This is what happens when a small heating problem escalates to an infernal disaster. The tired story about poor kids in urban schools erupts again, but this time, teens want to learn. The “system,” including administrators and authorities, determines to not only quell any attempt to change the status quo of no books and cold winter classrooms, but also to destroy any hope altogether in one giant blast.

If you’re an innovative, self-thinking drone of a teacher or student in the urban educational wasteland, your days are numbered. And I emphasize the word “numbered.” In fact, the teacher gets booted and the kids still get no books and no heat for the classroom. Hooray for the administrators! Obviously that’s what the tax dollars are for.

Let’s face it, it’s more convenient to keep complaining about those colored kids that do poorly in school than to actually do something about it. For starters, get them some books. Oh, but that’s too expensive. So why not just erase the teacher and wait for the winter weather to snatch these worthless would-be gangstas that will never amount to anything? Yeah, that’s the PTA ticket!

The film reveals how a crowd can easily lose control and resort to mob action under duress, and how things easily digress to madness. At no point in the movie does a person step in to diffuse the situation. Every authoritative power merely heightens the tension to the point of no return. And I emphasize the phrase“no return.”

It would seem that the movie had the opportunity to show how the oppressed can educate the school system, but it only grazes this concept. Instead, the movie shows different perspectives, selfish and dysfunctional, and rushes headlong to highlight an exaggerated and absurd form of crowd chaos. Amidst the cacophony, you can see glimpses of awareness approaching the screen, but these moments fail to “light it up” and quickly fade like the ruins of NYC school buildings. Knowledge never genuinely materializes which is truly sad for the public school system.

In the end, the students resume normal lives and pursue a future. “Light It Up” shows how miscommunication can lead to a giant mess, but doesn’t offer solutions. Did the students learn anything? Did the administrators, authorities, and community learn anything? No one knows. We just know that everyone’s wrath revolved around the poor, struggling, artsy teen. By chance, the principal picked on this weak student. The artist’s friend, while trying to help, only worsened the situation. Then the authorities snubbed the artist because he just happened to be in view. Bad luck. Bad schools.

This movie is a gateway to the dismal world of educational failure. However, this would be a superb video for a chapter in the psychological study of mob action.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age