From TV, lessons in what not to do

Teachers flunk as role models in TV shows, films

By Mekeisha Madden Toby
Detroit News

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On one network show, a teacher sells his body for extra money; on another, the educators lust after and blackmail one another.

Oh, and don't forget about the series where the science teacher with terminal lung cancer manufactures and sells crystal meth.

And you thought Gabe Kotter was edgy.

The same small-screen world where murderous gangsters have doubled as suburban patriarchs ("The Sopranos") and a serial-killer-killing serial killer falls in love and starts a family ("Dexter") is the same small-screen world that has turned teachers into severely flawed but likable heroes. Notable examples can be found on dramatic comedies such as Fox's new musical offering "Glee," which premièred Wednesday, and AMC's provocatively dark drug series, "Breaking Bad," which will be coming back for a third season sometime next year.

Last but not least, there's "Hung" on HBO. It's about a Detroit history teacher and high school basketball coach who becomes a male prostitute to earn extra money after his house burns to the ground.

"Teachers are America's new underdogs," says Thomas Jane, star of "Hung." The irreverent comedy will wrap up its first season tonight. "Heroes come in all shapes and sizes so why not teachers? Among college-educated professionals, teachers have the biggest impact and make the least amount of money. Does that sound fair to you?"

Fair? No. But organizations such as the American Federation of Teachers are not thrilled about being portrayed as deviant criminals, either.

"At the end of the day, it's really important to have teachers be role models for kids and to have positive images of teachers on TV," says Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

"It's unfortunate that you would have shows out there that don't actually show how important teachers are in kids' lives and how they really make a difference."

Beyond the small screen

Criticism aside, TV isn't the only place where teachers have been portrayed as troubled individuals. Film, music and, of course, real-life situations also are examples.

In 2006's gripping, Oscar-nominated film "Half Nelson," Ryan Gosling plays a junior high school history teacher who, in spite of his crippling addiction to drugs, deeply cares about his students.

There is also the Police song "Don't Stand So Close to Me," about a young male teacher being tempted by a Lolita-esque female student.

Add to the list disheartening but funny films such as 1999's "Election," about a teacher who wants to destroy a know-it-all student, and 1995's "To Die For," where a beautiful teacher convinces her adoring male students to kill her husband, and pop culture is teeming with tarnished images of schoolteachers who are far from perfect.

The real-life 1997 case of Mary Kay Letourneau, a married teacher who served prison time after having an affair with her 13-year-old student, Vili Fualaau, further perpetuates negative images about teachers.

Sadly, the bad press keeps on coming. Last month, a Florida art teacher was arrested for sexual relations with her 14-year-old male student.

Just being human

While these headlines, movies and songs seem to appear in scattered waves, "Glee," "Hung" and "Breaking Bad" are sharing the airwaves all at once.

One reason viewers are witnessing a bombardment of naughty teacher shows is that flawed heroes are the linchpin of modern entertainment, argues pop-culture expert and professor Robert J. Thompson of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

"If we're turning to television for models of the teaching profession, we're missing the point," Thompson says. "Shows like 'Hung' and 'Breaking Bad' are less about teaching and more about the irony of what two men have been reduced to economically because they are desperate and they don't make enough money. A show about a desperate bartender would not be as believable."

Brad Falchuk, one of the head writers, creators and executive producers behind "Glee," says his characters are twisted, but that's only because they're human.

The worst among the warped on his show is a cheerleading coach named Sue Sylvester -- played brilliantly by comedic actress Jane Lynch of "Role Models" and "A Mighty Wind" -- who is a track-suit-wearing bully out to destroy the school choir.

Meanwhile, the choir's director, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), is married but flirts inappropriately with the school's guidance counselor, Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays, "Epic Movie").

But, at least, Will is less lascivious than his glee-club predecessor, a man who peddled marijuana and fostered sexual relationships with some of his handsome male students.

"Will and Emma and Sue are people first, and then they have this job," Falchuk says. "Will sometimes has bad teaching moments. Sometimes he has good teaching moments. And so the idea was that we wanted to just play the humanity of the people first and then their job second.

"I don't know if I can answer why people are representing teachers that way otherwise. Mr. Kotter probably wasn't the best teacher in the world, either."