Less Review and More Rant - The History Boys

First the positive news. The strike is now completely over! YAY! WOOOOOOOT!

And now a rant about The History Boys, a 2006 film by director Nicholas Hytner (Center Stage.)

What an opprobrious prodigality the film The History Boys is! What an utterly droll piece of vexation this near nefarious twaddle is? See, while not necessarily the most common usage of those words, I do possess the prowess to comprehend many words. I am not the moron that the critics of this film presume; (not assume) all persons not in favor of this, excuse the simplicity of the word, disgusting film. I don’t often hate films, I don’t like them all, but I rarely hate a film. This, like Crash before it, has made itself onto my list of most loathed films.

So in order to avoid making this review sound like the 95 thesis of the anti-History Boys Reformation movement, allow me to quite simply explain my primary grievances. The first one that comes to mind is the utter, unapologetically homophobia message the film presents. Not one, not two, but three characters, all homosexual, are predators that just can’t seem to control themselves around their students. Apparently unlike the heterosexual teachers who seem able to teach classes full of Co-eds without problems, homosexuals are inherently more likely to prey on their students. What I think makes this all the more inexcusable is the fact that attempting to fire a teacher for inappropriately touching his pupil is portrayed as a somehow homophobic act. The movie then seems to say homosexuality is a sort of disease that can’t be helped. A disease that leads to sexual disorders and strong desires to engage in sexual relations with minors.

My other concern with this movie is the annoying banter. I am not one of those people who believes that movies should sound exactly like real life. Sometimes it should and sometimes it shouldn’t, but the dialogue in this film is just ridiculous. Many fans and critics of the film say that they enjoyed the movie’s dialogue and that those of us who find the film to reprehensible are simply uneducated morons who are better off watching Norbit. Well, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I would rather watch a marathon of bad Eddie Murphy movies then to have to endure even a minute more of that putrid, homophobic, pretentious piece of rubbish. Avoid it at all cost.