Who do you side with? - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) Discussion

[–] Squirrel71 10 years ago

I sided with Sandy. Jean Brody didn't really care about her pupils as individuals, they were all little pawns in her game. It's fine to give them alternate views on the world, but she went too far in the other direction.

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[–] ricky_says_hi 10 years ago

I think Jean did care about her girls to some extent. Although she was using them to relive her youth and hoping to live through them, she still seemed to love them. It seemed that as she was getting older, they were the only things she had left. The man she loved was already married, and the man who wanted her she did not love. So her teaching was all she could hold onto

But at the same time, she was *not* a healthy influence. Especially for young children. She was grooming a girl of about 14 or 15 to have an affair in her place. She influenced another impressionable girl to run off and get herself killed. And she was pouring her political views into the classroom and giving the girls all sorts of dangerous ideas. Who knows how many more of them would have tried to have affairs with older men or run off to fight in wars if she hadn't been dismissed?

I used to think that Sandy was motivated mainly by jealousy. But now I don't see that at all. Jean was right about her being insightful; as she grows older she realises exactly how dangerous Jean could be. Even in her final speech to her, she seems conflicted. The way she asks "What will you do now?" and the final shot of her crying implies that she regrets what she has done. It seems like she didn't want to betray Jean but she knew she had to for the greater good. She saw through Jean when none of the other girls did - and was the only one who could put a stop to her. She pretty much had to ruin one woman's life to prevent her from ruining potentially hundreds of other lives.

I'm gonna die of long hair!

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[–] singjohn 10 years ago

The story makes you want to side with Miss Brodie in the beginning. But eventually we see that she is a too frivolous a person to be in charge of young girls.

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[–] ronfirv 9 years ago

I didn't see Miss Brodie as unduly frivolous ; she knew exactly what she was doing. Less puritanical in outlook than her peers, of course, but nonetheless intellectual, assured and charismatic.

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[–] PSVillas 8 years ago

Jean Brodie and Sandy both have their negative and positive sides but in the end I would side with Sandy. (MacKay is not really a major character. The way she is portrayed there is very little to like in her. Her desire to get rid of Brodie appears to be petty and more due to her prejudices and personal dislike of Brodie. Although the decision to get rid of Brodie is ultimately the right decision MacKay's reasons are not.)

Being a teacher myself, I would say Brodie is a horrible teacher. She does things one should never do as a teacher such as play favorites with her students or impose her own views of her students upon them. Yes, she may feel like teaching is her life but she appears to be more interested in gaining the admiration of her students, turning them into "Brodie girls", and using them to meet her own needs then in doing what is best for her students.

Sandy appeared to be fond of Brodie initially although she was obviously questioning which is not a bad quality to find in a student although I'm not sure Brodie appreciated it. Sandy turned against Brodie because of how Brodie viewed Sandy as someone unattractive, with little feeling, and someone who would make an excellent spy! Could you blame Sandy for eventually having a change toward Brodie. But even though her feelings had changed Sandy did not turn in Brodie until Brodie contributed to the death of her classmate by putting unrealistic and dangerous notions in her head. After that, Sandy realized how dangerous Brodie could be to impressionable students and felt like she had to turn her in.

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[–] ronfirv 8 years ago

Do remember this was set in 1936 Edinburgh, where I would not have been surprised that teachers did hold favourites. Teachers then tended to be more colourful, especially in middle class Edinburgh. (I was born in the city and my mother grew up in the city too in the years the story was set, with the book on which the film is based, written by an Edinburgh author). Miss Brodie captivated me. Dame Maggie's portrayal was a triumph.

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[–] tonygumbrell 8 years ago

JB is not merely naïve, which might be odd for a nearly middle aged adult, who, though, hangs on to her youth effectively, even as it must become futile, but rather, her 'naïveté' stems from her self delusion, self importance, and an elitism of aristocratic pretentions. She is pompous, and manipulative. Whereas Sandy, is an awfully precocious adventuress, who is Machiavellian in her actions to overthrow JB. You pick, Jean with her dangerous exhortations to her impressionable charges, or Sandy and her calculated cruelty in retort.

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[–] MNRebecca (773) 5 years ago

Greetings from 2019. I side with Sandy. Jean and Teddy were atrocious with students.

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[–] johnmiller (4011) 2 months ago

Miss Jean Brodie's "accomplishments" seem to be:

1.) Getting Mary killed and
2.) Turning Sandy into a clinical sociopath.

Brodie was dangerous, turning impressionable underage girls into revolutionaries and pushing Sandy into her sociopathy, with a need to destroy.

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