Week Four Reflections!

For Week 4’s tutorial class, the only thing we did was watching Elections, a circa 1999 film. Ryan asked us to evaluate whether the said film qualifies as a “Greek Tragedy”. The story tells the tale of and connections between an overachiever Tracy Flick and a teacher in her high school Jim McAllister. The former is played by Reese Witherspoon and the latter, Matthew Broderick.

I think the film does qualify as a “Greek Tragedy”. However, I think that it is partially marred by what I consider a slightly episodic character, Tammy. Tammy is Paul Metzler’s adopted sister and a delinquent of sorts. I feel that she is not really part of the cause-and-effect chain, therefore quite incoherent, though some may argue that she does contribute to it.

In the film, Tracy and Jim wound up to have very different lives in the end. Although Tracy did not manage to win the presidency of the student governing body she was running for, she continued to strive and at the end of the film, we saw that she was a successful career woman. Jim, on the other hand, became a blue-collar worker after he brought about his own downfall, from a morally upright and honest teacher to a despicable one. He conspired and meddled with the presidency elections so that Tracy, who was poised to win, lost by a single marginal vote. He had an affair with his best friend’s wife, who told on him, leading to his divorce.

As time goes on, he went from hero to zero. From a much-respected teacher who won awards for three years out of his twelve years in the high school, he became one whom nobody looked up to. He was also unlucky, as we saw him get stung by a bee above his right eye.

The events that happened showcased the cause-and-effect chain, how a hero in the film, in this case, Jim, suffered misfortunes, intentionally. I mean, how often does somebody get stung by a bee directly above his right eye? Another obvious factor that it was a “Greek Tragedy” was because according to Aristotle, “the protagonist should be prosperous and renowned” (in the beginning), so that the change in his life and fortunes can be from good to bad.

Well, that is all for this week. Stay tuned for next week’s reflections from class and other rants (if available)! Cheers!