Alternative Math - A Breakdown on Perspectives
Summary
In a reality where feelings are more important than facts, a math teacher is struggling to keep reality straights for her students. This movie tackles the problem where lies and alternative facts are considered to be alright to state in terms of political correctness. With a good sense of humor, Alternative Math is a short film that brings attention to the disorder in today's society. This movie by IdeaMan Studios shows a good-willed math teacher that comes to the spotlight and is under fire when she gives a young student of hers a failing score on his wrong answers. After that, the debate on how 2+2=4 is shown throughout the film which grows from a ridiculous argument with some bigoted parents to a whole country mess involving the citizen and a board of city figures, resulting in the math teacher losing her job. However, there is a hilarious yet happy ending that will soon commence at the end of the movie.
SPEAKING of Each Scene
Scene 1
Monday. Danny approaches Mrs. Wells with his test sheet in hand. He shows her the test sheet with an F on it, showing that Danny has failed the math test. Mrs. Wells asks Danny to come in and to show him the correct answers, yet Danny perseveres and stubbornly leaves the classroom.
MRS. WELLS:
Oh, hi Danny, come on in. Looks like you’re having some trouble with addition. Now don’t be upset. You’re here to learn. And we learn from mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes.
DANNY:
Nuh-uh.
MRS. WELLS:
Look at this question here. What is 2 + 2? See you wrote 22. But when we do addition we don’t just put the numbers next to each other.
DANNY:
That’s stupid.
MRS. WELL:
Alright, think about it this way. If I have two markers in this hand… and then I add the two markers from this hand... How many markers do I have now?
DANNY:
Twenty-two!
MRS. WELLS:
No, Danny. It’s four.
S: The classroom on Monday morning.
P: Mrs. Wells and Danny.
E: Danny confronts Mrs. Wells that he is not happy about his test results to which Mrs. Wells calmly explains the correct answers.
A: Danny comes into the classroom and shows his test sheet, showing an F mark. Mrs. Wells asks him to come in and encourages him that it is okay to be wrong. She then explains to Danny the correct answer to the test, yet Danny, as stubborn as he is, does not accept it and runs from the classroom.
K: Hostile (Danny), encouraging (Mrs. Wells).
I: Oral.
N: Taking turns in the conversation, but Mrs. Wells dominates the whole discussion while Danny is listening.
G: Conversation.
Scene 2
Tuesday. Danny’s parents come to meet Mrs. Wells. They demand an explanation on why their son is given an F on his test, Mrs. Wells then explains to them that Danny gave the wrong answers. However, Danny’s parents persist that Danny did not give any wrong answers and that Mrs. Wells's perception of math is narrowed, even to the point where Danny’s mom calls her a Nazi. Mrs. Wells then asks to leave the conversation in which the heated argument leads to Danny’s mom hitting Mrs. Wells.
DANNY’S MOM:
Mrs. Wells? We’re Danny’s parents.
MRS. WELLS:
Oh yes! Hello. Please, come in. Now don’t worry. It’s completely normal for kids to get frustrated when they’re struggling with a subject.
DANNY’S MOM:
So what’s this about Danny getting some answers wrong on this so-called test of yours?
MRS. WELLS:
We had a test. One of the questions was what is 2 + 2? Danny answered 22.
DANNY’S DAD:
And?
MRS. WELLS:
And that’s not the right answer.
DANNY’S MOM:
Says who?
MRS. WELLS:
Says math.
DANNY’S DAD:
Are you calling my son stupid?
MRS. WELLS:
No, of course not!
DANNY’S DAD:
Who are you to say that your answer is right and that he is wrong?
DANNY’S MOM:
No, no, she’s right.
MRS. WELLS:
Thank you.
DANNY’S MOM:
Right out of Nazi Germany.
MRS. WELLS:
You can’t honestly tell me that you don’t know what two plus two equals.
DANNY’S DAD:
So you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you? You smart-ass little tramp.
MRS. WELLS:
Uhhhhhh
DANNY’S DAD:
Uhhhh uhhhhh uhhhhh. What are you? Some kind of retard?
MRS. WELLS:
Alright! I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to continue this conversation.
DANNY’S MOM:
We’re going to complain to the principal about you.
DANNY’S DAD:
Danny is a free thinker!
DANNY’S MOM:
I’ll have your job, bitch.
MRS. WELLS:
Not if you can’t add two and two together you won’t.
S: The classroom on Tuesday.
