My Reaction to "Waiting For Superman"...

I thought that “Waiting For Superman” was pretty sad actually, and maybe a bit controversial. At first it just seemed to be a set of stories told by people in bad neighborhoods who were trying to make it in the world. But as the film progressed, it seemed that other factors played a key role in the children’s’ futures. For instance, I thought it was pretty awful that Bianca was not allowed to participate in her graduation ceremony, simply because her mom owed some tuition. I feel like most of these kids just drew the short straw, and they would be the ones to suffer.

I understand that documentaries of this nature are typically one-sided, which therefore makes it controversial. It sheds a different light on the education system, though I’m sure there’s another side to the story. There is one aspect of it that I found intriguing though. I know it says that the lottery is “completely randomized”, but I couldn’t help but notice that of all the children who’s stories were being told, the ONLY one who got in (without being put on a waitlist) was the little white girl who came from a good neighborhood, already attended a good school, and whose parents were not considered “destitute”. All the other children came from poor backgrounds and their parents practically killed themselves just so their kids would have a shot. I just think it’s interesting that the one student from a good solid background (and whose family had much more money than the others) was the one to get in.