Line #8 Film/DeadPoetsSociety


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6	->''"Carpe diem! Seize the day, boys! Make your lives extraordinary!"''
7
8	''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 drama film directed by Creator/PeterWeir, starring Creator/RobinWilliams in one of his earlier "serious" roles. The supporting cast includes Creator/EthanHawke, Creator/RobertSeanLeonard, Creator/JoshCharles, Creator/NormanLloyd and Creator/KurtwoodSmith.
9
10	It's [[TheFifties 1959]], and the prestigious, all-boys' Welton Academy in Vermont has just hired John Keating (Williams) as its new English teacher for the upcoming school year. A BlitheSpirit, Keating uses his classes to inspire his students to go against the flow and be themselves, somehow managing to make reading {{poetry}} seem like a cool, rebellious thing to do. A group of the students -- including [[ShrinkingViolet Todd Anderson]] (Hawke), [[TheAce Neil Perry]] (Leonard), [[ClassClown Charlie Dalton]] (Hansen), [[StalkerWithACrush Knox Overstreet]] (Charles), [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Richard Cameron]] (Dylan Kussman), [[TheSmartGuy Steven Meeks]] (Allelon Ruggiero), and [[TheBigGuy Gerard Pitts]] (James Waterston) -- form the [[TrueCompanions Dead Poets Society]], a secretive clique who sneak away from campus at night to read poetry in a secluded cave. But after witnessing Keating's unorthodox teaching methods and their effects on Welton's students, school [[DeanBitterman headmaster]] Gale Nolan (Lloyd) is determined to rein in both him and the unsanctioned Society.
11
12	A {{novelization}} of the film was published shortly afterwards by N.H. Kleinbaum.
13
14	----
15	!!O Troptain ! My Troptain !:
16
17	* TheFifties: The film is set in 1959. There are glimpses of the culture of the day, including early rock and roll music and teenagers openly smoking in (the public) high school without reprisal, in the scenes which take place outside Welton.
18	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: When the students are going along the stairway to their classes:
19	-->'''Mr. [=McAllister=]:''' Slow down, boys! Slow down, you horrible '''p'''halanx of '''p'''ubescence!
20	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:After forcing Neil to quit some of his extracurricular activities and unenrolling him from Welton after his onstage performance in the hopes that he would become a doctor, Mr Perry's plans for his son's future are tragically halted when the boy commits suicide]].
21	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: According to Pitts: "All the good ones go for jerks, you know that."
22	* AllGuysWantCheerleaders: Similarly, both [[JerkJock Chet]] and Knox are attracted to Chris, who is a cheerleader.
23	* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:The film ends with the boys defying the school to give Keating his farewell... but it's unclear what will happen to them all afterwards. Nolan had just threatened to expel anyone if they spoke up, and Todd especially might well face severe punishment for starting the rebellion. Is the Dead Poets Society over for good, or will the boys start it up again? Keating's fate is uncertain as well -- WordOfGod says he was depressed after Neil died and the boys' actions helped lift his spirits, but it's not confirmed if he'll recover or what he's going to do in the future.]][[invoked]]
24	* AmbiguouslyGay: Neil and Todd's dynamic definitely comes across as closer than simply roommates. [[spoiler:Todd reacts to Neil's death like a distraught lover, and all of the other poets are more worried about looking after him than their own grief, even though they've been friends with Neil for years, and Todd has only known him for a few months.]] Unlike the rest of the boys, neither of them show much interest in the girls Charlie brings into the society.
25	* AnachronismStew:
26	** In one scene, the piper is playing "The Fields of Athenry", which was composed in [[TheSeventies the 1970s]].
27	** In another, the Algebra 2 book by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich was published in [[TheEighties the early 1980s]].
28	* AncientGrome: It's subtle, but in a scene of the Latin classroom, next to the board is a map centered on Greece with the Italian boot being cut off at the heel.
29	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: When Neil consults Keating about whether he should go through with the play:
30	-->'''Keating:''' Have you ever told your father what you just told me? About your passion for acting? You ever showed him that?
31	-->'''Neil:''' I can't.
32	-->'''Keating:''' Why not?
33	-->'''Neil:''' I can't talk to him this way.
34	-->'''Keating:''' Then you're acting for him, too. You're playing the part of the dutiful son. Now, I know this sounds impossible, but you have to talk to him. You have to show him who you are, what your heart is!
35	-->'''Neil:''' I know what he'll say! He'll tell me that acting's a whim and I should forget it. They're counting on me; he'll just tell me to put it out of my mind for my own good.
