It is cruel to show only the vision but not the price of idealism to young, passionate yet naive students. This is why I frown upon activists like Chernyshevsky. Similar to what Dostoevsky pointed out in his private letters, movements lead by those thinkers is sending students to die (something less honorable than “sacrifice”), for the ideal that is not even owned by themselves. In this sense, excellent revolutionists are all articulate tricksters who has the ability to beguile people with calling, fulfilling their hidden desires. Great masters of such include Mao.

Mr. Keating is yet another trickster, an innocent one who is not self-conscious. Seeing idealism is easy, however defying realism is hard. The latter is the one a school shall teach its students, in the ideal scenario. Mr. Keating is capable of only the first. Contrary to what Mr. Keating promoted, “seize the day”, ironically Neil did not seize his life. The small gap between idealism and realism suffocated him. No one leaved him with any options that can be genuinely implemented. The dilemma of life is not something worth dying for, but rather something worth fighting for. We must imagine this fighting is satisfying.

Everyone who has had his/her/their literature education in America knows that the literature academia is a piece of shit, and literature analysis written by those so-called “doctors of philosophy” is a piece of shit. But this is something that needs to be found out by the students themselves. The secret of life is plainly not explainable but self-evident: anyone with an astute mind would sense it immediately. If you were to speak it out loud, it would have gone sour, like “Carpe Diem” not reaching the boys in its true meaning after Mr. Keating shouting it. The nuance cannot be taught, because unfortunately, not everyone can be an independent thinker.

After criticizing the way Mr. Keating taught, I’ll have to admit that I’m the true idealist in the room. It is rare enough to have someone like Mr. Keating, and going beyond him is almost impossible. I’m still moved by the last scene: it is always nice to see people standing up for humanity, love and life.

Everyone says “Carpe Diem”. I would say something less optimistic and more tender: “Carpe Vitam”, Latin for “seize the life”.

Note: I also do not appreciate lots of the details in the film, for example the way they created female characters, but that’s another topic.