Eight TV/Film Teachers I Wish I Were

The Teacher has been a stock character in popular culture ever since Thomas Edison realized he could control people’s minds using moving pictures. Most of these characters fall into one of two categories: the Monster or the Martyr. Teachers are either portrayed as lazy, cruel, and incompetent, like Ms. Krabappel in The Simpsons, or saintly characters who sacrifice their personal lives in order to help inner-city kids get into college, like Hilary Swank’s character in Freedom Writers.

My favorite characters are the ones who are more nuanced than that. Behold, my list of TV/Film Teachers I Wish I Were:

1. Annie Sullivan, The Miracle Worker- Like the real Annie Sullivan, the character in the movie is a real badass. She grew up in an asylum, watched her brother die of tuberculosis, became blind and underwent surgery to restore her vision, and, of course, turned Helen Keller into the American sex symbol she is today. But the real reason I admire her is because she stands up to Helen’s father when he tries to mansplain to her that women are supposed to be meek and modest. #NastyWoman
2. Haley James Scott, One Tree Hill- Remember when Haley got fired from her job as an English teacher because she refused to censor a student’s article in the school newspaper? Stop lying, of course you do. One of my lifelong dreams is to get fired for the sake of the First Amendment. Haley could afford to do this because even though she is, like, 24, she somehow has enough money to live in a mansion and spend her time playing around in her friend’s recording studio.
3. John Keating, Dead Poets Society- Raise your hand if you have ever tried the walking-in-step experiment with your students. Or dreamed of your students standing on their desks saying “O captain, my captain.” When I start my poetry unit every year, I show my students this clip from DPS. I am the worst.
4. Dewey Finn, School of Rock- Teaching uptight private school students to disobey their parents is clearly my jam. What I love about this character is the way he treats the students like peers, making himself vulnerable to them as much as they are to him. Also, if a student ever said to me “You’re tacky, and I hate you,” I would have to retire because my career would have reached its pinnacle, and it could only go downhill from there.
5. Ms. Norbury, Mean Girls- She sees right through Cady’s “dumb girl” act and calls her out on it. Because she’s a pusher. She pushes people. Also, if Tina Fey played a drug-addicted prisoner who killed puppies, I would probably aspire to be just like her.
6. Emma Pillsbury Schuester, Glee- I am still sorting out my feelings about this show, but there is nothing ambiguous about Ms. Pillsbury’s wardrobe. If Cher Horowitz grew up and worked as a store manager at J. Crew (as if!), she would probably dress the mannequins in monochromatic outfits featuring twinsets, pussy-bow blouses, and necklaces that can each only be worn with one outfit. That’s Emma. She even wore a beret once.
7. The guy in this commercial- To be honest, I’m not sure if I’d rather be this guy or date him. That is, assuming he still has time for a relationship while starring in the role of Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in Hamilton.
8. Ms. Frizzle, The Magic Schoolbus- She clearly had access to some really powerful drugs.

Your turn! Which TV/film teachers do you admire?