Bad Education (2019): the cost of the job

I watched Bad Education (2019) because my 7-day free HBO GO trial runs out tomorrow, 21 May. It also gave me something to write about on the blog, so here's my review of Bad Education (2019).

This post is called a film review, but I won't go into detail on the acting, the narrative, the filmmaking and so on. I'm just writing about what I took away from the film. Even so, this review contains SPOILERS.

TL;DR: Worth watching to fill some free time or when you're bored. It kept me hooked for 1 hour 44 minutes, and you won't feel like it was "wasted", because you'll come away with a few new insights.

What inspired Bad Education (2019)

Bad Education (2019) is based on a school embezzlement case at a school on Long Island in the US in 2002. Here's the short version of what happened:

Frank Tassone (played by Hugh Jackman), a school superintendent, and Pamela Gluckin, the assistant superintendent, had a vision to make their school district number one at getting students into top universities like Harvard, Yale and so on.

There's nothing wrong with their ambition. They even managed to lift the school's prestige to number 4 in the whole US. Like anyone who wants to give their best.

But before they got there, they were thrown in prison for embezzling and misusing school funds for personal use. The total came to 11 million US dollars!

Frank Tassone used the money to buy a house for his secret partner and to live it up. Pamela Gluckin, too, used it to buy a luxury house, holidays abroad and luxury cars.

It all came out in the end through their school newspaper. Which then brought in the authorities to audit the school's finances.

To this day, it's still the biggest case of embezzlement and misuse of school money in the US.

What I took from Bad Education

The lead is Hugh Jackman. Physically he does look a bit like Frank Tassone. Hugh Jackman also used to be a PE teacher. A good fit for this film.

A few scenes knocked something loose for me and made me write this review. Some scenes in the film aren't what happened in real life. For a fact check of Bad Education, go here.

Frank Tassone to Rachel Bhargava

This is one of the early scenes, and it turns out to boomerang on Frank Tassone and his colleagues.

Rachel Bhargava is a journalist for her school newspaper. She has no plan to interview Tassone or write about the scandal. If anything, it's Tassone who brings about his own downfall.

There's something Tassone says to Rachel that reminded me to work hard.

1. You can turn even the smallest thing into something that matters. It's all about perspective.
2. You have to shift your perspective to see the big thing behind the small thing.
3. Everything is in your hands. You're in control of what happens.

"Rachel, it's only a puff piece if you let it be a puff piece…. A real journalist can turn any assignment into a story"

— Frank Tassone

A dilemma about conviction

This is the scene where Frank Tassone finds out what Rachel is going to write. Frank then pressures Rachel not to write about the scandal.

Rachel is confused and torn. She asks her father, who's unemployed, what she should do. Should Rachel follow her conviction and write about something that's a scandal?

Or should she stay quiet, because what she writes could have a huge impact? This is where we learn why Rachel's father is unemployed.

"….I could've. But I didn't. That's something I live with."

— David Bhargava

It's just like that Nike ad, and like in my review of Dark Waters (2019). Believe in yourself even if it means sacrificing everything.

A teacher's justification

This scene reminded me of the teachers who gave so much to educate me.

Frank is under pressure from the case, and it pushes him to say this to a very demanding parent.

"Do you remember the teachers who sat down with you? who held you by the hand, who taught you add and subtract and Gatsby Salinger for the first time?….."

— Frank Tassone

He says it out of frustration. But there's some truth to it. Do we still remember the people who helped us? Whether it's teachers, parents, friends and so on. Read the story of George Clooney giving his friends a million dollars each.

Maybe we really have forgotten. Maybe that's just the risk of being a teacher. A hero without a medal. This film reminded me to pay it forward.

But there is a way to remember them and repay what they did: pay it forward.

If you want a website, you can sign up for a free website build. 100% free! It's my way of saying thanks, of paying it forward.