From the perspective of an Art student....

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This film is so ridiculously true in its inspiration. One thing I think the OP is forgetting is that The Professor(Malkovich) specifically said his class was "anything goes" and in an anything goes class, you get just that. If this was a normal Figure Drawing class then Jerome would definitely have been praised but that wasn't exactly the case. I recall in 2D design class a year ago we were suppose to make paintings that was evocative of any feeling or emotion. This was the last project of the semester and with little paint left, I used only black and white and painted a small grey scale painting of several bars from light to dark. I ended up getting huge praise for that and an A while another student(the mom lol) did this really large elaborate painting and got a B. She was hugely pissed.

Another thing is that a lot of art students are just pretty damn lazy. One girl I know is incredibly talented and always focuses on her artwork, she's like a perfectionist when it comes to the studio classes on the other hand I have a friend named Cho who is a great artist but she is incredibly lazy. She can turn out some beautiful work but a semester ago in the follow up 3D design class she actually came into class 30 minutes prior, balled up five pieces of white paper togther, glued them together, and spray painted them pink right before turning it in as a project!!! I kid you not.

Also when Malkovich told Jerome you don't need to strive too much for a style. Like I said, it's just ridiculous how true I found this film to be. Earlier this year in beginning ceramics a boy I know named Jake would destroy his work after every class. The professor asked, "What the hell are you doing? Stop throwing everything away." Jake said he was angry because he couldn't create anything with a distinctive style and the professor said, "You're only 19, everything you create doesn't need a style as specific as Picasso or Tim Burton. Just create work, a style will come to you soon enough, don't push it."

The stereotypes of art school students are all pretty true, and I also include myself into that bracket. However I've since changed my major but I'm still a visual arts minor so I'm still taking a lot of art classes. And it's the same old stuff as always. About the art world, it is no doubt difficult to get into. Most people won't make it, and it's true that originality has little to do with it. It's about how you can market yourself and how much luck you have, being at the right place at the right time.

Well I personally was an art student because 1: I was good at drawing and 2: I wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly so I figured taking art classes would be the easiest way to get a diploma. I didn't end up becoming an artist but art classes weren't totally useless because the knowledge and skills helped me become a better game/level designer. Which isn't really related to art and is more technical but having art skills was a plus.

But I laughed when the movie described chicks who study in art as crazy ass bi-polar maniaco depressive sluts LOL. That was pretty accurate from my experience in school. Then again, all the girls I fall in love with turn out to be crazy as hell. Maybe I like crazy chicks.

I went to Pratt and this was like a documentary to me. LMFAO

I was an art major at a liberal arts school, and I can relate a bit to this movie. Sandy, the art prof, reminded me of one if my own painting profs, both in looks and in attitude. We had a weird old guy pose for three of my drawing classes, and I can label some of my classmates as those cliches. I feel Jerome, the technically good artist, can represent anyone in class who feels they worked hard on their art, but is always overlooked in favor of someone else during critiques. I can sympathize with that.

The movie starts to deviate when it portrays most of the students as drunken druggies. There were plenty of pre meds and business students who were in my classes (save a few moms and even dads!), so they were more than sober! It seemed like Strathmore was a loser factory with everyone expecting to come out a transcendental artist. And nobody dared to show up to Drawing 1 with a scribble mess and call it a self portrait! Also, my experience with my art profs were more pleasant. They did not shower us with "only 1 in 100 make it in art" nor did they not teach us anything and leave us on our own (who brings in a live model the first day of freshman drawing, semester 1?!). The profs at Strathmore seem to only care about themselves and use art teaching to make easy money. I guess some real schools do, but not where I went!

This movie shows some truth and politics in regards to art/art school, even if the truth is stretched in some place.

Its LeviOsa, not levioSA!