MovieChat Forums > Finding Forrester (2001) Discussion > Professor Crawford

Professor Crawford

posted 12 years ago by Airjordan2288
3 replies | jump to latest

for such a small role F. Murray Abraham really sunk his teeth into it making him a vile despicable, insecure, pompous, elitist, racist.

I love how he got destroyed in the end and all his power taken away in one quick swoop both by Forrester and then then head of the Faculty, when he told him "Robert Sit Down"

I wonder what became of Crawford? I would think he would probably have to teach elsewhere because of how he was given his comeuppance. He would have no respect from any of the students at the school and the way he constantly harrassed Jamal surely would not go unnoticed after everything that transpired.

the way he wanted everyone to stop clapping and said "Quiet Please, Shush shush" at the end just made me want to set his beard on fire.

Tell me mom, when your little girl is on the slab where will it tickle you?

[–] balboa76 12 years ago

Unfortunately there are many professors like Crawford, they are usually people that never got to be what they aspired to be, in Crawfords case he never got to be a published writer, these type of teachers take their frustrations out on the young students because youth and a lack of talent are the two things they well never acquire, time has passed them by and they almost always never get fired because they hide behind TENURE.

The term those who can, do, those who cant teach, applies to teachers like Crawford. Crawford would still be employed, sad, but that's the way the educational system works.

"Bitterly disappointed teachers can be either effective or very dangerous" Great quote from Finding Forrester.

[–] davidwile 12 years ago

Hey Balboa,

You really hit the mark with your comments. There are far too many teachers at all levels who really should find other work. While earning a Bachelor of Science in Social Science/Secondary Education, it seemed half of my courses were such that one worked far more on feeding the teacher what the teacher wanted to hear rather than learning to be a thinking human being. With such teachers, those who did not play the game did not do well when it came to grades received. There were many teachers who did motivate students, but that simply is not a good enough reason to tolerate the many bad teachers.

While both certified and motivated to teach in secondary education, for various reasons I elected to not do so. I worked in several jobs in private industry before making a career in federal civil service. I am well past the "September of my years," and looking back on my life, I have some regrets about various choices I made in that time. None of my regrets, however, are as deeply felt as my regret that I did not teach high school when I graduated from college.

I am familiar with the old addage you noted about folks who can, do, while those who can't, teach. While in college, the addage had a little more to it and went something like, "Those who can, do, those who can't, teach, those who can't teach, teach teachers, and those who can't teach teachers, preach." While taking some pride in my own cynicism, I am not that cynical that I accept the addage noted above as truth. However, I do believe the addage does merit some amount of consideration when evaluating performance by teachers.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[–] balboa76 12 years ago

David don't be so hard on yourself because you never got to make $28,000 a year as a high school teacher.

The problem with the teaching profession is that the schools are forced to hire anyone that has a bachelors degree because of the shortage of applicants that have the proper credentials and are welling to work for a terrible wage. So you end up with a lot of teachers that only got into the profession because their real profession of choice didn't have any job openings, so it was teach or starve, and after many years waiting for an opening they just end up staying in teaching because of the benefits.

To me a teacher should have a love for teaching kids, motivating them, and a passion for the challenge in getting the students that aren't gifted academically and lack self esteem because they have been told they are dumb, and show them that someone cares, and that you are that special someone that will go to great lengths to get this kid to believe in himself.

The movie Mr. Holland's Opus is great film about the kind of teacher that all aspiring teachers should look to as a benchmark in the teaching profession.