Analysis Of Monsieur Lazhar

Philippe Falardaeu’s film, Monsieur Lazhar, portrays several theories that have been discussed throughout this course. The film discusses grief, the education system, race, immigration, family, and so many more relevant topics. All of these topics can be applied to the study of childhood in Canada. This film follows a group of elementary school children that are left to deal with the aftermath of their teacher’s suicide, a suicide that took place in their classroom. The film also follows the adults and the different ways in which they deal with their grief, and the different ways that they lead the children to deal with their grief. Throughout this film the children’s grief and emotions are often belittled by adults, when in fact the children …show more content…
Specifically, the film outlines many of the problems in assuming childhood innocence. The adults within this film manufacture the idea of childhood innocence and the view that the children need to be protected, but the adult’s creating an idea surrounding the discourse of childhood does more harm than good. Throughout the film the children’s grief and emotions are repressed with the misguided view that it is shielding them from situations that would result in a loss of innocence. The adult characters in this film, with the exception of Monsieur Lazhar, all assume that the children are innocent in this situation and need to be protected. In this film the adults frequently repress the children’s grief and try to manage it, instead of letting the children experience and handle their grief like the competent social agents they are. The adults in the film assume childhood innocence because they want to shield the children from things that will make them lose their innocence. By doing this the adults portray the children as unintelligent and unable to deal with their emotions. Assuming childhood innocence is problematic in the film because it belittles the children who are actually dealing with the grief a better than some of the adults. An example of this being the fact that Monsieur Lazhar is also going through a loss, and the audience can see that he is somewhat avoiding his …show more content…
While this is an example of assuming childhood innocence, it is also an example of the importance and role of the peers. The school inadvertently represses the children’s grief and emotions at school, and they are forced to rely on each other and their family. Some children don’t have stable home environment, such as Simon and Alice, and they are forced to rely solely on their peers. These two characters rely wholeheartedly in the peers to socialize them, they also socialize their peers, on the situation and teach them what is normal behavior in this abnormal situation. This reflection will therefore focus on how Alice and Simon deal with their grief, because they are the two that most rely on their peers. This film portrays the immense importance of peers and the role of peers as a huge agent of socialization. An agent of socialization is an individual or group that has an immense impact on a child’s development (Albanese, P. pg. 27). It is common knowledge that peers are huge determinants of a child’s development. Throughout the film Alice, as well as the audience, could tell that Simon wasn’t dealing with the death as well as the other students, his violence and aggression can be seen as communication of pain about the