Dead Poet’s Society
One of Robin Williams’ best performance was that of the innovative college professor John Keating in the movie, “Dead Poet’s Society.” In real life, however, it seems that poets do not enjoy a long life when compared to other writers.
A report appearing on the BBC Web site today cites a new U.S. study on the lifespans of nearly 2,000 dead writers. As you might suspect, poets lived shorter lives compared to their prose counterparts. Dubbed the “Sylvia Plath Effect,” the report also noted a higher incidence of mental illness among female poets than any other type of writer, which accounted for some of the reason for poets’ shorter life spans. No doubt the minor fact that most poets are the epitome of starving artists contributed to the statistics as well, although mysteriously the study made no mention of this obvious connection.
Now that this ground-breaking report is out, no doubt we’ll soon see warning labels on poetry books or, as the article mentioned, a caution statement in poetry course descriptions: “Warning: Poetry May Be Hazardous to Your Health.” And look for a lawsuit coming to a courtroom near you, brought to you by those well-meaning parents of little Johnny suing to keep him safe from an early demise caused by the evils of poetry. Poetry was not my favorite subject in school, and had I known avoiding it would add years to my life I would have worked harder at ignoring those lines of rhyme.
3 Responses to “Dead Poet’s Society”
Re: poetry.
I think the commentary applies to writers in general. One of the stereotypes is that writers are (usually) insane, are alcoholic, obese, or only to be honored post-humorously…er
Ah, forget about Sylvia Plath… my personal poetry model is Walt Whitman, who lived to be a ripe, perpetually randy old man. I’m entirely unconvinced that poetry *causes* depression: instead, I think depressive types are drawn to poetry as a form of self-expression, therapy, etc. The poet Maxine Kumin once said that her friend Anne Sexton lived *longer* because her poetry brought more solace than all the psychiatrists who (ultimately) failed to cure her.
Still, I’d rather be like Papa Walt, who was Mr. Keating’s own role model.
Funny you mention it, since I just watched DPS last week. You’re right about Robin Williams’ performance — wonderful!