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I haven’t given Throwback Thursday a nod in quite awhile but when I woke up this morning, a couple of dance scenes from past movies came to mind.
I’ve shared my love of To Sir with Love before ... it’s a film I first saw in theaters in 1967 when I was an impressionable 14. For those of you too young to be there, the tagline on the original movie poster was ‘‘the story as fresh as the girls in their minis ... and as cool as their teacher had to be.’’
Why did Sidney Poitier have to be so cool? He was playing the real life Rick Braithwaite, a former British pilot turned teacher, assigned to a very tough inner city London school. If a teacher isn’t as tough as the kids but at the same time, fair, he or she won’t get the respect they need to teach.
What can be cooler than a teacher dancing with a student? There has always been a line teachers have to draw between themselves and their students, aware that the affection students feel for their favorite teachers can turn into a crush which can be dangerous territory for both.
Usually though, those crushes are innocent, often coming along with puberty, the teacher a natural object of affection when hormones and new sensations are swirling around. It’s on the teacher to keep the boundary lines clean and clear.
Which brings me to Ryan Gosling in his Academy Award-nominated role as a teacher in an inner city school in Half Nelson. If you haven’t seen it, seek it out.
Here, from that film are Gosling and young Shareeka Epps sharing a dance, where Gosling is so goofy, he’s cool.
The results of the Dance Off? I LOVE Ryan Gosling but even I would have to say Sidney Poitier wins it. Wouldn't you agree?
And because I love both these films, here are the trailers.
To Sir with Love is available to stream on Vudu, Amazon, YouTube, GooglePlay & iTunes. Check Netflix at time of your desired viewing as things are always changing as to what’s available on the Netflix menu.
I’m not finding Half Nelson on a streaming service at the moment but it’s a must-see in my book.