Waiting for Superman

I'm sure you guys have already discussed this because clearly I'm like 2 years behind with everything I watch. But I finally got around to Waiting for Superman today. I really liked it... although I'm a sucker for documentaries about education and also for documentaries that include animated infographics of any kind. All documentaries are coming from a certain perspective, and I think the perspective this one came from was blatant throughout the film, which I think is a good thing. I can't help but compare it to The Lottery, which I also recently watched. I liked that Waiting for Superman talked about education in the entire country, not just NYC, and it talked about all different alternatives, not just charter schools (for example, the woman from D.C. and what she tried to do with the public schools there). But I also liked that The Lottery was a much more realistic picture of the reaction of the communities where they build charter schools, at least in NYC. It's surprisingly dramatic to have a discussion about these movies with anyone who was born and raised in the NYC public school system. (Take my word for it, my sister's boyfriend was. It's an impossible conversation.) So I think whereas Waiting for Superman painted a very rosy picture, The Lottery was a much more accurate portrayal of what it's really like for community members. In terms of filmmaking choices, like I said, I love animated infographics, so that was a win for me. I thought it got a bit ham-handed at the end of the film, with the cheesy song. That was too much for me, they had me until then. I also wasn't crazy about the use of a narrator. But overall, I think it was good. Mostly just because I wish education was better in poor inner city school districts, and in the country at large, so I'm glad something's at least drawing attention to the need for improvement. I think overall as far as enjoyment of the film goes, I preferred The Lottery.