Mad Hot Ballroom, a documentary of a school-wide program for dancing. Every year there is a competition between the schools to see who has the best dancers. Well, this movie is harmless. It doesn’t have any vulgarity. The music can be catchy. Kids are interviewed. But does this documentary confront any political issues? I think so.
The way the director made the documentary makes the political confrontation indirect yet direct. Why? Well, the documentary is focused on recording this dance program and shows how the children progress and what they think of it. This is simple. It may not spark any controversy. It’s neutral in that sense. Then there is the juxtaposition of the different living conditions of the school children: one girl was a room with a TV, bed, closet, study table, chair, and is able to pick out a dress from her closet, whereas, in another school, the teacher takes the students to go shopping in a store like Conway. This amplifies and brings attention to how different children live. In essence, the entire documentary is similar to a politician using finesse in his discourse.
Now, the film is neutral for the whole part. It shows the children learning to dance and different schools. It documents that one year. But then the children are interviewed, as well as the teachers. We see how the program benefits the children and the teachers. There was a dance teacher, her class received gold the previous year but did not get the grand prize, who said that the program helps the children reach their roots, their culture, and helps to keep them off the streets. I also believed that she implied that it also helps the children’s character. When the students are interviewed, the viewers heard from the students that they like the program and that it’s fun. In addition, the students can talk about serious topics: divorce, marriage, etc. This shows the viewer that they way the students live is different and the topics they talk about may shock us. By putting their inputs into the documentary, the director is showing that programs in the arts help students and that there should be more. Moreover, the director may also be promoting exercise (this may be pushing it) because the time the film was made the when the obesity epidemic was happening and it still is.
The main political issue, though, is the funding for programs in the arts. This documentary is promoting the arts and shows the profound effects it has in school children. There are schools that are cutting funding to programs in the arts because it doesn’t have as high a standard as science and math. This should not happen at all. The arts are as important as science and math in developing the human mind. It helps to stimulate the mind in different ways and helps it grow. Trying to get a well-balanced dose of everything is difficult, but when one of the needed dosages is taken out it becomes even harder to grow. The others have to try and take over, but it’s not that easy.
The arts, in general, are essential to our development. It helps us to imagine, think, and grow. Science and math do the same, but in a logical manner. The arts have a different, “uncensored” way (so to speak), of having ourselves explore. They all work hand-in-hand. But by decreasing the funding for programs in one of the pillars, they are taking away a part of the child’s childhood. Having the arts is essential.