36	-->'''Keating:''' You are not an indentured servant! It's not a whim for you, you prove it to him by your conviction and your passion! You show that to him, and if he still doesn't believe you...well, by then, you'll be out of school and can do anything you want.
37	-->'''Neil:''' No. What about the play? The show's tomorrow night!
38	-->'''Keating:''' Then you have to talk to him before tomorrow night.
39	-->'''Neil:''' Isn't there an easier way?
40	-->'''Keating:''' [[BrutalHonesty No.]]
41	* ArmorPiercingResponse: When Keating calls out Charlie for his "phone call from God" prank, Charlie remains defensive until this:
42	-->'''Keating:''' You being expelled from school is not daring to me. It's stupid, 'cause you'll miss some golden opportunities.\
43	'''Charlie:''' Yeah, like what?\
44	'''Keating:''' Like, if nothing else, the opportunity to attend my classes.
45	* ArtisticLicenseArt: Keating misquotes Walt Whitman's 1892 "Song of Myself". The word "rooftops" should have been "roofs".
46	* AssimilationAcademy:
47	** Welton seems to be only a notch away from a military school. Its methods are centered on demanding total conformity to a program that puts every student on a pre-set path toward the Ivy League and eventually careers in the Establishment. Deviating from this is simply ''not'' tolerated. [[AbusiveParents Especially if you're Neil and the deviance involves acting.]]
48	** [[spoiler:Neil barely manages to avoid an actual military academy by committing suicide.]]
49	* AssuranceBackfire: When Neil comes to Keating for advice, Keating urges him to talk about his feelings with his dad regarding acting. Keating tells him that as soon as he's 18, he'll be free to do as he pleases, which comes into direct conflict with Mr. Perry telling Neil that he can only do as he pleases after he graduates college and becomes a doctor, although Keating is likely unaware that Mr. Perry said that. Keating has a puzzled look as Neil dejectedly walks away, being unable to tell Keating that he couldn't muster up the courage to talk with his dad.
50	* BadLiar: For a skilled actor, Neil certainly isn't all that convincing when he tries to tell a lie. [[spoiler:It doesn't even look like Keating believes him when Neil claims that his father was letting him stay in the play]].
51	* BeautifulDreamer: At the make-out party, Knox watches Chris as she sleeps on the couch.
52	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Neil's father does his damnedest to get Neil to give up on his dream of acting, and indeed any hobbies outside of preparing for a career as a doctor. It technically works: Neil does give up on being an actor once he accepts that his father will never allow it. [[spoiler:Then he [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself out of despair]] immediately after.]]
53	* BigNo: [[spoiler:Mr. Perry gets one when he discovers Neil's body in his study.]] In slow motion!
54	* BittersweetEnding: Bordering on DownerEnding, since Neil [[spoiler: is dead by suicide]], Keating [[spoiler: is treated as the scapegoat for Neil's death and fired from Welton]] while [[spoiler: Charlie is expelled from Welton after he punches Cameron for his betrayal]]. On other hand, Keating did achieve his aim of instilling a passion for poetry in many of the students, and they show him their love and appreciation in the final scene. As an additional bright moment, the scene at Neil's performance of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' suggested that Knox may have succeeded in wooing Chris.
55	* BlatantLies: [[spoiler:Neil saying that his father gave him permission to be on the play and that he will be going to Chicago for a few days so he won't be able to attend]].
56	* BoardingSchool: Welton Academy is a posh boarding school full of [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASPs]], where its students are prepared to enter Ivy League Colleges and become "successful" — by the school's definition, at least.
57	* BreakTheCutie: [[spoiler:Neil Perry, big time. During the movie, he discovers his passion for acting, but his stern father doesn't show any support for this, and demands him to quit the play he has been chosen for. He disobeys, nevertheless, and after the play, he has to face his father's anger at home. Family pressure, total lack of support and emotional neglection made him totally powerless and distraught, and drove him to shoot himself with his old man's gun]].
58	* ButLiquorIsQuicker: Knox takes a final sip from his glass of "whiskey" in order to muster up the courage to kiss Chris at the party.
59	* CallingTheOldManOut:
60	** Neil's father is extremely controlling and dominating, and at one point Neil starts to call him out on never listening to his own son or showing any interest in what he wants to do with his life, [[spoiler:but he never gets the chance to speak when his father refuses to hear anything that has to do with acting]]. [[DefiedTrope Defied]] when Mr. Perry calls Neil's bluff:
61	--->'''Neil:''' I've got to tell you what I feel!\
62	'''Mrs. Perry:''' We've been so worried about you!\
63	'''Mr. Perry:''' What? What? Tell me what you feel! What is it? Is it more of this, this acting business? Because you can forget that! What?\
64	'''Neil:''' Nothing.\
65	'''Mr. Perry:''' Nothing? Well, then, let's go to bed.
