It's like giving someone a gift that's really for you

I decided to treat my students to a movie tonight. They had been so good the last three weeks—two of which were dedicated to workshops—and since they were turning in final projects tonight, I felt a well-deserved break was in order. (The fact that this movie showing fell on the same night that I’d be administering student evaluations is completely coincidental.)

It’s a good thing I didn’t tell them the movie I brought in was some sort of reward for good behavior. That is because they did not share my enthusiasm for this particular motion picture. The movie I’m talking about is called Repo Man. If you’ve never seen it, you’re only hurting yourself. Maybe Emilio Estevez, too.

The only thing I told my students before showing them this movie was that it defied most, if not all, of the rules/guidelines to writing fiction. Here was an example of someone breaking rules, yet still creating a compelling story (at least, in my opinion it does). A sad attempt at justifying me showing the movie, I know.

While we watched Repo Man, I kept an eye on my students for their reactions to plot holes, cheesy lines of dialog, and extreme moments of convenience. This is what I got: blank faces, looks of confusion, one girl shaking her head in disbelief. My students hated the movie. Instead of rewarding them, I put them through a traumatic ordeal—one that’ll require years of therapy and soul-searching in order to grasp its reason for occurring.

Think I’m joking?

After the movie, the class was completely silent. Everyone got up, quietly, and started to leave the room. No one answered me when I said, “Any questions about the Final next week?” One of my students passed by and said, “Where do you find these movies?” with a level of incredulity reserved for the truly disturbed. Another student said she didn’t feel like she was on still on this planet. Then she said, “I can’t process what just happened.” Which sounded like a pretty alarming response.

Next week, when they come to class for their Final, I’m going to have Peanut Butter Cup chocolate chip cookies for my students. It seems like the right thing to do.