Introductory remarks
Acceptance is the easiest reaction when the status-quo is filled with discouragement, mediocrity and inefficacy. Joe Clarke’s character in “Lean on Me”, a 1989 film, shows how challenging the status quo may be exhausting, controversial and acerbic. But the rewards are worth it.
There is also Leonna Barrett, a parent who does not like the expulsion of her son and blackmails the mayor to gain distinction in order to vote Mr. Clark out of authority. Leonna Bennett, a parent not happy with her son’s expulsion, then blackmails the Mayor to remove Mr. Clark from authority. Joe Clark was an enthusiastic teacher in that school. His unconventional techniques made learning enjoyable.
The other teachers, however, did not like his teaching style. He was transferred because he was seen to have alienated the principal. Fast forward 20 years and Clark is still teaching at a school that seems to be in a nice neighborhood. Eastside high is shown in a new light. This school has been deemed the worst of all, with a large minority population. Drug dealing, violence and intimidation have become commonplace.
Mr. Clark, the principal of the school, takes over the movie. He ignores the greetings from his staff and starts issuing orders in a semi-military fashion. He demands a list from the students of all the troublemakers and drug dealers. He demands that all children learn the school’s song in order to boost morale. After a rough pep talk, Mr. Clark grants a second opportunity to an expelled student. Leonna Barrista, who was at the parents’ meeting, becomes angry that he expelled so many of her students. She begins a movement to get rid of him. Mr. Clark established an open-door policy to allow students to visit him and talk about their struggles at school, or at home. He visits the parents to provide useful solutions.
To stop drug dealers from barging into schools, Mr. Clark chains the doors of the school while classes are taking place. The fire chief and Ms. Barrett give him a tip, but Mr. Clark is ultimately caught. The school board decides to fire Mr. Clark over his safety breach.
The students were told to leave the jail by the Mayor, who visited him. Ms. Barrett tells the students that they’ll get a new principal. Students shout down Ms. Barrett, stating they do not want another principal. They only want Mr. Clark. Ms. Lavias arrived with the Eastside High test results, showing that all students had passed. The confrontation turned into a merriment as a result of this.
One of the most profound themes that is explored in this film is leadership. The theme of leadership is prevalent throughout the movie. It’s most prominent when he tells the students and faculty to follow his orders. One teacher disregards the order and does something contrary. Mr Clarke believed that the teacher’s actions could have undermined his authority. Therefore, he sent him out of his classroom and to his desk.
He also demonstrated leadership by chaining the gates of the school to keep out students. The move was unorthodox and raised a lot of controversy. However, he did it because it was needed to accomplish the goal that he had set for the high school.
This film is for anyone who faces a seemingly impossible challenge. Challenges are part of everyday life and therefore everyone can relate to this film. This film will leave us with a renewed and energised attitude in how we approach challenges, professional, individual or otherwise.
The author of this story adopts a demonstrative, didactic tone. The writer of the story behind this film tries to convey a didactic, demonstrative tone to his audience. The film shows the struggles Mr. Clarke faced, as well as the deteriorated condition of the school, and the drastic measures he took to try to change it.
The film does a good job of illustrating this lesson, especially since it shows a stark difference between the condition of a school when Mr. Clarke arrives and its drastic transformation by the movie’s end. This is an amazing transformation that leaves the viewer speechless. It shows how hard work and a positive attitude can overcome seemingly impossible challenges.
This film is written in several different varieties of English. The screenwriter uses several varieties of English in this film. This includes the use of dialects, like when Mr. Clark says “that’s what I’m gonna tell you” at a parent’s meeting. It is also considered inappropriate to use profanity. This is what we hear from Mr. Clarke when he tells a young student: “If you want to commit suicide, don’t F_ck Around …”
The film also uses a variety of literary devices. The metaphor used by Mr. Clarke to justify his expulsion of some severely deviant kids was “one bad fruit spoils the bunch”. This device was used to get parents to understand that he made a change to the school in order to help the students go to an environment where they can feel better and forget the fear of failure. The device paradox can be used by Mr. Clark, who says “I fell on knees before the Lord and asked, ‘My God, why hast thou left me?’ And the Lord responded “Joe is no damned good unless he takes this opportunity, and does whatever he must.”
Despite Mr. Clark being viewed as a raw individual and deserving of contempt, it was his intimidating and seemingly out-of-control behaviour that made the mission successful. The school needed to complete a turnaround, so his bizarre methods of disciplinary were required. The same attitude was not applied to the faculty, which led to animosity and could have been avoided.