66	** When Todd is brought into Nolan's office, his parents urge him to sign papers for Keating to be fired. Mr. Anderson asks why Todd cares so much about Keating, and Todd bursts out, "He cares about me! You don't!"
67	* CaptainObvious: {{Lampshade\|Hanging}}d when Neil re-convenes the Society:
68	-->'''Cameron:''' All I'm saying is, we have to be careful. We can't get caught.\
69	'''Charlie:''' [[PrecisionFStrike No shit, Sherlock!]]
70	* CarpeDiem: {{Discussed\|Trope}}, as Keating tries to inspire his students to love poetry and live life to the fullest.
71	* CatapultNightmare: Mr. Perry upon [[spoiler:unconsciously sensing his son's final actions]].
72	* ChromosomeCasting: Due to being set at an [[OneGenderSchool all-boys boarding school]]. It's downplayed, as there are a few female characters, but they only appear in a handful of scenes and have very limited dialogue.
73	* ChurchOfSaintGenericus: The Welton school chapel, as well as its religious affiliation.
74	* ComingOfAgeStory: Over the course of the film, a group of teenagers learn to seize the day, to assert their own values and opinions, and to question the social norm. Some of them disagree with their parents for the first time, fall in love for the first time, experience grief for the first time...
75	* CommonalityConnection: The seeming opposites Todd and Neil are drawn together by their [[AbusiveParents poor experiences of parenting.]]
76	* CorporalPunishment: Charlie is paddled by Nolan for his "phone call from {{God}}" antics.
77	* CrossesTheLineTwice: InUniverse, Keating advocates taking such an approach to Charlie after the latter's "phone call from God" joke.
78	-->'''Keating:''' Phone call from God? If it had been collect, that would have been daring.
79	* DaddyDidntShow: Subverted. It looks like Mr Perry won't make it to Neil's SchoolPlay premiere. When he eventually shows up, it's a HopeSpot, since it turns out he didn't change his mind about Neil's future after all.
80	* DeadHandShot: When Neil's father [[spoiler: finds Neil's body in his study]], we only see the gun and Neil's hand from behind the desk.
81	* DefiantStoneThrow: A defiant standing on desks is how the movie closes.
82	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Nolan reveals to Keating that he too was an English teacher once: the two men both believe in the value of education, both love teaching English, and both believe they're doing what's best for the students at the school. Keating's ideas are those of the modern generation, and Nolan's are those from a few decades ago, creating irreconcilable if understandable conflict.
83	* DeliciousDistraction: When the boys sneak out at night, they feed the guard dog treats so it won't alarm the staff.
84	* DisobeyThisMessage: Keating encourages his students to think for themselves, praising Charlie when he disobeys one of his requests.
85	* DogLatin:
86	** From the novelization, Knox has one of these moments when trying to make a move on Chris:
87	--->'''Knox:''' ''Carpe breastum''. Seize the breast.
88	** Also from the novelization, Charlie when he claims the cave:
89	--->'''Charlie:''' ''Carpe cavem'', boys, seize the cave. [[note]]He's actually saying "Seize the beware"; the actual Latin translation of "Seize the cave" would be "Carpe speluncum".[[/note]]
90	* DoNotCallMePaul:
91	-->'''Charlie''' [recurring line]: [[RunningGag The name is "Nuwanda."]]
92	* DoWrongRight: After Charlie pulls off his "phone call from God" prank in the chapel saying that girls should be allowed to attend Welton, he gets swatted on the butt several times with a hardwood paddle. Keating rebukes him, telling him that there's a time for caution and a time for daring, with a wise man understanding which is called for. A moment later, Keating remarks that the "phone call from God" would have been even more daring if it had been a collect call.
93	* DrivenToSuicide : [[spoiler:Neil Perry, with the gun of his father]].
94	* ElaborateUniversityHigh: The fictional East Coast boys' prep school Welton Academy.
95	* EverybodySmokes: There are lots of scenes of the Society members smoking with cigarettes, and once with pipes.
96	* EveryoneLovesBlondes: Of course Chris -- the girl Knox falls for -- is a blonde. She's charismatic and fun-loving, as well as being very friendly. The girls Charlie brings to the cave are also blonde.
97	* EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes: A bagpipe is played in the opening ceremony scene, and Keating later plays one himself.
