Film is a powerful medium that can reach and teach audiences unlike any other. The debate will always continue as to the extent with which the “teaching” side should influence the overall presentation. While I have no issue with a movie teaching me something, I want it done in such a way that I don’t feel like I’m being preached at or being thrown messages at every turn. Such is the case with Gordon Parks’ The Learning Tree, a film that may have been powerful upon its release in 1969 but today its overt lessons have feel more like a sermon that’s being forced upon the viewer than it does a film that entertains as well as educates.
Released when the Civil Rights Movement was reaching its conclusion and race relations were still extremely tense in America, The Learning Tree paints a grim picture where color is the root of the South’s issues. It doesn’t necessarily take sides, showing that evil and wrong can come with any color skin. Instead Parks calls for compassion. It’s an obvious lesson, but that’s perhaps the point.
Newt (Kyle Johnson) is your ideal teenager. He’s polite, strives to do well in school, respects his family and girlfriend, and minds his manners no matter where he is or what the situation. Newt also happens to be a Black young man growing up in the South. Parks does a good job of creating Newt. He’s likable in every way. Newt is balanced between his good attitude and his penchant for having fun. This ensures that he’s not annoying or unbelievable. Newt isn’t perfect but he’s very much human, someone who can be the center of a good story.
But it’s what goes on around Newt where Parks and company struggle. The Learning Tree falls into the path of giving a message more than it does letting things emerge organically. My biggest issues with the movie were the fact that the story seemed to be a backdrop to the themes, not the other way around. Parks’ need to make a point was never in question. As a result, little felt natural in the film’s narrative. Instead, most everything felt forced, contrived and predictable. That’s not to say that The Learning Tree is unbearable. It does have its touching, dramatic moments. But that’s the issue. It’s isolated bits that are inspiring rather than the film as a whole.
DVD Review
The Learning Tree is only now seeing a DVD release thanks to the print-on demand Warner Archive collection. The film looks decent, although there are a fair number of scratches and debris throughout. They’re not distracting but the movie is by no means pristine. Like other Warner Archive releases, there are no additional features.
