Several months ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Davis Guggenheim’s documentary about teaching called “Waiting For Superman” in theaters (Click here read the full review.) To summarize, I liked the film, but felt it had one or two shortcomings in its final message and was frustrated that Guggenheim stayed clearly on one side as opposed to being more objective.  Tomorrow, it hits DVD and BluRay for general release.  I had the chance to sit down with the film again and see what the total package offers.

There is a commentary on the film with Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott.  Guggenheim is quite talkative and enjoyable to listen to while Chilcott chimes in as necessary.  He actually addresses some of my concerns right out of the gate – he says that he intentionally chose a side because his first documentary essentially follows teachers silently and lets the events play themselves out.  From that experience, Guggenheim said he wanted to make a strong statement.  The difficulty of course is actually calling the film a documentary when it is so strongly biased.  When does it become propaganda?

I am surrounded by people in the helping vocations.  My Father and brother are pastor’s, my Mother is a nurse, my wife and my brothers wife are teachers (one in inner city LA at a school featured in the film, both a part of Los Angeles Unified School District), and I worked as a School Based Therapist in inner city Los Angeles (essentially functioning as a Clinical Social Worker).  My experience and family environment have informed me and colored my biases about the problems of education - especially in areas where poverty and immigration create challenges for teachers.  I have been and am presently surrounded by people in the trenches of the education war.

I was cautious going into “Waiting For Superman” due to its director – Davis Guggenheim.  He is responsible for “An Inconvenient Truth,” a film that has polarized while igniting a political fire.  On the other hand, his most recent film “It Might Get Loud” inspired me to play music again, and as a result I started a band for the first time in 9 years.  To say that Guggenheim’s films leave an impact is an understatement.  He gets people to talk and act.