98	* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: Keating holds an exercise in the courtyard, with the students starting out walking at their own freestyle pace, then uniformly marching in cadence. Later on, when Nolan asks what the exercise was about, Keating says that it was to demonstrate the evils of conformity. Nolan tells Keating that the curriculum has been set and proven.
99	-->'''Keating:''' I always thought the idea of education was to learn to think for yourself.\
100	'''Nolan:''' At these boys' age? Not on your life!
101	* FlowersOfRomance: Knox hands them to Chris in front of all her classmates. She is totally embarrassed.
102	* {{Foil}}:
103	** [[RebelliousSpirit Charlie]] and [[TeachersPet Cameron]]. Charlie is rebellious, a poor student, and goofs around, but remains loyal to his friends. Cameron is a brown-noser, studious, hates breaking the rules, and [[spoiler:betrays everyone at the end of the film to save his own skin]].
104	** [[BigManOnCampus Neil]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Todd]]. Neil is confident, successful, and excited by Keating's ideas, while Todd is insecure, nervous and scared to act. [[spoiler:However, underneath it all, Neil is deeply beaten down and miserable, and ends up killing himself, while Todd reveals his inner strength and inspires the other boys in rebelling against Welton.]]
105	** [[DeanBitterman Nolan]] and [[CoolTeacher Keating]]. Both are English teachers, but Nolan is traditional, authoritarian, and regimented, while Keating is unorthodox, a friend to the boys and teaches them to think for themselves.
106	** [[HelicopterParents Mr. Perry]] and [[ParentalNeglect Mr. Anderson]]. Both are emotionally AbusiveParents to Neil and Todd respectively, but Mr. Perry is overly controlling of Neil's life and determined that he's headed for a medical career no matter the cost to his son's happiness and well-being, while the Andersons neglect and ignore Todd, viewing him as the failure of the family.
107	* FondMemoriesThatCouldHaveBeen: Subverted. After Neil's death, [[spoiler:he blames Keating for the boy's being DrivenToSuicide, [[NeverMyFault completely failing to understand that it's his own fault]]]].
108	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
109	** At the beginning of the first meeting, when Neil reads the passage from Thoreau: "[[spoiler:...and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived]]." In addition, when Keating discusses mortality in the first meeting with the boys, [[spoiler:the camera focuses on Neil at the line "stop breathing and go cold."]]
110	** A bit later, Todd asks Neil, [[spoiler:"Won't [your father] kill you if he finds out you went to an audition..." While Neil's dad doesn't technically kill him, the ensuing conflict ends with Neil DrivenToSuicide.]]
111	** Keating stands on his desk to remind the students they must force themselves to look at things from a different perspective. By the film's end, many of the class members (with Cameron being one of the few exceptions) stand up on their desks to bid him farewell, looking at things from a different perspective.
112	* FourTemperamentEnsemble: The four main Poets. Todd is melancholic, Neil is sanguine, Charlie is choleric, and Knox is phlegmatic.
113	* FriendshipMoment: Several between the Dead Poets:
114	** All the boys supporting Knox when he calls up Chris and cheering after she invites him to a party.
115	** Charlie refusing to rat the others out to Nolan, even after a painful beating.
116	** The whole group going to Neil's play and "yawping" when he takes a bow.
117	** [[spoiler:Charlie, Knox, Meeks, and Pitts comforting a grief-stricken Todd about Neil's death.]]
118	** [[spoiler:The final scene, when the remaining poets follow Todd's lead in standing up for Mr Keating as he leaves.]]
119	* FunWithAcronyms: When Keating is writing the Pritchard formula on the blackboard, it reads ''P''erfection x ''I''mportance = ''G''reatness, or without the math symbols, P.I.G.
120	* GenderNormativeParentPlot: Neil's father disapproves of his acting, traditionally a more feminine profession.
121	* HeroicBSOD: Keating goes into one after [[spoiler:Neil commits suicide]], and doesn't get better until the final scene. Todd also suffers one from the same event.
122	* HoldingHands: [[spoiler:During the play, Knox holds Chris's hand, and she seems to reciprocate.]]
123	* HollywoodNewEngland: The movie is set in Vermont, and was filmed in the Delaware cities of Middletown, New Castle, and Wilmington.
124	* HonorBeforeReason:
125	** Cameron claims he has no other choice but to uphold Welton's honor code instead of risking expulsion.
126	** Mr. Perry is furious that Neil forged his dad's permission and made him look like a liar, especially after the play when his reputation is tarnished, but Neil getting to perform in the play turned Neil's lie and any possible rumors into the truth.
