One of the most amazing and powerful TV series ever was "Homicide: Life on the Street". It was produced by award winning motion picture director, Barry Levinson, and it was shot largely in Baltimore, Maryland. It was a cop drama in which the cases, as compelling as they were, took a back seat to the relationships between the cops.
It broke new ground in so many ways, and it won widespread critical acclaim. I own the entire series. Tonight I popped in the disc with the first episodes for season 5. HLotS started off it's 5th year with a double episode centered on a hostage taking at a middle school.
People tell you that teachers are incompetent (a few probably are); but it doesn't jive with my overall experience. The teachers I know don't work for the pay (or the plethora of praise! -- as if...) Teachers work because they care. They care about children and the future. And we all want to create a future in which well-prepared children grow into adults who are competent and ready to reach their personal potentials.
And to that end we are tenacious. This double episode of HLotS highlights both the ends to which we will act, and the limits many of us will accept. Anne Meara's performance is utterly stellar!
Having recently spent 30 minutes in ignorance and silence on a stage with 6 colleagues and 150 students mutely cowering in darkness under the call of Code Red, I can somewhat relate. And all I thought at the time was how I was going to use my body to subdue, confuse, and buy time for the evacuation, or these children should someone enter the room with intent to do harm.
Afterwards I was not surprised to discover that all of the other adults on that stage where thinking the exact same thing.
Praise be to this episode, to this TV show, and to Anne Meara, for showing us as we are.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment