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Mar 11, 2009
Tale of two teachers : set up to lose. (5/10)
Georges Lopez was denied compensation for his acting, probably because the judges had watched the film and refused to lose their illusions : their judgement implied there was only one real Georges Lopez, on and off screen ; losing his case would help the greedy plaintiff to return to his naturally generous self.
George Lopez’s loss was nobody’s gain : the film, the moviegoers, Georges Lopez’s students, all lost.
Joseph Conrad’s Jim had yielded to panic, because he had never experienced fear before ; Georges Lopez succumbed to greed, because greed had never attacked him before : he was taken by surprise.
Jim was young but his whole life was barely enough to redeem himself. Georges Lopez was older : by giving in to greed, he destroyed all he had built, stood for, embodied, through each year of his professional life.
Georges Lopez lost and never held a chance. When opportunity knocked, he was totally unprepared, naive and candid. He probably signed away his rights without a second thought, after not much of a first one.
How would « Etre et avoir » have been possible without a relationship of trust between him and the filmmakers?
He later asked for what he regarded as fair treatment in a language which was not his : translated into legal jargon, his demands had him appear bitter and envious, if not right out of his mind. Georges Lopez had never been trained in these issues ; when, at last, he had a teacher, his lawyer was the wrong one.
As Georges Lopez lost his cases, he probably felt as frustrated as his pupils when they discovered the values he taught them did not always hold currency in the outside world.
There is no -very little ?- doubt Georges Lopez was sincere and really felt he had been wronged. To challenge the unfairness he had suffered, he launched a war and lost all its battles : the legal battle, the public relations battle, last but not least the moral battle.
The only strong case he made was that school teacher was no vocation, but a job like any other, you did for money, trying to cut the best deal for yourself.
Far from being able to find solace in being the moral winner, France’s favourite school teacher had cast himself in the bad guy’s part.
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I recently watched the movie "Class" about the French students and teachers. My father was a teacher, but I once again admired generosity of people involved in this hard work!
Posted by: Russian Brides Prefer | May 27, 2009