127	* HopeBringer: According to the director, Keating is in a severe depression after [[spoiler:Neil's suicide]], and the one thing that brings him out of it is the boys standing up for him.
128	* HourglassPlot: [[spoiler:Todd and Neil's arcs. At the beginning of the film, Todd is shy, timid, and hesitant to get involved with Keating's philosophy, while the outgoing Neil is the group's leader, determined to "seize the day", and is the one who most encourages and supports Todd. By the end of the film, it's ''Neil'' who is unable to stand up to the pressure on him from his father and tragically commits suicide, while ''Todd'' finds his voice, leads the boys to defy the school, and is ultimately the one to live out Keating's teachings.]]
129	* HypocriticalHumor: Knox, who had no objections to visiting Chris at her high school, gets called out by Chris when she visits him at Welton before Neil's performance:
130	-->'''Knox:''' Chris... what are you doing here?\
131	'''Mr. Keating:''' ''[offscreen]'' Gentlemen, let's go!\
132	'''Knox:''' Go ahead guys, I'll catch up.\
133	'''Dalton:''' Yeah, come on guys.\
134	'''Knox:''' Chris, you can't be in here. If they catch you, we're both gonna be in big trouble.\
135	'''Chris:''' Oh, but it's fine--\
136	'''Knox:''' Shh, sh, Chris...\
137	'''Chris:''' Oh, but it's fine for you to come barging into my school and make a complete fool out of me?
138	* IDidWhatIHadToDo: At least, that's what Cameron tells Charlie. Charlie doesn't buy it, of course.
139	-->'''Cameron:''' In case you haven't heard, Dalton, there's something called an honor code at this school: if a teacher asks you something, you tell the truth, or you're expelled.
140	* IDieFree: [[spoiler:Neil, after being taken out of Welton, chooses suicide over military school, telling himself: "I was good. I was really good."]]
141	* IvyLeagueForEveryone: Mr. Nolan mentions that 75% of the previous year's graduates went to Ivy League schools. Pitts says he might go to Yale (but he might not), and Neil's father intends for him to go to Harvard.
142	* IWillShowYouX: From the novelization, Dean Nolan asks Neil to define what the pillar of excellence means:
143	-->'''Dean Nolan:''' Excellence, Mr. Perry?\
144	'''Neil:''' ''[In a loud, monotonous voice]'' Excellence is the result of hard work. Excellence is the key to all success, in school and everywhere.\
145	'''Dean Nolan:''' Gentlemen, at Welton you will work harder than you have ever worked in your lives, and your reward will be the success that all of us expect of you.
146	* JerkassHasAPoint:
147	** Keating's antics don't go over well with the school administration and teachers. He has at least two conversations about this during the course of the film. While the audience is set up to believe their adherence to tradition and conformity are a bad thing, both conversations drive the point home.
148	** After Charlie publishes a crude editorial in the school newspaper advocating for girls to be admitted to Welton and signs it as the Dead Poets Society, an irate Cameron points out that it's going to anger the faculty and they're going to launch an investigation into who published it and what the Dead Poets Society is. Neil agrees with him and tells Charlie he really shouldn't have risked all of their necks by using the society's name.
149	* KeepAway: At one point, the boys snatch Cameron's book from him and toss it around the group so he won't be able to reach it.
150	* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler:The last shot we see of Neil before he kills himself is him sitting at his father's desk, holding the gun before the film cuts to his dad waking up. Cue DeadHandShot when he finds Neil's body.]]
151	* LoveAtFirstSight: Knox falls in love with Chris the first time he sees her.
152	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Charlie doesn't let a harsh paddling deter him from seizing the day.
153	* MaybeEverAfter: [[spoiler:The last we see of Chris, she's decided to go to Neil's play with Knox as a ThrowTheDogABone after chewing him out for his excessive courting. He goes to hold her hand and she allows him, and that's all we get.]]
154	* MeasuringTheMarigolds: The J. Evans Pritchard introduction to the students' textbooks is a detailed instruction guide on how to determine the quality of a poem by creating a ''line graph'' based on the poem's subject and how well it was written using meter, rhyme, etc. Keating understandably thinks this is complete nonsense and orders the class to tear the page out.
155	* MilitarySchool: Neil is threatened with this by his controlling and dominating father.
156	* MistakenFromBehind: When Knox arrives at Chris' school, he goes after a blonde girl in the corridor who he thinks is her, but it turns out to be some other girl.
157	* MonochromeCasting: The entire cast is white. Somewhat justified, as it's set at a traditional, elite boarding school during the 1950s.
