privatize education," while driving teachers' wages even lower and running "schools like little corporations."[23] According to the film inflation-adjusted per-student spending has more than doubled since 1971, "from $4,300 to more than $9,000 per student," but that over the same period, test scores have "flatlined." Ayers also critiqued the film's promotion of a greater focus on "top-down instruction driven by test scores," positing that extensive research has demonstrated that standardized testing "dumbs down the curriculum" and "reproduces inequities," while marginalizing "English language learners and those who do not grow up speaking a middle class vernacular."[23] Lastly, Ayers contends that "schools are more segregated today than before Brown v. Board of Education in 1954," and thus criticized the film for not mentioning that in his view, "black and brown students are being suspended, expelled, searched, and criminalized."[23] Diane Ravitch, Research Professor of Education at New York University and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, similarly criticizes the film's lack of accuracy.[24] Ravitch notes that a study by Stanford University economist Margaret Raymond of 5000 charter schools found that only 17% are superior in math test performance to a matched public school, casting doubt on the film's claim that privately managed charter schools are the solution to bad public schools.[24] The film does note however that most charter schools do not outperform and that it focuses on those that do. As well, the film explicitly stated that one in five charter schools (close to the 17% statistic previously stated) were the overreaching, superior charter schools. Ravitch writes that many charter schools also perform badly, are involved in "unsavory real estate deals" and expel low-performing students before testing days to ensure high test scores.[24] The most substantial distortion in the film, according to Ravitch, is the film's claim that "70 percent of eighth-grade students cannot read at grade level," a misrepresentation of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress.[24] Ravitch served as a board member with the NAEP and notes that "the NAEP doesn't measure performance in terms of grade-level achievement," as claimed in the film, but only as "advanced," "proficient," and "basic." The film assumes that any student below proficient is "below grade level," but
Waiting for "Superman" this claim is not supported by the NAEP data. A teacher-backed group called the Grassroots Education Movement produced a rebuttal film titled The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman. This film criticizes some public figures featured in Waiting for "Superman" and proposes different policies to improve education in the United States.[25]
Book release
There is also a companion book titled Waiting For "Superman": How We Can Save America's Failing Public Schools.[26]
References
[1] Waiting for "Superman" (http:/ / www. boxofficemojo. com/ movies/ ?id=waitingforsuperman. htm) at Box Office Mojo [2] Bill Gates Goes to Sundance, Offers an Education (http:/ / www. reuters. com/ article/ idUSTRE60M1T020100123), Reuters, September 21, 2010 [3] ""Winter's Bone," "Restrepo" Lead Sundance Award Winners" (http:/ / www. indiewire. com/ article/ sundance_10_awards_in_progress/ P1/ ). IndieWire. 2010-01-30. . Retrieved 2010-01-30. [4] "At the Critic's Choice Awards: Winners Are Social Network, Inception, Firth, Portman, Leo, Bale" (http:/ / blogs. indiewire. com/ thompsononhollywood/ 2011/ 01/ 15/ critics_choice_awards_go_to_social_network_inception_firth_portman_leo_bale/ ) [5] "Catching up with WAITING FOR SUPERMAN's Davis Guggenheim" (http:/ / thehollywoodinterview. blogspot. com/ 2011/ 01/ catching-up-with-waiting-for-supermans. html) [6] "'Waiting for "Superman" ': A simplistic view of education reform?" (http:/ / www. csmonitor. com/ USA/ Education/ 2010/ 0924/ Waiting-for-Superman-A-simplistic-view-of-education-reform). The Christian Science Monitor. 2010-09-24. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [7] "Waiting for Superman Movie Reviews, Pictures" (http:/ / www. rottentomatoes. com/ m/ waiting_for_superman/ ). Rotten Tomatoes. . Retrieved 2011-04-01. [8] Roger Ebert, Waiting for Superman (http:/ / rogerebert. suntimes. com/ apps/ pbcs. dll/ article?AID=/ 20100929/ REVIEWS/ 100929981) Chicago Sun-Times, September 29, 2010 [9] Bowles, Scott (2010-09-24). "The children are the heroes of Waiting for "Superman"" (http:/ / www. usatoday. com/ life/ movies/ reviews/ 2010-09-24-superman24_ST_N. htm). USA Today. