Teacher◆ Rediscovering the Weight and Meaning of Education
- Director, Kayukawa Clinic, Yuhei Kayukawa, M.D.
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
Chunichi Shimbun, Morning Edition, November 10, 2006
The Emperor’s Club (2002, USA)
When it came to light that many Japanese high school students had not taken all the required courses in world history, the Japanese educational system was thrown into turmoil. Giving students academic credit for subjects they had never been taught is much like a school-wide cheating scandal.
This brought to mind The Emperor’s Club, directed by Michael Hoffman, and a memorable lesson taught by the history teacher Hundert (Kevin Kline): “A wrong committed knowingly is a greater wrong,” and “There comes a time in every man’s life when he must look himself squarely in the mirror.” How symbolic these words are.
The story begins when Hundert, a retired teacher at an elite preparatory school, receives a letter from Bell, one of his students twenty-five years earlier, asking him to hold a rematch of an academic competition.
Bell, the son of a U.S. senator, is ambitious, cunning, and self-centered, yet popular with his classmates. He believes that anything is acceptable as long as it leads to success. Hundert devotes himself passionately to helping Bell develop his character, but his efforts are obstructed by Bell’s unsympathetic father. Even so, desperate to help Bell turn his life around, Hundert gives him a little extra consideration in grading and allows him to compete in the prestigious “Julius Caesar” contest. There, however, Bell is caught cheating. It becomes the most painful mistake of Hundert’s teaching career.
Bell is now the head of a major corporation. Though puzzled, Hundert accepts his invitation to the reunion. But Bell’s true purpose is to use the event as publicity for his entry into politics. Shocked to learn this, Hundert sincerely apologizes to the student who had once been unfairly eliminated because Hundert had shown favoritism toward Bell. He comes to realize that the “wrong committed knowingly” was, in fact, his own problem.
A teacher is not someone who merely passes on superficial knowledge or techniques.
A teacher is someone who, wishing for the student’s growth as a whole person, inspires the ability to think independently.
This is the true power—and the true joy—of education, and it is what makes this film so compelling.
As we reflect on Hundert’s memorable words, we should take this opportunity to reconsider the meaning of education and the importance of learning world history.