158	* MoodWhiplash: Neil experiences this when he is thrilled to pieces about getting a major role in ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'', only to open the door to his dorm room and become white with fear to see his father sitting there, already waiting to scold his son ruthlessly. Even though Neil did falsify a letter of permission from his father earlier in the film, which wasn't the smartest move, the fact remains that Mr. Perry's behavior throughout the film is still [[ItsAllAboutMe prioritizing his own interests rather than Neil's, given how overly strict and authoritarian he is]], which only makes Neil want to pursue acting more.
159	* MyNewGiftIsLame: Todd receives a monogrammed desk set for his birthday, just like last year's gift. After noting that Jeff's birthday is more festive, he flings the desk set off the roof.
160	* NerdsAreVirgins: [[TheSmartGuy Meeks]] claims he'd try anything once. Charlie's reply is "Except sex!"
161	* NeverMyFault:
162	** [[spoiler:Neil's father]] blames Keating for [[spoiler:his son's suicide]], even though it was largely his own fault.
163	** [[spoiler:Cameron]] also accuses Mr. Keating of being responsible for [[spoiler:Neil's death]] by encouraging him to pursue acting, even going as far as putting the accusation in writing:
164	--->[[spoiler:'''Cameron''']]: They're not after us, we're the victims... us and Neil.\
165	'''Dalton''': What's that mean, who are they after?\
166	[[spoiler:'''Cameron''']]: Why, Mr. Keating, of course. The Captain himself! You guys didn't really think he could avoid responsibility, did you?\
167	'''Dalton''': Mr. Keating responsible for Neil? Is that what they're saying?\
168	[[spoiler:'''Cameron''']]: Well, who else do you think, dumbass? The administration? Mr. Perry? Mr. Keating put us up to all this crap, didn't he? If it wasn't for Mr. Keating, Neil would be cozied up in his room right now, studying his chemistry, and dreaming of being called Doctor.
169	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: After Charlie sneaks a letter into the school newspaper asking for girls to be admitted to Welton signed "the Dead Poets Society", Nolan becomes aware of the Society's existence, and starts to keep a closer watch on the students' activities. Even Keating reprimands Charlie for going too far.
170	* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Keating actually instills a love of literature in students who previously thought that poetry was completely useless, and while his methods and attitude were unorthodox, he never encourages them to do anything against school regulations - quite the opposite in fact. He nevertheless becomes TheScapegoat for [[spoiler: Neil's suicide]] and for the Dead Poets Society's pranks, even though the former was mostly due to Neil's emotionally abusive father and the latter was done entirely on the initiative of Keating's students, unknown to Keating.
171	* NoSenseOfPersonalSpace: Neil blithely bypasses any personal bubble Todd has, whether he's tussling with him in their room, smacking him with whatever object that's on hand, or leaning in oddly close for conversations.
172	* NowLetMeCarryYou:
173	** Keating spends much of the movie encouraging Todd through his anxiety and insecurities. [[spoiler:At the end of the film, when Keating is at his lowest, it's Todd who instigates the boys' show of support, assuring Keating that they're grateful for him. WordOfGod says that that is the only thing that comforted Keating in his depression.]][[invoked]]
174	** [[spoiler:Subverted with Neil and Todd. Like Keating, Neil spends much of the movie supporting Todd, notably over his terrible parents. When Mr. Perry turns up to take Neil away, Todd attempts to speak to Neil, but he's dragged off before Todd has a chance to do anything. Neil commits suicide that night.]]
175	* OddFriendship: Surprisingly, rebellious Charlie and geeky Meeks get on well, with Meeks helping Charlie with classwork and Charlie fondly calling Meeks "a genius" (in contrast to his irritation towards [[TeachersPet Cameron]]).
176	* OhCrap: Neil's reaction to seeing his father at the play -- ''during the performance'', no less.
177	* OneGenderSchool: Welton Academy is an all-boys school.
178	* OneLinerEcho: "O Captain! My Captain!" at the end.
179	* OneLinerNameOneLiner: The heartwarming closing scene with Keating saying "Thank you, boys. Thank you."
180	* OutlivingOnesOffspring : [[spoiler:Mr Perry loses his son Neil, who killed himself]].
181	* PerformanceAnxiety:
182	** Todd has a very severe case of this, leading to his initial reluctance to join the Dead Poets Society, since he thinks it will mean having to read aloud in front of other people. Fortunately, Neil insists that he doesn't have to read, and lets him take meeting minutes instead.
