Dead Poets Society/Headscratchers

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• At the beginning of the movie, Neil's dad says that the principal thinks Neil is taking "too many extracurriculars". Mr. Perry's solution is to order Neil to drop his favorite one, the school paper. Since none of Neil's extracurriculars have anything to do with becoming a doctor, and since Papa Perry clearly doesn't want Neil to drop all of them (after all, they look good on the college apps), why not let Neil pick the one to drop? I mean, if you're gonna micro-manage a decision that unimportant, why not just keep him at home so you can make sure he cuts his food to the right size bites? (Never mind the question of "what business does the principal have telling somebody their kid is taking 'too many extracurriculars' in the first place?" Seriously, real-life principals LOVE kids who can do all that and still keep their grades up like Neil did.)
  • You don't really get how overbearing parents work, do you? There are actually levels of it between "ridiculously cartoonish micromanaging" and "let the kid do what he wants".