I just finished watching the fine French film The Chorus (Les Choristes) which focuses on a failed musician who winds up teaching at a reform school for troubled boys. It's a little Mr. Holland's Opus, less sentimental, but still quite good. Besides being enjoyable as a film, it actually made me think about my childhood rather intently. I'm not one to really let a movie conjure up emotion or experiences from my real life, unless it involves death of a parent for obvious reasons. I'm pretty good at accepting a movie for what it is, a movie. Sure I cry when they want me to cry, but I'm not sitting there reflecting on what is happening on screen and drawing comparisons to my own life. That is, until today...
A French movie about wayward kids and singing made me nostalgic for my youth. Why you ask?
Well, if you really want to know, I'll tell you.
When I was in the second grade I was so bad that I was expelled from the catholic school I was attending at the time. Can you imagine what a kid must be like to get expelled at age 7? Lucky for me it was the best thing that ever happened to me. For my 3rd year of school I was put into a public school, Fitzpatrick, and it was there that Mr. Brown, a music teacher happened upon my gift. I was a demon child, but I could sing like an angel. Who've thunk? Mr. Brown quickly convinced my parents to have me audition for a more professional choir than the one my public school assembled, and the next thing you know I spent the next 8 years singing professionally in various incarnations. I haven't spent much time thinking about my time in the choir over the last 15 years, but listening to these kids in The Chorus sing brought back a flood of memories. And not just of experiences, but of actual songs that I didn't think I even remembered. The theme of the movie is that the magic of music can effect the behavior of even the most evil of children. I'm not sure I truly believe that, but I do think that being in such an organized group at a young age taught me a lot about discipline. Not that I wasn't a fuck up until the very end of high school, but I think I might have been worse if I didn't have my musical pursuits to ground me. Singing in a choir is not a glamorous hobby, and at most times it is of little fun. 9 year olds don't typically want to stand still and sing for 4 hours on a Saturday morning if you catch my drift. The men who shaped my musical ability, much like the teacher in The Chorus, had a great impact on who I am today. I learned to respect my elders, I learned a whole hell of a lot about music that I'm not sure who appreciates anymore and I learned how to be a man all from singing. I think everyone can find moments in their life where something or someone made an impact on who they have become. I know that Mr. Brown recognizing my talent at a young age set my life into motion in a way that wouldn't have happened for a poor, delinquent kid like me otherwise. Sometimes it takes a movie to make you recognize shit like that.
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