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [10] Schwarzbaum, Lisa (2010-09-25). "movie review: Waiting for "Superman" (2010)" (http:/ / www. ew. com/ ew/ article/ 0,,20428080,00. html). Entertainment Weekly (New York, New York: Time). . Retrieved 2010-09-26. [11] DeFore, John (October 14, 2010). "Waiting For Superman -- Film Review" (http:/ / www. hollywoodreporter. com/ review/ waiting-superman-film-review-28583). The Hollywood Reporter. . [12] Anderson, John (January 23, 2010). "Waiting for Superman" (http:/ / www. variety. com/ review/ VE1117941947. html). Variety. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [13] "Geraldo at Large." Broadcast: Saturday, September 25, 2010. Fox News. [14] Kenny, Deborah (2010-09-22). "A Teacher Quality Manifesto" (http:/ / online. wsj. com/ article/ SB10001424052748703440604575496281030445268. html). The Wall Street Journal. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [15] Guggenheim, Davis (2010-09-24). "How did 'Waiting for 'Superman's' ' Davis Guggenheim become the right wing's favorite liberal filmmaker?" (http:/ / latimesblogs. latimes. com/ the_big_picture/ 2010/ 09/ how-did-davis-guggenheim-become-the-right-wings-favorite-liberal-filmmaker-. html). Los Angeles Times. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [16] Morgenstern, Joe (2010-09-23). "A Subprime 'Wall Street'" (http:/ / online. wsj. com/ article/ SB10001424052748703384204575509691196146692. html). The Wall Street Journal. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [17] McGurn, William (2010-09-21). "An Even More Inconvenient Truth" (http:/ / online. wsj. com/ article/ SB10001424052748703989304575504033215002498. html). The Wall Street Journal. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [18] Smith, Kyle (2010-09-24). "Film's anguished lesson on why schools are failing" (http:/ / www. nypost. com/ p/ entertainment/ movies/ film_anguished_lesson_on_why_schools_sVrGl4FnpTSMYYQuPywSlM). New York Post. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [19] Kaylan, Melik (2010-09-24). "'Waiting For Superman' Is A Must-see" (http:/ / blogs. forbes. com/ melikkaylan/ 2010/ 09/ 24/ waiting-for-superman-is-a-must-see/ ). Forbes. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [20] O'Hehir, Andrew. ""Waiting for 'Superman'": Can public education be saved?" (http:/ / www. salon. com/ entertainment/ movies/ our_picks/ index. html?story=/ ent/ movies/ andrew_ohehir/ 2010/ 09/ 22/ waiting_for_superman). Salon. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [21] Anderson, Melissa (2010-09-22). "Ignoring the Inconvenient Truths in Waiting for Superman" (http:/ / www. villagevoice. com/ 2010-09-22/ film/ ignoring-the-inconvenient-truths-in-waiting-for-superman/ ). The Village Voice. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [22] DeMarche, Edmund (2010-09-25). "Protesting teachers give 'Waiting for Superman' an 'F'" (http:/ / www. nypost. com/ p/ news/ local/ protesting_teachers_give_it_an_2wHWfAa38YOjPzpdYYotJO). New York Post. . Retrieved 2010-10-20. [23] Rick Ayers, An Inconvenient Superman: Davis Guggenheim's New Film Hijacks School Reform (http:/ / www. huffingtonpost. com/ rick-ayers-/ an-inconvenient-superman-_b_716420. html?view=print), The Huffington Post, September 17, 2010
External links
Official website (http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/) Waiting for "Superman" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1566648/) at the Internet Movie Database Waiting for "Superman" (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=waitingforsuperman.htm.htm) at Box Office Mojo Waiting for "Superman" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting_for_superman/) at Rotten Tomatoes For Superman Debate (http://www.bamradionetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category& layout=blog&id=70&Itemid=145/Waiting) "Waiting for 'Superman'" Review (http://www.moviefone.ca/2010/09/13/ waiting-for-superman-toronto-film-festival-oscar/) Critics Say Documentary Unfairly Targets Teachers Unions and Promotes Charter Schools (http://www. democracynow.org/2010/10/1/waiting_for_superman_critics_say_much) - video report by Democracy Now! NOTwaitingforsuperman.org - website responding to the film initiated by Rethinking Schools (http://www. NOTwaitingforsuperman.org) Not Waiting for Superman: Who's Bashing Teachers and Public Schools, and What We Can Do About It (http:// vimeo.com/18900900), presentation by Stan Karp, Jefferson High School, Portland, Oregon, December 10, 2010.
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported //creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/