I decided that I had to see “Won’t Back Down.”
I had read so many reviews that I felt I knew every line.
But I still wanted to see it.
Morbid curiosity.
But it is not showing anywhere in the New York City metropolitan area.
The producer of the movies owns a 12-plex only a few blocks from my home, and it is not showing there.
It was released only a month ago (September 28), and it has disappeared.
Where did it go?
I checked the website that tracks box-office receipts. It is being shown nationwide in only 65 theaters.
It took in a little more than $14,212 nationwide last weekend, an average of $219 per theater.
I guess I will have to wait and see the DVD when it comes out.
The lesson here is that parent activists got out early, created the narrative, and let the world know that it was a propaganda film for the charter industry, sponsored by a rightwing billionaire movie mogul who wants to push privatization.
The unions didn’t give this film a bad name.
Parents did.
Specifically, credit goes to Parents Across America, whose members in California put out a fact sheet and whose members in North Carolina demonstrated at the door when it was shown at the Democratic National Convention.
Despite the heavy promotion of the film by CBS and NBC, by Michelle Rhee and Education Nation and Murdoch publications, parents got out the word about its rightwing political message.
You see, our voices and our actions do make a difference.
Never give up hope. Speak up. Don’t back down.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Everyone should remember to “thank” Ellen DeGeneres for her support for Won’t Back Down. Ellen, who is a supposed to be a supporter of the human rights movement, gave the movie a 5 star promotional support with a check for one of the star’s favorite charter school for $10,000. Do not forget that the producer and main money man for the movie Phillip Anschuz is a major money man for the anti-gay marriage movie and generally anti-gay. In the US, we support his freedom of speech but we are confused by Ellen helping generate profits for a man who will then use them to attack her marital status in California. So far, Ellen has refused to respond to questions or emails on the subject.
Why should she respond to the peasants?
True. But what’s Ellen’s excuse?
Has anyone tried to reach Ms. DeGeneres about her joining forces with the militantly anti-gay, Phillip Anschuz?
There is no doubt that getting out in front and helping to control the narrative made a huge difference. Congratulations to Parents Across America for all that they did! The Florida parent group Fund Education Now also helped by contacting movie reviewers and giving them the facts. Onward to STOP the parent trigger legislation as it continues to pop up across the country, with a return visit to Florida in the 2013 legislative session….
It might have just been a terrible movie about a manufactured problem that doesnt really exist and therefore no one can relate to but uninformed partisans and soulsucking profiteers. 🙂
And teachers have friends and families. We have family members who are in a union as well. They cannot force us to spend $8 on crap. We value our free time, our family time and we get to make choices, too. We chose not to be manipulated and abused.
Can’t sell crap.
We won’t buy.
Forget me if I posted this before, but Won’t Back Down had the worst oening weekend in history: http://bloggingformichigan.com/2012/05/18/why-are-public-schools-under-attack/
Save Our Schools March also put out a press release and wrote letters to producers and stars and asked those providing television coverage to be included in the narrative. SOS activists in various states participated in leaflet handouts and boycotts and at the demonstration at the Democratic Convention. I believe that not only was it a box office bust but that when some of the actors and others involved with the movie learned the truth, They Backed Down!
The main audience for movies and books about education seem to be teachers. When teachers decide not to buy, the book or film usually flops. I’m thinking of The Bee Eater, a book about Michelle Rhee that was highly publicized by its author. That was the kind of book a teacher would ordinarily purchase, but most did not do so. Like me, many probably flipped through it while standing at the book store. As for Won’t Back Down, I’ll likely watch the DVD at a friend’s house.
I’m guessing that Ellen DeGeneres thought she was supporting education and/or a friend in the film industry.
Shame on Ellen then…she should have done her homework. She has a staff for that. We don’t and we figured it out.
The “reformers” are very clever in fooling the general public. After all, who would be against poor people demanding a good education for their children? What these educational grifters fail to say is that many of these charter schools will rob students of school tax money, much of which will be pocketed by charter “managers.” Also, charter operators will have all the power over these schools, leaving parents with virtually no choice if they are displeased, except maybe to withdraw their children. Most don’t realize that their will be no higher authority (such as the Board of Education) to take their complaints to; nor do they realize that if their child is learning disabled or poorly behaved, he might be asked to leave. It’s all one big fraud and one that isn’t recognized by the general public as yet, but it will be.
I’m going to give Ellen DeGeneres the benefit of the doubt that her staff misinformed on the real issues of public education. Eventually, she will come to realization that the movie is nothing short of pure propaganda against public education. Ellen needs to take a long commerical break!
The parents did an amazing job getting the word out. Teachers on FB and sites all over also got the word out. But we must also thank the media reviewers who saw this film for what is truly was–a piece of crap!!
Too bad you didn’t take advantage of the 2-fer that was offered a few weeks back.
But I have a feeling this film will be on DVD within the next few weeks. Since DVDs and streaming also bring in revenue to the producers, I am debating whether or not to see it. I still haven’t seen “Waiting for Superman” even when it was offered on “Watch Instantly” on Netflix. My only means of protest was not to add to the revenue.
