Paramount | 2010 |111 mins. | PG
In Waiting for Superman, director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) closely examines the public-education system in the United States by following a group of students as they apply to charter schools in different areas of the country. The film shows the poignant struggles of each student and their families, as well as the efforts of educators and school officials who are working to improve the public education system in the United States.
As someone who attended public schools and received a solid education that prepared me for college and life, I know I couldn’t have done any of it without the support of educators and my parents. I’m sure most teachers will agree that it all starts at home, and they can only do so much during the time they spend with our kids.
Guggenheim is quick to point out, no matter how much time parents spend with their kids, that’s not going to fix the problems plaguing the public schools. Though the filmmaker makes some vague points throughout, the main one is loud and clear: Public education is everyone´s problem. As such, the question becomes, what are we going to do about it?
There’s no doubt the stories of the children profiled will tug at your heart strings. Anthony, a 5th grader in Washington, D.C., lost his father to drugs and is being raised by his grandmother. If he isn’t selected to attend a SEED charter school he faces the prospect of attending a middle school where students are likely to fall two to three grades behind. In California, Daisy is an elementary school student so focused on her education that she’s already started writing to the colleges she dreams of attending. Francisco, meanwhile, doesn’t like school, but has a supportive parent at home who pushes him to do his best so that he has opportunities in the future. Bianca is a kindergartner whose mother struggles to pay her tuition to catholic school. She has pinned her hopes on Bianca getting accepted into Harlem Success Academy, though her chances stand at just 5 % .
Along with the kids’ stories, Guggenheim presents a slew of sobering statistics. The amount of money spent per student has doubled since 1971 (and that’s adjusting for inflation), yet students’ test scores have fallen from near the top to the bottom compared to other first-world nations. Despite this, most American students believe they get better test scores than other kids, even though statistics tell a different story.
Though Guggenheim appears to be endorsing charter schools throughout Waiting for Superman, he makes the comment that only one in five of those is doing “awesome” (whatever “awesome” means), and students have to hope to win a random drawing to gain a spot at one.
We also meet a few educators and administrators who are dedicated to improving the system in which they work. After watching Waiting for Superman, I couldn’t agree more that some changes need to be made to the United States educational system. However, this documentary is bound to be rather divisive, if you agree that improving charter schools is the answer, you’ll likely enjoy this; if not, you’ll find little value. Waiting for Superman is definitely recommended viewing; I’m just not sure it will change people’s already established views.
Presented at its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Waiting for “Superman” boasts a clean, stable image, showing only a tad of video streaking in motion. There’s some compression in the backgrounds and some mild ringing, and of course the shift to old news footage (at different aspect ratios) represents a shift in video quality, but in general this is a fine transfer.
The movie consists of mostly dialogue, including ample narration, and it’s all fairly legible. The musical score is well-mixed and delivered in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, which is nice. However, no attempt has been made to spread any audio around the multichannel soundfield, resulting in often-dead rears. It’s works for a documentary though.
The special features are presented in HD:
Every Blu-ray or DVD purchase of Waiting for ´Superman comes with a $25 credit that the buyer can donate to the classroom project of his or her choice.
Director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott audio commentary, during which they discuss the film process. And in the two-minute animated “Conversation with Davis Guggenheim” he makes some new points and reiterates some of the old.
Four more teacher/student stories are now revealed as deleted scenes, 31 minutes total, including one set in post-Katrina New Orleans. “Changing the Odds” introduces audiences to some innovative programs that are having a positive effect on public education (five-and-a-half minutes), while “The Future Is in Our Classrooms” (two minutes) is a promotional video providing additional statistics.
The creation of the film’s theme song by John Legend is explored in “The Making of ‘Shine'” (seven minutes), while the section “Public Education Updates,” reports changes since the making of the film.
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