Education (2020)
Education is a British drama movie and it is the last (fifth) film of the "Small Axe" anthology series from the director Steve McQueen. Released on 13 December 2020 (United Kingdom) and 18 December 2020 (United States), this movie follows a 12-year-old Kingsley who dreams of the stars. Absorbed by astronomy and the careful drawing of rockets, he harbours dreams of becoming an astronaut. Yet his ambitions are routinely grounded by the fact that he lives on a dour estate in Haringey, North London, in the early 1970s, and his hardworking parents are in no position to support such lofty ambitions.[1] This 63 minutes movie starring
- Kenyah Sandy as Kingsley Smith
- Sharlene Whyte as Agnes Smith
- Tamara Lawrance as Stephanie Smith
- Daniel Francis as Esmond Smith
- Josette Simon as Lydia Thomas
- Naomi Ackie as Hazel
Plot
Education starts in the Planetarium with him, watching the show as a big smile breaks across his face. Technology fascinates him, but Kingsley has trouble reading in class. He's brutally yelled at by his teachers, either for fighting in class or horsing around like a normal 12-year-old boy. His offences are punished more seriously than other children, leading to a meeting with his mother Agnes (Sharlene Whyte) and the headmaster of the school (Adrian Rawlins).
Agnes is employed on two careers, including a nursing gig, to help put a roof over her and her children's heads. Esmond (Daniel Francis), her partner, works as a carpenter. "The headmaster knows nothing about the life or talents of Agnes, but he treats her rudely and he explains that Kingsley is being sent to a "special school" because he is troublesome and his I.Q There are ratings below average. This new school, Durrants, is so far from here that every morning a bus will shepherd Kingsley and other students back and forth. 'I am the carrier of good news,' reassures Agnes, the headmaster. It's not going to be the last lie he'll tell her.
“Nothing but a heap of trouble!” is how Kingsley is described by his mother. His older sister, Stephanie (Tamara Lawrance), has more time and patience. She is the first to become skeptical when she reads a brochure describing Durrants. Kingsley is more attuned to what's going on than anyone else in his family. "They send me to a stupid school," he says. It's a lot much worse. Durrant's description of his students says it all: these children are "educationally subnormal." Teachers don't care, that is, if they show up for class. Nothing is taught and, after graduation, the stereotype of having attended one of these institutions makes you a life-long person who can only do the least work and live in the poorest living quarters.[2]
Controversy
The movie shows how a black young boy of West Indian origin, born and raised in Britain who is an easy target for racism even at school and cant get a proper education. He (Kingsley) is talented in math and science but struggling to read and then Kingsley’s teachers disavow their duty to teach, opting instead to bully and belittle. Because of his struggling he sent to a "special school" who Kingley's mother believed is a great opportunity. Later she realized their local schools have been funnelling Black children out of mainstream education and into schools for the “educationally subnormal”(ESN).[3] And “special school” actually is a remote and neglected campus where children are excluded from opportunities and offered no knowledge at all.[4]
"The message is clear; the teaching of Black history, as well as of Black children, has been woefully inadequate"[5] -Nikki Baughan on Bfi.org.uk
Reference
- ↑ https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/education-steve-mcqueen-small-axe-british-school-institutional-racism
- ↑ https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/small-axe-education-movie-review-2020
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/nov/15/discrimination-at-school-is-a-black-british-history-lesson-repeating-itself-small-axe-education-steve-mcqueen
- ↑ https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/12/steve-mcqueens-education-cant-make-up-its-mind
- ↑ https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/education-steve-mcqueen-small-axe-british-school-institutional-racism

