Steve Long's 2006 Film Representation Of Education

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The Representation of College Lifestyles vs. Education in Accepted Steve Pink’s 2006 film Accepted starring Justin Long, describes the comical story of a recent high school graduate, Bartleby Gaines who was denied of acceptance from each college to which he applied. In lieu of these multiple rejections, Long’s character, Bartleby Gaines, decides to start his own college, the South Harmon Institute of Technology. He and his friends are accepted to South Harmon Institute of Technology (not surprising, right?), and to make Bartleby’s high expecting parents believe that this Institution is legit, he and his friends make a webpage, hire a dean, etc. Little did they know, this well-formed webpage drew hundreds of other acceptance-rejected college …show more content…
Pink does an undoubtedly good job of representing how students get caught up in the traditional college lifestyle, and how this leads to missing out on an education. The director appeals to the college student viewer through this film, and even includes real things that happen on college campuses. Obviously, on normal college campuses, students neither teach themselves nor make their own subjects; however some do get caught up in the party scene, much like the students of South Harmon do. Just as Gaines, Schrader, Thayer, Glen and Holloway were all high school friends and students, we valued also our friends. We were able to spend time with them easily, we saw them every day, and we did not worry much about what friends we would not see when we graduated. Steve Pink also elaborates on this concept in his film. For the attendees of South Harmon Institute of Technology, much of it is about friendship. At this “college”, they are still able to value the fun evenings with friends, not worrying too much about what comes tomorrow. Now, not to say that in reality, no college student can value his friendships—that is absolutely possible and realistic. However, it is not as realistic as Pink depicts it in Accepted. In the film, the “friend” scene and “party” scene are extremely prevalent, whereas in reality, to gain a successful college education, actual classes and commitment must come before that. This depiction is another example of a serious misrepresentation in Pink’s

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