Don’t Stop Thinkin’ Bout Tomorrow

You know there’s a problem when you’ve just finished a documentary on dedicated teachers and then lack the courage to enroll your own children into public school.

Enter Davis Guggenheim’s world in “Waiting for Superman.”

Feeling that the system needed a complete overhaul, Guggenheim set out to find answers about why public schools in this country have been on the decline for so long. However, unlike other documentaries out there, Guggenheim doesn’t waste time pointing the finger at anyone. Instead, he focuses on the children that suffer because of the negligence of everyone involved, showing that politics and bad decisions ultimately hurt the people who need the most help.

Following the exploits of a handful of bright kids looking to get into high quality schools, Guggenheim puts the travesty of the random lottery, the way most of the magnet and charter schools in the country pick their students, on full display. It isn’t a coincidence that only one of the children Guggenheim follows originally gets into the school that they want to, and one other just manages to get lucky and move up a few places on the waiting list before getting admission to the school of their choice.

Through this, we can see what Guggenheim’s reason for making this documentary is: something is wrong.

Utilizing credible and compassionate sources such as Geoffrey Canada and Bill Gates, Guggenheim is able to show the emotion behind the people who are desperate for change in the education system in this country. The archived footage featuring former presidents and their missteps along the way also make the documentary as bipartisan as possible and further cement the notions of people such as Canada and Gates- that as far as the United States educational system is concerned, things have gone south for a long time coming and something needs to be done to fix it. The numbers Guggenheim brings into the documentary show this decline better than anything Canada and Gates can say as well, and give the film more than enough credibility to stand on its own two feet, making for a one of a kind film that tells a poignant message.

Seeing what these prominent leaders have to say, while following these children around and seeing their simultaneous strength in their ability and faith in a system that doesn’t give them the slightest chance, is astounding. You’ll root for them throughout the film, hoping and praying that things work out for the best, knowing full-well that it won’t. It’s unfortunate that these talented children pay the price for the country’s inept policies, but when it’s all said and done, that’s the biggest statement the film makes.

Overall, the statement that Guggenheim makes is a bold one, but the fact that he’s able to support it, with raw facts, free of bias, is even bolder. As far as documentaries go, you’d be hard-pressed to find better. On top of that, it’s a far-reaching work of cinema that has a message- and is delivered loud and clear.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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