“Won’t Back Down” tells the story of a single mother and a teacher who take on a bad principal and villainous teacher union in an attempt to improve a failing public school. The problem with the plot is that the story does not portray the truth. For example, a movie viewer is led to believe that teacher unions mandate teachers cannot work after 3 PM…that a teacher cannot help a student with their problems, be it school-related or an at-home or personal situation.
It lays the blame for underperforming schools on teachers and their unions. It does not speak of poverty. It does not include other factors as to why schools fail. And perhaps that’s why the movie had a terrible first weekend at the box office ratings and in its profits as well.
There have been numerous blogs from the Los Angeles Times reporting how the movie did not live up to expectations.
To this review: Won’t Back Down is reportedly the lowest grossing opening film in Box Office history, it sure has garnered a lot of attention both nationally and here in New York.
Education Week goes on to say that the majority of reviews for Won’t back Down are negative. Peter Debruge wrote this review from Variety: “Grossly oversimplifying the issue at hand, writer-director Daniel Barnz’s disingenuous pot-stirrer plays to audiences’ emotions rather than their intelligence.”
You can go on many blogs for Dr Ravitch’s response to the one posted on RI Future, to the Rotten Tomatoes site (The Rotten Tomatoes site indicates a reviewer score of only 35% , in spite of efforts by staffers at Students First –Michelle Rhee’s enterprise-to boost the score)to even the Projo’s summary and you will hear the same thing… the movie did not fare well….that the movie is propaganda backed by corporate reformers.
And yet Harriet Lloyd is somehow supporting this movie. Is she that out of touch, that they still are pushing this movie because the movie promotes pro parent trigger laws, and charter schools? Is RISC so desperate in pushing charters in RI that they had to go out of their way and search so diligently to find a link that said how great the movie is?
Are they so clueless that they did not see that the movie is a flop? Or is this just a ploy to ignore the truth (I thought their platform included honesty and truth? at least that’s what it says?) and proceed to bamboozle the reader into thinking parent trigger laws are awesome and need to be pushed in RI schools. Or maybe Ms Lloyd wants to support the makers and supporters of the film.
Perhaps she wants to put Michelle Rhee who is pushing her weight on this film on the pedestal (who by the way is still not out of the clear with the DC high stakes testing cheating scandal that went on under her rule as DC Chancellor) or perhaps she wants to support Walden Media, which is owned by entrepreneur and conservative Philip Anschutz, who made the movie. He has an agenda that is pretty much “anti everything.” The narrator says this, : He (Anschutz) has a financial incentive to get rid of unions and teach nonsense in our schools.” Watch this video of “disguised propaganda” as it is called. (If this is what Ms Harriet supports, boy are we in trouble!)
Or is it the Koch billionaire who also supports Rhee and her crusade for more vouchers, charters, and other privatization gimmicks that RISC wants to see succeed in RI? Or could it be that Harriet Lloyd and her crew added this site to support Rupert Murdock whose money backed this propaganda movie. You know, the same Rupert Murdock now being investigated by the FBI for his News Corp conglomerate involvement….how they got caught making illegal wire tapping phone calls to 9/11 victims and others.
I just found it so bizarre that RISC would find this link to add to their site
Instead of promulgating the truth, which they say is their agenda….Why they would find a blog singing the praises of a movie that insults teachers and tells propaganda lies is something I cannot fathom.
RISC says on their site the following: RISC advocates for honest, effective, and fiscally sound government on behalf of Rhode Island taxpayers.
Well, I am a born and bred RI taxpayer and I don’t find what they advocate is the truth. I find they perpetuate corporate reform free enterprise ALEC concepts that not only hurt RI taxpayers but will destroy the middle class as well. What they call fiscally sound government, I call disaster capitalism which I do not support. RISC uses orchestrated raids in the public realm to further their cause of free market principles at the expense of the hard working citizens. They support people who wish to remain anonymous and hide behind their 503C tax status (engageri) and this makes them a site that people should question their real purpose.
If campaigns were all about which candidate could create the most intellectually dishonest advertisements, Mike Riley would be leading in a landslide. His latest ad blames Jim Langevin for high gas prices. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next one tries to link him to the 38 Studios debacle – or worse, Bobby Valentine!