183	** Keating knows all too well that Todd has butterflies in his stomach about public speaking, yet still encourages Todd to come up with an ad-libbed poem.
184	* PretentiousLatinMotto: The official motto. The students' parody is somewhat modified, shall we say.
185	* PrisonersDilemma: After Charlie's prank where he "receives a phone call from God" saying that girls should be admitted to Welton following him sneaking an article into the school newspaper under the name of the Dead Poets Society to the same effect, he is taken into Nolan's office and spanked, where Charlie insists that he acted alone. Nolan warns him that if the Society has any other members, they will be expelled and Charlie will remain enrolled at Welton, but he apparently refuses to turn them in. Later on, [[spoiler:after Neil commits suicide and Mr. Perry launches an investigation, Cameron goes to Nolan and informs against the other students, aligning himself with the faculty and the honor code to avoid personal punishment]].
186	* PunchClockVillain: The writers tried to avoid the good-students versus bad-teachers angle by writing the faculty (in particular, Dean Nolan) as just doing their jobs and teaching the kids the way it was done at that time.
187	* RagingStiffie: When Keating has Cameron, Knox, and Pitts walking around in the courtyard (see SillyWalk below), Knox is clearly thinking of Chris, which Keating [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] when he imitates Knox's walk.
188	* RayOfHopeEnding: [[spoiler:Neil commits suicide to escape his abusive father, Todd is left even more unhappy than he was at the start of the film, [[DeanBitterman Dean Nolan]] fires Keating and intends to prevent him from ever teaching again, the Dead Poets Society is disbanded and forced to turn on Keating, and Charlie gets expelled for punching Cameron. In the final scene, Nolan takes over Keating's class, throwing aside everything he taught and reinstating the unfeeling, Pritchard approach to learning poetry... but just before Keating leaves for good, Todd -- the student Keating encouraged the most -- finds his courage and leads over half his class (including students who weren't in the Society) to bid farewell to Keating, proving to him they will see the world in new ways, inspired by him, and that they won't forget him. [[note]]Cameron, who made a plea bargain with Dean Nolan to save his and the school's reputation, is the main exception.[[/note]]]]
189	* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler:After Neil's dad finds out that Neil went through with the play in defiance of his orders, Neil is withdrawn from Welton and assigned to a bleak future at Braden Military Academy, which Neil avoids by shooting himself.]]
190	* RuleOfSymbolism: One of Mr. Keating's classes involves taking the students out into the courtyard and encouraging them to find their own way to walk, to find their own voice unhindered by authority. When Todd is being led up to Mr. Nolan's office to [[spoiler:sign the paperwork ending Keating's work with the school]], they climb a staircase wherein he's back into matching footsteps with his guide, once again submitting to Welton's authority. [[spoiler:Though it does not last.]]
191	* SaveOurStudents: Welton is an AssimilationAcademy with a program designed to make its students models of the Establishment, sticking to the status quo. Keating's goal is to try to inspire the students to think in different ways and be their own people, rather than just follow and conform to their superiors' instructions.
192	* SceneryPorn: Students at Welton enjoy very pretty surroundings, highlighted by several stunning shots throughout the movie.
193	* SchoolPlay: A community production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Neil wants to be in it more than anything.
194	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: Charlie "Nuwanda" Dalton, who already got the Society in hot water with the newspaper and "phone call from God" prank, [[spoiler:confronts and punches Cameron after he rats the D.P.S. out to Dean Nolan, and gets expelled from Welton in the process.]]
195	* SexySaxMan: Charlie pretty obviously tries to be this, though he claims to like the saxophone because it is more "sonorous" than the clarinet, which his parents forced him to take.
196	* ShooOutTheClowns: [[spoiler:Charlie gets expelled before the climax of the film.]]
197	* ShoutOut:
198	** The works of Creator/WaltWhitman, Creator/HenryDavidThoreau, Robert Herrick, Creator/LordByron, Vachel Lindsay, Creator/AlfredLordTennyson, Abraham Cowley, Raymond Calvert, Creator/RobertFrost, and Creator/WilliamShakespeare are referred to and quoted during Keating's class and the meetings of the Dead Poets Society.
199	** Neil plays Puck in a performance of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' by Creator/WilliamShakespeare.
200	** The film's ending where the students (except for Cameron) stand on their desks in a farewell salute to Keating is reminiscent of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "The Changing of the Guard", where Ellis Fowler, an aging prep school teacher, has been asked to retire, and just when Fowler is looking back on his life wondering if his teachings had any impact on the youths he had instructed, he hears the bells ringing and enters his classroom, seeing ghosts of other students who died doing heroic actions, and is inspired to know that his efforts were not in vain.
