Why Everyone Needs to Watch School Ties

The perfect rewatch for today. Let’s be honest, Brendan Fraser will probably win the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Charlie in The Whale. It’s an amazing, heart-wrenching Oscar-worthy performance.

So to celebrate the “Brennaissance” that is going on, I rewatched his 1992 movie School Ties.

If you haven’t seen it, School Ties tells the story of David Greene, a Jewish high schooler from a working-class background who attends a New England Ivy League feeder school in 1959 overpopulated with waspy antisemites. This 1990s Jewish classic was influenced by the story creator Dick Wolf’s own life experiencing antisemitism as a young man in school. Fraser is not Jewish, but he does a beautiful job playing David in his first feature role.

Thirtieth anniversary! Director Robert Mandel talks about the 30th anniversary of School Ties.

Simple, yet so good. It’s hard to describe how much I love this simple and straightforward yet powerful movie. I think most Jews in the United States and perhaps worldwide can relate to David’s experience. He is a loyal friend, a hit with the ladies, and the star quarterback. In other words, to blend in and stay safe, he excels in the classroom and on the playing field, and is liked by those around him. Success has long been a vital tool in the Jewish arsenal against antisemitism. David’s success on the football field is responsible for reversing his new prep school’s embarrassing losing streak. However, in what is the movie’s core theme, despite his popularity, he hides his Jewishness, not because he isn’t proud, but because he wants to fit in.

For example, despite promising his dad that he will attend services on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, he plays a game. David leads his team to another victory but is later caught praying in the chapel by the school’s headmaster. Discussing his role on the Howard Stern Show, Fraser said that at his core, David wanted to belong yet was unable to because of his classmates’ antisemitism.

“…in this case David wanted to be apart of the school. He wanted the camaraderie. He wanted the glory that sport brought him, but it came at a cost and the barrier was that he was Jewish and their antisemitism kept him out”

Brendan Fraser on David Greene in School Ties

Describing how he identified with David, Fraser told Stern, “Making School Ties, in a way, I felt like David because his story is that he wants to belong, and at some point in our lives or another, we’ve all felt like we’ve had our nose pressed up against the glass and there’s something keeping us out, and we want to be a part of what’s in there. And in this case, David wanted to be a part of the school. He wanted the camaraderie. He wanted the glory that sport brought him, but it came at a cost, and the barrier was that he was Jewish, and their antisemitism kept him out. And so for all of that need of wanting to belong, I identified with that because I felt like I wanted to be a part of this Hollywood also.”

Tough lesson to learn. David sees the latent and overtly explicit antisemitism from his classmates but decides it is easier to keep quiet about who he is. He even chooses to continue being friends with them. It’s an all-too-common experience. One of your friends or a colleague makes an antisemitic joke. What do you do? Do you stay silent? Do you immediately correct them? Do you try to persuade them they are wrong by talking and befriending them?

I think most Jews have had the same thoughts: “What if they get to know me? Maybe I can make them see that their prejudice is misguided. Maybe they just need to be educated. Maybe if they get to know me they will see me as a real human being.” It’s an unfortunate common belief among Jews that one has to be perfect to gain acceptance and not bring harm to other Jews. David ultimately learns a tough lesson. For some, like Charlie Dillon, an Ivy League scion and the leader of the group played by Matt Damon, there is nothing one can say or do. Their antisemitism is as essential to them as the air they breathe. 

David stands up. Everything comes to a head when David’s Jewishness is finally discovered. And it’s ugly. Charlie confronts David when they are both naked in the shower. It’s a remarkable scene. David knows what is going on as his back is turned, and he listens to how Charlie, his former “friend,” is talking. He understands what is about to happen because, even while turned around, he can feel Charlie’s unabashed rage boiling over. 

Antisemitism as jealousy. An interesting theme that School Ties explores is that of antisemitism as jealousy. David takes Charlie’s spot as the star quarterback on the football team, leading them to victory after victory. David also starts dating Sally Wheeler, a blonde-haired proper-mannered gentile played by Amy Locane. Sally is Charlie’s childhood friend, who he bizarrely thinks he is entitled to despite the two of them never officially dating. No longer interested in hanging around Charlie and succumbing to his domineering entitlements, Sally is quickly swayed by David’s kind and gentle soul.

The famous shower scene. In the shower, Charlie’s jealousy, his hatred, his sanctimony, his perceived victimhood, his rage, his racial, ethnic, and religious superiority comes all the way out. There are no secrets anymore. And there is nothing David can do to stop what is about to happen. So, like every other Jew in his situation, he has two choices: stand up and defend himself or get beaten up.

What is remarkable about the scene is that up until now, David has done everything right to fit in as any normal student would: he’s been kind, funny, and unassuming. He hasn’t picked any fights or made any enemies. He hasn’t denigrated the school. On the contrary, he’s been a good friend, a helpful classmate, and a great addition to the football team, almost single-handily responsible for the increase in school pride as their team wins successive games. Succeeding in a meritocracy (or at least one that claims to be), it turns out, is no antidote.

Zero recourse. David is not given the benefit of the doubt for any perceived wrongdoing. He is not given the opportunity to defuse the situation or to resolve any disagreement. There is no recourse. No evidence is provided. He, just being a Jew, is assumed to be a source of condemnation and evil. A meddling kniver that has just been found. The conspiratorial way Charlie throws nonsensical accusations at David as if he has personally conspired against him is genuinely scary.

The almost immediate cognitive shift in the students when they discover David is Jewish belies a deep and dark underbelly of prejudice, victimhood, and bloodlust. If given the opportunity, these same people would have gleefully burned down Jewish homes or simply just killed Jews; all the while thinking they were virtuous for doing so. In this case, antisemitism is a rich man’s luxury and burden. Without being given a chance to walk away, David fights Charlie as if he is defending the honor of the Jewish people on his shoulders alone. He succeeds, again.

Nazis in America. But it doesn’t end there. It gets worse. His classmates put a sheet with the words “Go Home Jew” with a swastika on it over his bed. When David goes to the middle of the schoolyard and demands the culprits reveal themselves, no one comes forward.

It’s a scene that is so reminiscent of real-life antisemitic incidents today. The wealthy, privileged upper-class are more willing to cowardly side with America’s defeated enemies than their own citizens. It shows you how destructive and corrupting the antisemitism virus truly is. And it also shows how antisemitism is not the sole prerogative of the poor and dispossessed but the genuine preference of the wealthy and well-connected.

One of the saddest incidents in School Ties is the breakup between David and his girlfriend, Sally. Her anti-Jewish hatred is not outwardly violent or even explicitly confrontational. Her hatred, steeped in class and ethnic superiority, is a waspy old European one where any association with Jews, especially in one’s private life, is akin to a social death sentence. Sally accuses David of ruining her life. Her love turns to betrayal and disgust. She sees herself as the victim. He ruined her for the crime of being himself.

In the end, everything that David’s waspy classmates accuse him of is a projection of their own sins because it is they who are guilty of: betrayal, hatred, sneakiness, lying, cheating, and naked prejudice. School Ties is an outstanding movie. Everyone needs to see it because of its straightforward and insightful analysis of antisemitism in the 1950s.

The cast. School Ties has an all-star cast. Brendan Fraser is joined by Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O’Donnell, Amy Locane, Randall Batinkoff.

By Aaron Gold. Aaron Gold is a writer and the founder of The Hasmonean.

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