School Ties
School ties
* The opening mise –en-scene of working class, teenage 1950s America includes cars, a diner and David Green, a young man about to leave. The cut between the biker gang and David and friends establishes the tribal boundaries and the sense of communal belonging. Disrespecting David’s Jewish identity creates a crisis in loyalty and the cultural necessity to fight to defend one’s manhood. What is more important than the racism for the group is the necessity of communal identity in this case the use of fists as a sign of belonging.
* The darkness and barren nature of Scranton, Pennsylvania is juxtaposed with the opening panoramic shots of David entering St Matthew’s. the mise-en-scene is instructive: brightly lit, vast green areas, happy well dressed parents and children, established and dominating buildings David’s shocked “this is a high school” then coach “yes, its your high school” raises a central issue of belonging: how does a working-class Jewish kid from Scranton fit into an upper class Anglo American boarding environment.
* David sense of belonging in St Matthew’s is entirely superficial, partly because of a conflict within his own sense of belonging within himself –his identity as a young boy of Jewish faith. As the camera pans across the chapel scene to a mid shot of David, the viewer appreciates that he is not singing. The soundtrack of a Christian hymn presents the issue: his choice not to sing is a choice to ‘belong’ in the sense of embracing St Matthew’s Christian ethos.
* David bonding with his school peers goes well superficially, but their prejudice ‘jew’d him down to thirty bucks’ and derogatory racist comments cause David to stand back- wrestling with his own identity and self-respect and his desire to be ’one of the boys. ’The pressure on David is exacerbated by their housemaster– a cruel and arrogant figure who is a common ‘enemy’ of the boys. The sustained close-ups on David’s ‘star of David‘ chain is accompanied by
* The opening mise –en-scene of working class, teenage 1950s America includes cars, a diner and David Green, a young man about to leave. The cut between the biker gang and David and friends establishes the tribal boundaries and the sense of communal belonging. Disrespecting David’s Jewish identity creates a crisis in loyalty and the cultural necessity to fight to defend one’s manhood. What is more important than the racism for the group is the necessity of communal identity in this case the use of fists as a sign of belonging.
* The darkness and barren nature of Scranton, Pennsylvania is juxtaposed with the opening panoramic shots of David entering St Matthew’s. the mise-en-scene is instructive: brightly lit, vast green areas, happy well dressed parents and children, established and dominating buildings David’s shocked “this is a high school” then coach “yes, its your high school” raises a central issue of belonging: how does a working-class Jewish kid from Scranton fit into an upper class Anglo American boarding environment.
* David sense of belonging in St Matthew’s is entirely superficial, partly because of a conflict within his own sense of belonging within himself –his identity as a young boy of Jewish faith. As the camera pans across the chapel scene to a mid shot of David, the viewer appreciates that he is not singing. The soundtrack of a Christian hymn presents the issue: his choice not to sing is a choice to ‘belong’ in the sense of embracing St Matthew’s Christian ethos.
* David bonding with his school peers goes well superficially, but their prejudice ‘jew’d him down to thirty bucks’ and derogatory racist comments cause David to stand back- wrestling with his own identity and self-respect and his desire to be ’one of the boys. ’The pressure on David is exacerbated by their housemaster– a cruel and arrogant figure who is a common ‘enemy’ of the boys. The sustained close-ups on David’s ‘star of David‘ chain is accompanied by