MovieChat Forums > Firstborn (1984) Discussion > Argument with the teacher

Argument with the teacher

posted 12 years ago by tpcorless
5 replies | jump to latest

This may be a stupid question, but the arguments Jake has with his teacher, are they supposed to be a mirror of his relationship with Sam?

The last scene with the teacher, Jake is accused of plagiarism but Jake insists he didn't and even offers to go get the book which his teacher accuses him of ripping off.

Did Jake plagiarize or are we supposed to infer that the teacher is a jerk like Sam and that Jake has few adults to turn to?

Or am I supposed to take the scene at a literal level where Jake is slipping in his studies because of problems at home.

[–] sonofbeach-sheet 12 years ago

The teacher was obviously a douche, but yes, I think Jake's troubles and frustrations at home and with Sam obviously exacerbated the problems with his teacher. Not sure if the teacher ever let him back into his class!

And he probably did plagarize just so he could get the report done

[–] scott-sw 12 years ago

As a teacher, I will say this one is a real jerk. However, the scene when Jake blows up at him was the wrong course of action. He should have waited after class. However, the point of the scene was to show the frustration he had with all the dead ends of getting help.

[–] britika 12 years ago

Well, things were not good at Jake's home and we all know that this carries over into other areas of your life. He was angry, sad and felt hopeless about what was going on with his mother and Sam. I interpreted that scene as Jake just being fed up with everything and that teacher just happened to be the one to get it because he was such a royal jerk.

[–] hodie1 9 years ago

I thought it said something about the powerlessness of kids against adults, even adults who are wrong. Another adult would never have put up with that jerk of a teacher.

[–] dkgambler (158) 5 years ago

The teacher is in a similar position of power if you will, simply by virtue of him being an adult. Jake has Sam figured out, and he's got the teacher figured out. The teacher gets a rise out of sticking it to his intellectual lessers, they can't fight back simply because he's an adult chronologically.

Frankly the teacher reminds me a lot of a fair amount of teachers I encountered in my youth. They can't handle any push back of any kind from the little idiots they are trying to mold. I remember a high school teacher I had, prim and proper dude, wore a cardigan sweater that he would hang prominently near his desk. Some sort of history class as I recall, easy as hell. He would give "bonus points" for participation, I aced every test and didn't have any questions. He knocked be down on my "bonus points", so I ask why. Well, see, I don't participate enough. I say I don't have any questions. But see, son, that's not the point. Oh, I get it, I have to bow to your brilliance. So from that point forward I raise my hand a few times after I get my 95 on the test. "Mr. Teacher, I was certain the Mongols ruled China during that time, was I wrong?" "Well yes, young man, see the Mongols ruled China three years later." "Oh, I see, thank you oh great one." Bagged the full stack of "bonus points." Teacher got his superior ego stroked, student bowed to greatness. Game played.