"Accepted"

So overall, definitely a funny movie, but what was it that struck me most about this movie??  Well, how about the fact that Bethany, my parents and I saw one of this films supporting actors play the part of Shylock in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" this summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Yes...the actor (Anthony Heald) playing uptight and overbearing Dean Van Horne of Harmon College has a background in Shakespeare.  And believe me....he is much better as Shylock!  (Perhaps better because it's Shakespeare, or maybe because we saw him live.)  But I digress...What was it about this film that I liked?  I think I just appreciate the fact that this movie thumbs its nose at the status quo, and dares it's main characters to do something a little more outside of the box.  Oh yea...and it's totally hilarious.  By the end of this film, I want to carve an African fertility god, jump a motorcycle into a pool....and possibly learn how to blow things up with my mind!  So what were some things I didn't like?  I suppose "Accepted" is a relatively  predictable movie, with alot of cheesy one liners, yet at the same time, I found that those cheesy one liners seem to make you laugh out loud!  I like this movie alot.  I am pretty sure that this was one of those $5.00 impulse buys from target, and I can say with confidence that it was  $5.00 well spent.

-David

Accepted. While this is not the first time I have seen this comedy, it is a film that I find myself yet enjoying, again and again, with clever witty one-liners, such as when Sherman Schrader says before entering an old and broken down mental institution, "Great, I've always wanted to catch hepatitis."

Accepted. A film that is meant to entertain, but also perhaps to ask the deeper question, what is the purpose of college? Is it to get a job? Follow a family tradition? To deepen one's intellect? As a college graduate, and a current college student pursuing my Masters in Teaching, I think back to my college experience, which consisted of two years at community college, two at a private university, and now almost 2 more years where I will soon be the one teaching young minds. I really did enjoy my college experience, and still am, what with the diversity of students' and thought, new ways of looking at old ideas, discovering passions, establishing relationships...of course there was always a class or two where I didn't quite get as much out of it as I had wished, or maybe the instructor just didn't have it together. No college education is perfect. And college may not be for everyone. But for me, having the opportunity to learn, to meet new people, and to look at the ever antagonizing question, "What are you going to do with your life?" has helped mold and grow me into who I am today. And I'm definitely not done growing. Not by a long shot.

The only other thought I want to add is how the idea behind this fictional college, established by the main character out of desperation, reminded me of how a Montessori school might run. The idea to let students choose what they want to learn, choose how much time they want to spend on a certain subject... And as a future teacher I have been introduced to the Constructivist style of learning, where students learn by doing, and teachers are encouraged to let students find their own way in solving problems or in having choices when completing assignments. Now, I don't know very much about Montessori, and I believe it is quite different from the Constructivist perspective. But we are at a place in our education where we need to find that balance, between giving guidance, establishing boundaries, even giving direct instruction, yet not stifling student creativity...Anyway, just some ramblings...who knew watching Accepted could result in such deep thought. :)

-Bethany