Prepare for this...yesterday, I saw a movie with my mom. It turned out to be a rewatch however, Netflix had simply acquired the license and it premiered on the platform then. My mom pretty much forced me...I didn't want to see it again, just because of how terible it was. Pierpzyć Mickiewicza 2, something of a Polish high school comedy with occasional melodrama. Upon seeing it for the second time though, I concluded it was just alright. Fine in the way that it existed and some people could enjoy it more than me, but personally - not really.
However, there is one value I've seen the film touch up on throughout its runtime - empathy. More specifically, we're introduced to an autistic boy called Korek who has just transferred to this one school in Warsaw. The prequel was pretty much Dead Poets' Society but it wasn't actually an all boy's school. Here it was pretty similar, other than your usual romantic main plot and some loose ends, this thread seemed promising...I couldn't take it seriously anymore by the end however and the ending felt forced. But well, I've got off topic. Empathy is what tied all these plots together, that comes from my own shallow analysis.
But what even is empathy? Nowadays, it oftentimes feels like the word is thrown around as a sort of buzzword without any sense behind it. Well, time to Google...Cambridge Dictionary defines it as:
the ability to share someone else's feelings or experiences by imagining what it would be like to be in that person's situation
Well, that's better than I expected. It's something similar to how I would define it myself - the ability to recognise someone else's feelings and provide them suitable comforting in that regard. Or something like that. Well, let's return to this movie, because as I said already, the theme of empathy is prevalent throughout its entirety: Dantes (the MC) and Nel (his GF) having a tough situation as he wants to try taking her virginity and she doesn't feel comfortable having sex yet, Korek being bullied for displaying cliche tendencies of autism (I've seen the liking trains bit way too much, also it felt like it was utilised for rather comedic purposes than the theme of empathy at times), and just the treatment of girls in high school by boys as all too immature. What's the solution? Have the John Keating-like teacher invite a pornstar to school and explain it to them, in agreement with the local priest. This sounds horrible when I write about it...and yes, it is quite cringey in my opinion. But I can't exactly feel that way when watching a movie, unless it sucks to the point of being unwatchable.
Well, so does it work? Yes, the happy ending is provided. Dantes and Nel make up, instead playing goth tabletop games instead of breaking each other apart in bed, Korek becoming the favourite of the class by flipping off the math teacher with his skills and the boys, somehow proportionatelly, taking all the girls on dates in a restaurant. This sounds pretty superficial, right? I repeat, it didn't feel superficial in the movie. Is this one post just a critique of that film?Maybe, because I feel like the authors just tried to evoke a sort of reaction from the viewers by using cheap techniques of shocking behaviours, which are weirdly expected of Polish teens, instead of providing a meaningful plot or at least interesting characters. While tackling "empathy", it also fails to accurately and clearly explain what it is...and how one could actually learn to be empathetic.
So then, what would I prescribe (considering I consider myself empathetic (enough))? It might sound simple, but none of us are born evil. If you take just a moment to think about the other person, "put yourself in their shoes", imagine their perspective (wholly different from yours), you might just be able to empathize with them instead of mindless hate. Dialogue, not violence. It can also require patience and, obviously, respect. But really, just like any other skill, ir requires some practice and actually putting in the effort. Unlike that "mindless hate", which requires none in comparison. That's all for today folks, remember to use your mind that you were born with.