Academic

Deans on Film

By Kelly Anders

I am honored and delighted to join The Faculty Lounge this month. During my stint as a guest, I will focus primarily on "Law and Popular Culture" topics. The following issue is freshest on my mind because it took place less than two weeks ago.

During my welcome address to incoming students, I like to discuss depictions of law students in movies from the 1970?s, 1980?s, 1990?s, and in the new millennium. The usual suspects include The Paper Chase (1973), Soul Man (1986), The Pelican Brief (1993), and Legally Blonde (2001). As part of the discussion, I compare and contrast the characters and law schools, and it quickly becomes apparent to students just how formulaic these experiences really are, regardless of the decade of each film?s release. For example, many are surprised to discover that three out of four of these movies are located at Harvard; the exception is The Pelican Brief, which had the main character attending Tulane. As an interesting bit of trivia, Legally Blonde was originally intended to be located at the University of Chicago, according to IMDB.

We also discuss the one-dimensional depictions of law school professors as tough, unyielding, brilliant, and just plain scary. John Houseman in The Paper Chase is the most famous (or infamous) example. Even his name, Professor Kingsfield, had a regal and intimidating ring to it. James Earl Jones as Soul Man?s Professor Banks is a close second. (I keep hearing his deep voice growling, ?A Harvard Law graduate has power.?)  

The rationale for this overview is to show students that their personal experiences in law school may not mirror those depicted on film, and that others with whom they come in contact (including future clients) may make assumptions about them and their experiences from these film depictions because the public-at-large sees these images and may have no personal points of reference for what law students are really like. It?s always an eye-opener for the students, and their comments are illuminating for me.

Speaking of what people are really like, how about deans? Lately, I have been thinking about the depiction of deans in the movies, and few come to mind. I can think of no law school deans, and the only others that I recall are Dean Wormer in Animal House (1978), Dean Martin in Back to School (1986), and Dean Kramer in House Party 2 (1991). Can anyone think of other examples? How might these images impact our thoughts on what it means to be a dean?  

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on September 04, 2009 (boomark / email).