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This is a two part question regarding the movie "The Paper Chase".
1. How factual was the movie in regards to university studies in the 1970s?
2. How would modern college students and graduates respond to the things they see in the movie?
It'd be an interesting study to see how students and graduates raised in the age of personal computers and internet react to seeing this type of study and research prior to the internet.
It's been a long time since I've seen that movie but if I remember correctly it showed the Socratic method of law study/lectures which was a plus. Everything else was Hollywood. It did showcase the talents of Timothy Bottoms and especially John Houseman. I'm thinking that students today might get a kick out of it.
I went to college in the 70's when I was in my late twenties. I retired to my college town a few years ago and signed up for some classes. I was very disappointed. I was looking for a group experience and instead found all of the classes I had chosen to be online, including one about social interaction in the business world. Students met at the beginning of the course and at the end for exams.
The catalog of courses was only online and you had to be able to set up an email connection with the university. I know this sounds easy but I came late to computer use and found it frustrating.
I remember getting the paper catalogs for the coming quarters and being excited about choosing my classes. Many of my courses were lecture and discussion. I did one independent study and did not enjoy it at all because I missed the interaction with my classmates and instructor.
The campus is much quieter here now. Not so many racing from one class to the next or meeting up between classes as far as I can tell.
It was an exciting, stimulating time in my life. I don't see that now and I don't think it's because I'm old.
It was the "old college movie" experience I was looking forward to in retirement. I didn't expect to be included in it because of my age, but I wanted to be amidst it. I was surprised at the changes I found.
I'm going to put "The Paper Chase" in my netflix queue.
Perhaps it's school related. I went in the late 70s. Paperchase, including the TV series, was one of my favorites. While it was a bit over the top, the interrelations between the characters was similar to what I experienced.
My daughter just started. Interestingly enough she is studying the same degree at the same school and even in the same dorm (though we didn't have coed dorms back then). From her description, it sounds very familiar to the environment I went through. Of course much of the paperwork process is on line, but the class interaction is similar.
Honestly, when we took her for orientation, it felt like I'd never left.
You also can't compare law school to the undergrad experience -- they quite simply are not the same. I went to college off and on for twenty years (1980s to early 2000s) before I graduated and, other than changes in technology, the classroom experience was the same.
Well, the fashions were certainly the same. :-) And its depiction of law school was pretty spot-on, even though many of the characters were caricatures -- the super brain, the struggling to get by, the one that "always has an angle". But it wasn't representative of undergraduate school, not by a long shot. In the early 70's, a lot of guys were worried about their draft status and staying in school to defer being drafted.
"The Paper Chase" is one of my favorite movies - John Houseman was superb, when he hands Timothy Bottoms a dime and tells him to "call your mother and tell her there is serious doubt of you ever becoming a lawyer." Timothy Bottoms grasps the dime, starts out of the classroom (to the shocked fascination of the rest of the class), then turns and says with deep, unalloyed fury: "Kingsfield, you are a son of a *****!" Gasp! Houseman looks up at him, over his glasses, and then, with a straight face, says, "Mr. Hart, that is the most intelligent thing you have said today. You may take your seat." I often wondered how many Harvard Law students actually tried that stunt in later years . . . my guess is not many. :-)
Houseman was actually a last-minute choice for Professor Kingsfield -- James Mason had originally been slated for the role, but wasn't able to do it due to conflicts.
Without computers, you read your book, you took careful notes, and spent a LOT of time in the library doing research.
Well, the fashions were certainly the same. :-) And its depiction of law school was pretty spot-on, even though many of the characters were caricatures -- the super brain, the struggling to get by, the one that "always has an angle". But it wasn't representative of undergraduate school, not by a long shot. In the early 70's, a lot of guys were worried about their draft status and staying in school to defer being drafted.
"The Paper Chase" is one of my favorite movies - John Houseman was superb, when he hands Timothy Bottoms a dime and tells him to "call your mother and tell her there is serious doubt of you ever becoming a lawyer." Timothy Bottoms grasps the dime, starts out of the classroom (to the shocked fascination of the rest of the class), then turns and says with deep, unalloyed fury: "Kingsfield, you are a son of a *****!" Gasp! Houseman looks up at him, over his glasses, and then, with a straight face, says, "Mr. Hart, that is the most intelligent thing you have said today. You may take your seat." I often wondered how many Harvard Law students actually tried that stunt in later years . . . my guess is not many. :-)
Houseman was actually a last-minute choice for Professor Kingsfield -- James Mason had originally been slated for the role, but wasn't able to do it due to conflicts.
Without computers, you read your book, you took careful notes, and spent a LOT of time in the library doing research.
James Mason would also have been a good choice.
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