Ideology In The Movie Rushmore

Often today, people see themselves as much more lofty and better than everyone else or feel as though they are much worse than other people around them, both of which are exaggeration. Human’s ideology can go either way, from “Wow my life is so boring and I am so poor!” to “Oh, I can associate with these people, I am almost, if not, as good as they are.” The 1998 film Rushmore, directed by Wes Anderson, shows the influences one can go under to see a different ideology rather than their potential/actual class position. In the opening scene, main character Max Fischer is shown as the poster child kid that every person in American strives to be: intelligent, looked up on by his peers, and popular. The problem is that it is all a dream. Ideology, one concept from Peter McLaren’s “Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts”, the viewer can see the dream scene in a different way. Using ideology, the scene explains once such a poor child can now be see himself as just as good as the rest. Even though this scene may seem as just a dream, it is about the struggle Max has with a new identity and ideology at Rushmore Academy. The movie Rushmore often shows Max in a euphoric state, where he views himself much more lofted than he truly is, most likely

He has a whole new ideology. Defined in McLaren’s “Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts”, ideology is “…a way of viewing the world, a complex view of ideas, various types of social practices, rituals, and representations that we tend to accept as natural and as common sense,” (69). Max, now a part of a very prestigious high school, can now see himself much more lofted than he once was. He is the son of a barber and though never explicitly stated, it is understood that Max is on some sort of scholarship. Since everyone else acts loftier because they go to Rushmore, Max seems to feel that he has to take on this same