P: Mrs. Wells and Danny’s parents.
E: Danny’s parents meet Mrs. Wells to figure out the problem between her and their son.
A: Danny’s parents come to meet Mrs. Wells in the classroom. They ask Mrs. Wells what happened between her and Danny in which Mrs. Wells explains that Danny gave wrong answers on his test. The parents are clearly not happy as they claimed Mrs. Wells to say that their son is stupid, even to the point where they tell her that she’s a Nazi. Mrs. Wells refuses to be in the conversation any longer, Danny’s mom threatened her and even hit her in the end.
K: Confrontational, vulgar, and threatening.
I: Oral.
N: A serious discussion. Take turns but at one point Danny’s dad mocks Mrs. Wells and turn the whole conversation sour.
G: Conversation.
Scene 3
Wednesday. The principal comes to meet Mrs. Wells after she had finished her class. In this opportunity, the principal gives Mrs. Wells a suggestion that she should consult him whenever the teachers have any problems to which Mrs. Wells asks him how he would handle it. The principal then suggests Mrs. Wells to apologize to the student and his parents. Mrs. Wells is taken aback and refuses to do so, stating that the mother hit her. The principal proceed to tell Mrs. Wells that her view is biased and says an incorrect math statement that Mrs. Wells says is wrong.
PRINCIPAL:
Mrs. Wells.
MRS. WELLS:
Oh, sorry, Principal. I didn’t see you.
PRINCIPAL:
I understand you had an issue yesterday with the parents of one of our students.
MRS. WELLS:
It did get a little crazy.
PRINCIPAL:
When things get out of hand I really need you to let me know about it.
MRS. WELLS:
Sure. So how do you want to handle it?
PRINCIPAL:
I guess you could apologize.
MRS. WELLS:
Apol- What? His mom hit me!
PRINCIPAL:
I understand you told Danny he had a wrong answer on his test.
MRS. WELLS:
He did have a wrong answer on his test.
PRINCIPAL:
It’s not our job to tell students when they’re right and wrong.
MRS. WELLS:
That is exactly what our job is.
PRINCIPAL:
Parents don’t want you ramming your biased views down their kids’ throats.
MRS. WELLS:
That’s not biased. That’s how math works.
PRINCIPAL:
You know what doesn’t work? Your attitude. Maybe I can explain this in math terms, so you can understand. If you took all the kids in this classroom and divided them by zero, that’s exactly the amount of respect you’re giving them. Something you’d like to say?
MRS. WELLS:
You can’t divide a number by zero and get zero.
PRINCIPAL:
So now I’m stupid. Just some crazy administrator doing paperwork, while you superstar teachers change the world!
S: The classroom on Wednesday, after class.
P: Mrs. Wells and the principal.
E: The principal comes to the classroom to talk about the problem Mrs. Wells is facing currently.
A: The principal comes and meets in the classroom with Mrs. Wells after she is apparently done with her previous class. He talks to her about her problem and that it is not their job to correct the students and suggests Mrs. Wells to apologize, to which Mrs. Wells disagrees. The principal got heated and the conversation ended with them disagreeing with each other.
K: Hostile.
I: Oral.
N: Conversational, discussing the problem about Mrs. Wells and her students.
G: Conversation.
Scene 4
Thursday. There are riots in front of the school building, even to the point where they are chasing Mrs. Wells inside. They shout and curse at Mrs. Wells for her view on math, saying that she hates kids. Mrs. Wells then proceed to sit in front of a board consisting of the city figures, from the principal, and the superintendent, to the mayor. Mrs. Wells suggests that they should leave this matter and that in a few days, it will blow over by itself, however, Danny’s parents apparently suing. They ask Mrs. Wells if she was aware of her fiasco. Mrs. Wells stands corrected and stays with her argument that 2+2=4. The board is not happy with her answer and the principal states that Mrs. Wells will be suspended in which the mayor knocked the hammer, agreeing with the conclusion.
PROTESTERS:
Students Count! Teachers Divide!
FEMALE PROTESTER:
Stop undermining our kids’ confidence!
MALE PROTESTER:
Are you going to apologize to the parents?
FEMALE PROTESTER:
Why did you even start teaching if you hate children?
SUPERINTENDENT:
Please have a seat, Mrs. Wells.
MRS. WELLS:
Thank you. You know, I honestly think this will all blow over if we just wait a week or so.
SUPERINTENDENT:
I’m afraid we can’t do that.
