Title: School of Rock- The Truth about Dewey Finn Name: Audrey Lynn A.

Arcilla Reaction Paper (Initial Draft)

One great rock show can change the world. Dewey Finn. A single statement that encapsulates the gist of the film and what it has accomplished in the end. The School of Rock, released last October 2003 stars Jack Black playing as Dewey Finn- a frustrated musician who struggles to generate an income after his long-time roommate Ned Schneebley (Mike White) asks him for his share of the rent- albeit reluctantly, as prompted by his new girlfriend Patty (Sarah Silverman). Pretending to be Ned, Dewey accepts a job as a substitute teacher at Horsegreen Prep. After accidentally discovering that his students are musically talented, he forms them into a rock & roll band to play in the upcoming Battle of the Bands. I serve the country by rocking. Im out there in the front line, liberating people with my music. Rocking aint no walk in the park, lady. Deweys great passion for music is clearl y apparent in this statement. It is this passion that makes him endearing to the audience. He shows that he is willing to go to any length just to be able to play in the Battle of the Bands, including risking time in prison and jeopardizing his best friends career. I was eight years old when I first watched the film, and I instantly loved it because Jack Black was hilarious. He was very entertaining in the way he exaggerated most of his movements. We can see this in the scene wherein the students asked him to perform his composed song. Dewy says It starts off with a dark stage. And then a beam of light. And then you can see me and my guitar. He vividly describes the way he imagines the performance of the song to be actualized, right down to mimicking the sound of the instruments. His facil expressions, hand gestures, leaps and kicks are all over the place. Dewey Finn also inspired the children to share their talents and go out of their comfort zones. When Tomika expressed her fear of singing onstage because of weight concerns, he tells her to just have confidence and to rock out. After watching the firm, I too wanted to be part of a rock and roll band.

Though Dewey Finn is all of these good things, he is still a man of many faults. Faults that I was blind to when I was eight, faults that I have only taken notice of now after watching the film again after all these years. His passion and love for music leads him to make unreasonable, impractical and selfish decisions. A clear example of this is the scene where he asked Ned to quit his job as a substitute teacher in order to join him in creating a band. He is more willing to sell his beloved guitars rather than look for a job to be able to pay the rent, and encouraged Ned to dump his girlfriend so that he can continue being a lazy freeloader. And though he may be ridiculously witty, we cannot escape the fact that he lied and schemed his way into and out of trouble all throughout the film. He appoints Summer to be the band manager when she threatens to tell her parents about the school project, gets the school principal drunk and flirts with her to get on her good side so that she will permit his plans of an educational field trip. These negative characteristics of Dewey Finn does not make him a good role model for children, yet reviews from the Internet still recommend the film to families and kids. As Roger Ebert says in his review; I have no idea why the movie is rated PG-13. Theres not a kid alive who would be anything but delighted by this film (2003). Why is this so? Because the comedy completely overpowers the negativities. After watching the movie, all most of us can remember is Dewey Finns hilarious character and the feel-good songs that they performed. We watch the movie from his point of view, and so we sympathize with his feelings of oppression from the society. Because of his overwhelming love for music, we are also led to believe as he does that it is okay to break the rules, and that it is perfectly acceptable to put the children at risk just to be able to play in the battle of the bands. As Dewey said to Ned, Music is my life, what do you want me to do? And why do we find this acceptable? Because it all works out in the end. The class gave an awesome performance, the parents and the principal loved it, and from this, he was able to start his own business-his very own rock school. The law breaking and name stealing remains forgotten all because of, as Dewey says and I quote, One great rock show.