Mistreated his son

My opinion of this movie has changed somewhat from when it first came out to now. It is still good, but the one thing that keeps me from rating it excellent is Mr. Holland's treatment of his son Cole, who is deaf. Holland loved his son no doubt, but his frustration toward him much of the time made it seemed that their relationship was strained at best. He could have spent more time learning how to not only sign to him, but how to teach him the love of music. Granted this came about later on in the film, but it was not without a great deal of conflict and argument. Holland and the doctor I felt had the biggest attitudinal barriers toward Cole of anyone in the film, and tended to go with the "status quo" at the time of what they felt a person like Cole was capable and not capable of doing. At best, Holland did the bare minimum while wife Iris did most of the work teaching their son how to communicate, I cannot disagree how Cole and Iris felt Holland cared more about teaching his typical students than he did about his own son. Actions speak louder than words, and his behavior showed that even if it was not his intention. Nonetheless, Holland became a good teacher over time and a somewhat better father. I would still give the film a rating in the B range, but I like to be nice!

I agree with you that he mistreated his son and was not the best teacher initially. What I appreciate about this film is that Mr. Holland is flawed. That flaw seriously effects his relationship with his son and his attitude toward teaching. He grew as a character over the coarse of the movie and became involved and engaged with his students and he struggled with his son, eventually accepting him. His relationship with his son was very very sad. It may not be realistic that his son survived that neglect, but the mother may have made up for much of the father's absence.

I understand your POV.

Anyway, he was a bad father. He was a bad husband. He found among his students people that "bound" to him more than his family. Only later he started to provide more attention to them and manage to bring them back.

That's the message I see, his professional frustration affected his family life.

But I agree, he's the father and the responsible for their relationship.

Also, he missed his born. When he got to the hospital he was already out in his mother's arms.

It was set half a century and more ago. Parents didn't coddle, shelter, and continuously "good job!" their children the way they do now. I was a kid in the late '50s and '60s, and it could sometimes be tough, but there was also a lot of freedom and you ended up tougher and more independent as a result. No regrets.