201	** Knox's crush, Chris Noel, may have been named after the real-life Chris Noel, a model, actress, and singer who became a favorite of American troops during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. The real-life Chris Noel is a blonde, just like the fictional Chris Noel, and graduated high school in 1959, making the two women similar in age.
202	* SillyWalk: Keating encourages each student to find his own walk, some of which are rather silly. One even exercises his right to ''not'' walk.
203	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Although [[ZigZagged deconstructed, double subverted, and generally played with beyond all recognition]], the film still tries to promote an idealistic viewpoint, even though a lot of situations in the film are firmly on the cynical end.
204	* SnowMeansDeath: Symbolized by the society walking through snow after [[spoiler:Neil kills himself]]. This was actually a spontaneous snowstorm that happened while filming, and Peter Weir was inspired to relocate the scene to take advantage of the weather.
205	* SourSupporter:
206	** A student named Hopkins shows no enthusiasm towards Keating's teachings and puts the least effort into the class. Nevertheless, [[spoiler:he is one of the students who stands on his desk to support Keating at the end of the film]].
207	** [[{{Foil}} Cameron, by contrast]], reluctantly attends the meetings of the Dead Poets Society, but doesn't embrace Keating's passionate "living life to the fullest" philosophy, being more concerned about them getting caught, and ultimately pulls a FaceHeelTurn when he rats out the other members to save his own hide.
208	* StandardSnippet: Music/OdeToJoy can be heard on the soundtrack when the boys play soccer.
209	* StudentsSecretSociety: John Keating's students form a secret society who meet at night to read poetry by Whitman, Thoreau, Frost, and Shakespeare (among others) as a rebellion against the Welton Academy's rigid curriculum.
210	* StutterStop: Todd has a noticeable stammer and struggles through most conversations. However, Keating manages to provoke him into producing a fluid, freestyle poem in front of the whole class, and [[spoiler:at the end, Todd shouts out his salute to Keating.]]
211	* ThousandYardStare: Neil [[spoiler:after the play and his father crushing his dream, just before he kills himself]].
212	* ToneShift: The movie is set up as a classic feel-good, inspirational story about a teacher encouraging students to follow their dreams. [[spoiler:As the film leads up to Neil's sudden and senseless death, it takes a sharp turn into a much darker tragedy.]]
213	* TragicBromance: [[spoiler:Neil and Todd. They're particularly close and share an intense friendship, and Todd is devastated by Neil's death.]]
214	* TragicDream: [[spoiler:Neil and acting, thanks to his father.]]
215	* TrueCompanions: The Dead Poets Society becomes this. [[HateSink Well, except for Cameron, who betrays the society just to avoid expulsion.]]
216	* UnfortunateNames: Pitts and Meeks, as pointed out by Keating. They become {{Punny Name}}s during the soccer/poetry lesson when Keating hands the boys lines from a poem to read.
217	--> '''Keating:''' Mr. Meeks, time to inherit the Earth. Mr. Pitts, rise above your name.
218	* VillainousBreakdown: Nolan has one as Todd leads the surviving society members (excluding Cameron) and other students to stand up saluting Keating, defying Nolan's demands that they stay seated.
219	* WasItReallyWorthIt: Neil manages to live out his dream of acting on stage as though it was his last night on Earth, only for his dad to withdraw him from Welton and send him off to a military academy. When he's alone, he tells himself "I was good, I was really good," only to break down and [[spoiler:commit suicide with his father's handgun]].
220	* WhatTheHellHero: Keating chews Charlie out for his school newspaper/"phone call from God" prank, telling him that putting himself in danger of getting expelled from the school and jeopardizing his future isn't noble, it's just reckless and stupid. However, Keating remarks a moment later that the prank call would have been more effective and daring if God had made a collect call to lighten the blow.
221	* WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent: Both Neil and Todd get this from their parents. Mr Perry wants Neil to be an obedient son bound for medical school at Harvard who will someday become a doctor, while the Andersons want Todd to be like his successful older brother.
222	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Both Keating and Neil try to get Todd to realise this about himself. [[spoiler:They're more than [[SugarWiki/CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming proven right in the end]].]]
223	--> '''Keating:''' Mr. Anderson thinks that everything inside of him is worthless and embarrassing... Well, I think you're wrong. I think you have something inside of you that is worth a great deal.
224	----
225	->''"Only in their dreams can men be truly free. 'Twas always thus, and always thus will be."''

Context Film / DeadPoetsSociety