Yesterday I did something a little bit reckless and totally stupid.
I took 214 high school students to the movies.
It's just that they worked so hard to finish Les Mis, and they all wrote fantastic essays, and they read 400 pages, and freak, children should be rewarded, dontcha agreee?!?
The day was crazy, start to finish. It certainly didn't help that I woke up half an hour late, sped to work, and then ran around like my chicken with its head cut off trying to get permission slips out and class planned all with just a few minutes before the morning bell rung. There were multiple trips to the office (So you can just write me one check and then I pay for it all?!?) (Wait, how many students are on the excused list ?!?) (Mrs. Hare is supposed to watch my third period- did you mark her down?!?) I about dang near passed out when the secretary told me that there were over 300 on the list. We only had enough busses for 180 students! The theater was only big enough for 200! Turns out she was looking at the wrong list, but sheesh I could have just died right there on the spot. I'm not making that up- I really could have!
More running, more scrambling, all while trying to throw in a quick lesson for my sophomores on the ever important differences between affect and effect. Then I surprised them with a test and got another teacher to watch them while I ran to the office to get the check cut ($1,224 to see a movie. WOWZERS!) and load the students up on the bus. Only SOMEBODY (Ahem, other teacher involved, cough cough) had much more students than he had anticipated and thus it was that we ended up with 214 students and only bus room for 180.
The way I see it? Not my problem.
I started checking kids' names off the list and shuttling them outside and what do you know? Only two of the three busses had shown up! And the movie was to start in a mere ten minutes! I dived on to the first bus, told the other teacher to deal with the aftermath, I had to be first to the movie to give them the check, peace out! (I guess all the kids crammed into the third bus?!? Who's to say what ever happened with bus #3?)
That's how I escaped the madness of the overcrowded busses. I fled like a thief in the night.
Why, yes. I was quite stressed. How can you tell? Is is the lips turning purple thing? Oh don't worry about that, that's totally normal.
Next it was a $1200 check to a man in a tie and all of a sudden we had free reign of the theatre. "Go on in kids! Theatre Number 24! Hurry in! The movie is starting soon." I yelled at all of them. Boy! Who would have thought it'd be so fun to be in charge of a movie theatre? Night job, anyone?
Oh, but of course, we had to get popcorn first!
Riley's coat is totally stealing our thunder. Rude.
I say myself all calm and cozy like but couldn't quite rest until the movie was on, but the previews weren't coming! So I rushed to ask what the deal was- the movie's 2 hours and 40 minutes and we got to be back for afternoon busses, yo! Let's get this thing started! And so the nice man with the tie started it right away. And that was the only time in my entire life that I told a whole movie theatre when to start and it listened to me. Mark it in the books, my friends!
The actual movie ended up being fine- I guess as fine as watching a movie with 200 seventeen year olds can be. They giggled at the over dramatized, highly emotional scenes, and they certainly didn't respect Jean Val Jean's heart wrenching death scene! But what can you expect from 17 year olds? I suppose that could be a lesson to film makers- the film's emotion needs to be believable. If 17 year olds are laughing during a "touching" scene, then maybe they haven't worked hard enough to create authentic emotion? Then again maybe teenagers are just rude and immature.
I did, though, turn around halfway through the movie and chew out the kids in back of me. No doubt they were confused, I am sure they thought I was another student. But students don't usually turn around and yell, "Girls! If you can't get it together leave the theater but if you're just going to giggle there's no reason for you to be watching the movie. Now stop laughing or get out now." In any case, they stopped giggling.
Man, don't you just love being bossy sometimes?
We got back to the school in the nick of time for the afternoon bell and the kids to all bound right back onto the busses to go home. I had left my cell phone in my school drawer and there were frantic texts and calls from the secretaries about me not being back in time. The substitute for my third period class never showed up so I guess those kids just ran wild in the school?
I was an absolute basket case by the time the day was over and I can say this much with assurance: the movie was fun, but not fun enough to ever attempt again.
At least until May, when The Great Gatsby comes out. Heavens knows I HAVE to take my juniors to see that one!
If you want a full report of the movie, you're not going to get it from me. I liked it fine, but I wasn't over the moon about it. And to tell you the truth, I wasn't over the moon about the book. The whole thing is a little too cheesy/sappy/ highly coincidental for me. I get that it's the Romantic period and Hugo wrote it to be that way, but it's just not my style. I guess I like the drama more underplayed. Chances that I will teach it again next year are slim. So very slim.
I am however, very excited to hear my students' assessment of the movie as compared to the book.
Those kiddos sure can be smart. I'll keep you tuned in to what they think. Y
ou know, in case you care and all.
