Dead Poet Society - Inspirational Takeaways

It only took a few minutes into the movie for me to realize that Dead Poet Society was going to be an inspiring one.  Specifically, I found most of the inspiration drawn from Mr. Keating and Neil Perry.

Mr. Keating was a unique kind of teacher, who challenged his students to think for themselves.  I think this is an important lesson to take with us, that we should, as he says in the movie, “constantly look at the world in a different way”.  This kind of thinking encouraged creativity, innovation, and most importantly growth.  For example, Todd started out shy and scared to speak in front of the class. However Mr. Keating was able to open him up, first with the on the spot poem in class and then eventually Todd had grown to be able to stand up for what he believed in, like in the end. I think that Mr. Keating’s class and lessons were a huge part in helping Todd reach this new strength and confidence in the end.

As for Neil, I was extremely saddened to find out he killed himself in the end, however I still look back to his character earlier in the movie as inspirational. I found him to be so full of life, hungry for adventure and just an overall charismatic person. One specific example of all of this that stands out the most to me was the scene of Neil and Todd in their room talking about acting and the club. First of all, I found Neil’s excitement, confidence and certainty in what he wanted to do and then going for it to be extremely motivational.  Then secondly, when Todd says he isn’t the kind of person people will listen to and Neil can’t fix that, I found Neil challenging him by saying “No” and “Don’t you think you could be?” to also be extremely inspiring.  He was, like Mr. Keating, encouraging Todd to grow, to realize that he wasn’t a lost cause and could be something more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUGlUTGK9LU

In case you wanted to watch the scene I m referring to one more time ^^^

Over all, the two lessons that resonated with me the most from Dead Poet Society were to keep trying to see the world in a different way and to question myself when I have doubts about what I can be!