16th April, 2010

SIU FUNG WU

An Education (M) (DVD)

In a word: Questioning

Have you wondered why you need an education? What kind of education you want your children to have? As a Christian, have you ever thought about whether our government has the right education policy for us?

An Education is a movie that makes you think about these questions. Back in the 1960s in London, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) was working hard towards an education in Oxford University. She was 16, and very bright. Her parents believed that a degree from Oxford would give her the best future she could have. But were they right?

Then David (Peter Sarsgaard) came into Jenny’s life. He’s in his 30’s, and was seemingly rich. He took her to the opera and expensive meals. He even took her to Paris for an incredible holiday. Not only that he won Jenny’s heart, he also managed to convince her parents that he was the type of man Jenny needed.

The teenage Jenny eventually decided to drop out from school. Why obtain an education at Oxford when she already had the world in her hands (through David)?

Miss Stubbs, Jenny’s concerned teacher, always wanted the best for Jenny. She had studied at Cambridge and wanted Jenny to have the best education. But Jenny would not take heed to her warning. Yet, in the end it was Miss Stubbs who played a crucial role in Jenny’s education.

It was Jenny’s conversation with her strict headmistress that was most interesting. “Why education?” Jenny asked her. Did she have a good answer?

An Education is a good movie. Mulligan’s performance was stunning, and her nomination for the Best Actress Oscar award was well deserved.

The movie, however, does not offer very good answers to the questions it raises. Yet as Christians we must seek to answer them.

In Jesus’ days most people were illiterate. But the literacy rate among the Jews was generally higher. The Gospels seem to assume that their first-century audience had a relatively good general knowledge of the Law, the Psalms and the Prophets, which is our Old Testament today. Some form of education would have helped people to understand the Scripture that bears witness to Christ (John 5:39).

The Bible has quite a few highly educated people, such as Paul, Moses, Daniel and his three friends. In the case of Paul, his education enabled him, through the Spirit’s inspiration, to pass on to us many Scriptures that we now treasure. But the real hallmark of these people’s character and leadership was not their intellectual ability but their reliance on God’s power in their weakness.

There is much for us to ponder, and An Education may well help us in the process.

SEE THE SIGHT ON THE SCREEN ARCHIVES FOR

MORE OF FILMS AND DVDS...