Hot For "Bad Teacher?"

When I saw the title of the latest Cameron Diaz movie, Bad Teacher (coming out in the U.S. and Canada tomorrow), I immediately thought of the public education employee debate going on in these United States. The plot isn't all that relevant to the issue, but it does have subtle reference to it.

Cameron Diaz plays a perpetually stoned and drunk junior high school teacher who gets dumped by her wealthy fiancé and then relentlessly pursues another teacher who also has money - played by Justin Timberlake - while a more dedicated and more goody-two-shoes teacher also pursues Timberlake's character. But that's not what got my attention about the plot. Diaz's Elizabeth Halsey is a teacher - despite her disinterest in education and an obvious dislike for her own students - because of job security, short hours, and summers off.

In a time when arrogant state governors like Wisconsin's Scott Walker and New Jersey's Chris Christie are attempting to break teachers' unions and exploit the unfair perception of teachers as coasting layabouts, Hollywood seems to be exploiting Republican talking points on public education for the benefit of easy laughs and quick box office payoffs. Of course, movie studios don't really care about how their films deal with politically charged issues and stereotypes. Not since the seventies, anyway. As for Bad Teacher, it will likely be at least a moderate success at the box office. But a lot of teachers fighting Republican governors who are bent on destroying their bargaining rights probably won't take too kindly to it.

Note also this movie's end-of-school-year release. Bad teacher, good timing.