Maybe if the stars who tried to sell this as an important message “about the kids” would apologize for being used as pawns for profiteers, I may feel differently.
I don’t want to give money to the people who make these films either. With “Waiting for Superman,” I did not pay to see it in the theaters or when it was available for paid streaming. Instead what I did was I bought a used copy of the DVD from somebody selling theirs on ebay. My only reason for wanting to see it was to see what they were saying, and it was just as I suspected.
Sorry, off topic, but I thought this might be of interest: http://www.thenation.com/blog/170950/talkpoverty-obama-campaign-responds Apparently Obama’s campaign has answered at least some questions about poverty.
Diane,
You are my inspiration. Love reading your blog each day. Could you post links to some of the best research reports you’ve read this past year?
I am a current MA student in an Education program at Cal State Univ. Los Angeles, and could use more information for my final projects.
thanks!
Will do.
Start with National Research Council, “Incentives and Test-Based Accountability.”
Read National Education Policy Center on K12.
Look at the EPAA (Educational Policy Analysis Archives) website out of Arizona State University.
Diane,
I love reading your blog each day as well. I share your posts and links to other articles on facebook daily. I haven’t been reading for long, but I have gotten a wealth of knowledge and inspiration in a short period of time. Someone responded to a post of mine the other day saying that I didn’t have my facts straight and I was foolish. THEY backed down when I showed them that I knew exactly what I was talking about. I read your blog daily and I am an educator. I live this reform nightmare. I thank you for not backing down, and for the encouragement. I won’t back down either. I won’t stop sharing info with parents and educators and encouraging them to fight back.
I saw ads in the NYT offering two tickets for the price of one for Won’t Back Down. Didn’t work. Perhaps next they can offer it as a double feature with Atlas Shrugged pt II. That will be two stinkers the public can reject at one time!
The thing for movie makers is: They need to make a good movie. Something the billionaire backers of these flops (and Waiting for Superman was also a commercial flop) don’t really care about, I guess. Ditto for those involved with DBD.
When I read about Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey and Bill Cosby and John Legend and all of the stars of the awful “Won’t Back Down”, supporting the “Education Reform” (a.k.a. “School Privatization Movement”) it makes me sick.
But, it also makes me think that these are NOT bad people; they just haven’t heard “our side of the story”; they’ve heard the “Establishment or Status Quo Narrative” and to someone who only gets that limited—and misleading—information, they’re going to buy it much of the time.
Who among us doesn’t like the word “Education”? And for almost 150 years, progressives worship the concept of “Reform”. So, when you combine them, they become a perfect Rorschach Test, allowing you to project whatever you associate with the admittedly wonderful sound of those two words combined.
So, what do WE need to do: Not just hate and condemn these people. That’s completely counterproductive. I say, extend a hand of genuine friendship and peace, and open them to the possibility of them hearing OUR narrative; the one that’s based on facts and truth.
If any of us know any of the above individuals, or know how to reach them, even a few degrees removed, we have to begin. I sincerely believe that they are open to hearing another view.
Let’s all work on this. I think that in the long-run, we’ll succeed.
So what happens when, after extending our hands and trying to explain our side of the story (as many people did following their support of “Won’t Back Down”), they refuse to listen or respond?
Star Maggie Gyllenhaal lives in Brooklyn in a great neighborhood with fantastic high achieving public schools yet she sends her daughter to a private school. She claims she believes in public schools and wanted to send her daughter to one but it “just wasn’t good enough.” She herself went to elite private schools. She, and many like her, know NOTHING about public schools, the teachers that teach at them or the families that send their kids to them. Yet she is a “liberal” so we should be surprised by her ignorance. It is willful ignorance and no excuse.
She should invite Diane over for tea!
Since “Won’t Back Down” is gone perhaps you should go see “The Revisionaries.” I think it’s showing in NYC now. It’s about the Texas school book decision makers and the creationists in charge of it.
I got to see “Won’t Back Down.” Viola Davis was really good in it. Maggie Gyllenhal was okay, a little awkward acting in some parts. All in all, I found it to be inspiring on a basic level. Here was this divorced mom who has dyslexia (sorry, spoiler), no college ed., works 2 jobs, and dresses skanky who was able to organize most of the teachers of a failing school and most of the parents of those children to take over the school. She and a former teacher of the year (Viola Davis) were able to write and submit their plans for a better school to the school board in a short amount of time. Apply this inspiring story to other aspects of life. If she can do it, so can you achieve your dreams.
I saw this movie (also out of morbid curiosity) the 2nd Saturday night it was open. There were 6 people in the theater (including myself and the friend I had to drag with me). It was clear, from many audible comments, that another 2 people were there for the same reasons I was. I am not sure we can attribute the poor showing to parents or any others protesting its propaganda, but I hope that this was the case. Whatever the reason, I am so glad it failed. The political propaganda in the movie was even stronger than I had heard, and I’m just grateful that this message was not spread (or that the viewing public was not interested in hearing it).
I won’t see it under any circumstances, even if tied to a chair and forced to at gunpoint.