been trying to figure out this image for ages, and i think i finally have it
so i wondered for ages, why were all the poets at the back? they're the whole reason any of this happened, i feel like they should have had front priveleges.
i've seen a few people say it's probably just coincidence, because they all sat on that side of the room and they wanted keating to be at the door and it just made sense, etc. etc. la di da. but even if i get confirmation that that is true, i refuse to believe that everything in this movie wasn't a deliberate choice with meaning.
so i started thinking, maybe it was to showcase how keating influenced many more students than just that friendship circle, too. so much that all of them were encouraged by todd standing on the desk - a boy that most of them probably don't really know.
so they showcased the boys who were nameless, or otherwise deemed unimportant. i think that's great, because it also shows that the school and everything was so much bigger than this one group of boys. ghdn i started looking more closely at
knox stands alone, to the side. i cannot figure out a definite reason as to why, but this is what i've come up with. he stands alone because his growth was different. everyone else grew to get a sense of individuality, and growth, and all of those things that you all know about keating teaching them. knox did it for love. his motives were completely different. my other thought is that he was leaving room for charlie. i know it's common knowledge that neil was charlie's best friend, but i think charlie was knox's. everyone was upset when charlie got expelled, but not like knox. knox just lost both of his best friends. and as he stood, he stood first after todd, for charlie, and even though charlie was gone, he knew he would be centre of the group, so he stood aside.
next, i want to point out the things that don't immediately stand out. perhaps it isn't about the boys front and centre, but the ones we only see when we focus. because dead centre, trapped by the boys showing rebellion, is richard cameron. if neil hadn't died, i think cam would have stood. neil's death put him in a state of shock and of anger. he was angry at keating, because he couldn't comprehend another reason. if they had waited a few months, cam would have stood. but here he sits, feeling a massive sense of dread, because everyone is saluting the teacher that, in his eyes, ruined everything.
fuck i hate my headcanons omg
