Todd Anderson Wrote “Dead Poets Society”
My personal favorite headcannon is that “dead poets society” is the romanticized version of events Todd experienced and the story WE see was actually written by him.
I’ve always felt like we were seeing this world through Todd’s perspective. We see the poets and other characters as Todd saw them.
Todd had the typical high school friendgroup chaos and inspiring teacher experience that lots of us have in some capacity. And he experienced the tragedy of having one of his friends, one he had fallen in love with, commit suicide.
Todd wrote “dead poets society” as a way to cope with that loss. Made Neil into the hero Todd always saw him as. Exaggerating his other friends’ traits into the versions we see of them. Creating a story of a group of boys that almost had the whole world in their hands.
- - -
And the years passed, like scenes of a show
The Professor said to write what you know
Lookin' backwards, might be the only way to move forward
Then the actors, were hitting their marks
And the slow dance, was alight with the sparks
And the tears fell, in synchronicity with the score
And at last, she knew what the agony had been for
- “The Manuscript” By Taylor Swift
