Stand and Deliver



""How do I reach these keeeds?""

- Cartman, imitating Jaime Escalante to teach an inner city high school, in an episode of South Park.

Stand And Deliver is a 1988 film starring Edward James Olmos based on the true story of Jaime Escalante, a computer technician who became a math teacher in an Inner City School to save the students from gang violence, drugs, and the like.

Not to be confused with the catch-phrase of English highwaymen.

This page Needs More Love AND a little of The Wiki Magic.

Stand and Deliver contains examples of:
"Escalante: I'm gonna prove you guys wrong!
 * Beam Me Up, Scotty: Contrary to what some South Park fans may have you believe, Jaime Escalante never says "How do I reach these kids!"
 * Billing Displacement: Andy Garcia is listed third in the opening credits, yet he plays a minor role with less screen time than Rosana De Soto (plays Escalante's wife, listed fourth) or any of the actors playing the students (who are only listed at the end). Also Lou Diamond Phillips gets second billing while the actors who play Escalante's other students (Ingrid Oliu, Will Gotay) are only listed after the last scene and later during the credits.
 * Chekhov's Gun: the mistake 0 to pi over 2
 * Cool Teacher / Stern Teacher: Jaime Escalante embodies both of these tropes. While what he does is cool, he's harsh and demanding enough to be a Stern Teacher, and probably wouldn't be very fun to actually have. This is Truth in Television according to many of his former real-life students.
 * Covers Always Lie: The DVD cover of the film might lead you to think that Angel Guzman, Lou Diamond Phillips's character is the protagonist of the movie, when he's only part of an ensemble of students taught by Escalante.
 * Five Token Band: Subverted; all of the students are Latino.
 * Hey It's That Guy: Most modern viewers would recognize Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama.
 * Inner City School
 * Los Angeles
 * Obfuscating Stupidity: Lou Diamond Philips's character pretends to be less intelligent than he is so that his friends will still think he's cool. He refuses to be seen bringing books to class.
 * Obstructive Bureaucrat: Raquel Ortega
 * Precision F-Strike: Escalante swears exactly once during the movie, to Ramirez (Andy Garcia), an Educational Testing Service investigator who thinks the students cheated.

Ramirez: I hope you do, because this is not between you and me.

Escalante: Maybe not, but if I catch you on the street, I'm gonna kick the shit out of you."


 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Principal Molina
 * Save Our Students