MRS. WELLS:
Why not?
MAYOR:
They’re suing.
MRS. WELLS:
For what?
MAYOR:
Emotional distress to a minor. Mrs. Wells, can you please tell the members of this board exactly when you became aware of this fiasco and the events leading up to the riot?
MRS. WELLS:
Riot? I just told a student that two plus two equals four.
SUPERINTENDENT:
We need for you to recant that.
MRS. WELLS:
What?
SUPERINTENDENT:
Just say that you’re open to the possibility that there might be multiple correct answers.
MRS. WELLS:
But that’s not true. We can’t let them bully us. This is so stupid!
PRINCIPAL:
Stupid. That’s your problem. Anyone who disagrees with you is stupid.
MRS. WELLS:
There is nothing to disagree with. There is only one correct answer.
MAYOR:
For your sake, I certainly hope you have that correct answer when the media gets wind of this.
MRS. WELLS:
I do. It’s four.
PRINCIPAL:
I have my own answer. This school minus you equals tomorrow.
MRS. WELLS:
You’re firing me?
PRINCIPAL:
Suspending. While you reconsider your extremist views.
MAYOR:
You brought this on yourself.
S: The hall, with the Board of School, on Thursday.
P: Mrs. Wells and the Board of School.
E: Mrs. Wells comes to the hall and sits in front of the Board to discuss the matter at hand that has blown big.
A: Along with the riots outside of the school, Mrs. Wells is also confronted by a lot of mobsters until she manages to get into the school hall to meet the Board. The Board which consists of various people, such as the principal, the superintendent, and the mayor proceed to discuss Mrs. Wells’ problem that has risen up to such a level where they are being sued. Mrs. Wells stands by her argument and that she is not wrong in teaching her students facts and math. The Board sees this as something problematic and therefore suspending Mrs. Wells from teaching.
K: Demeaning, ruling, and controlling.
I: Oral.
N: Conversational.
G: Conversation.
Scene 5
Friday. Mrs. Wells is in her house, enjoying a cup of tea while watching the TV when she is faced with many TV news and shows talking about her. She is clearly not happy with whatever is on the TV and disagrees with their ridiculous argument. Then all of a sudden, the principal calls her, saying that the Board she will no longer teach at the school for everyone’s benefit. Mrs. Wells is shocked to hear this and worries about the kids. The principal asks Mrs. Wells to come to school tomorrow to close this matter.
TV:
Breaking News.
FEMALE NEWSCASTER:
In what’s being called Mathgate, an activist elementary school teacher was caught abusing her student’s First Amendment Rights.
MALE TV HOST:
So this teacher, this liberal elitist, tells this innocent little first-grade kid that his answer is wrong. Only her answer is acceptable.
FEMALE TV HOST:
Yeah, from what I hear, she doesn’t even keep these students for more than a year. After that, they all leave her and go to another teacher.
MRS. WELLS:
It’s called graduating!
MALE NEWSCASTER:
It’s creating some good healthy debate in this country. Some experts say that 2 + 2 = 4. Others say that it’s 22.
MRS. WELLS:
No, they don’t!
MALE TV HOST:
If you hate America that much, why don’t you just go teach in Commie France?
MRS. WELLS:
Hello?
PRINCIPAL:
Hello, Mrs. Wells. The Board decided that for everyone’s benefit, your services will no longer be required.
MRS. WELLS:
For everyone’s benefit? How about the kids?
PRINCIPAL:
I need you to come by the school tomorrow. We don’t want you radicalizing our students anymore.
S: Mrs. Wells's home, in front of the TV, on Friday night.
P: Mrs. Wells.
E: Mrs. Wells enjoying her evening in from of the TV when suddenly the news talk about her badly.
A: On Friday evening, while enjoying a cup of tea, Mrs. Wells turns on the TV and is greeted with a lot of news regarding her problem. Most of them say that she is a liberal elitist, hateful, and go on about ridiculous arguments regarding math. Mrs. Wells is clearly disagreeing with the newscasters and TV hosts.
K: Humiliating, frustrating.
I: Oral.
N: Talking bad about Mrs. Wells as well as humiliating her on national TV shows. Taking turns to speak as Mrs. Wells turns the channels.
G: Conversation between the hosts of the show, monologue on the single newscasters, and Mrs. Wells herself.
Scene 6
Saturday. Mrs. Wells comes to school as she agreed with the principal the day before. Upon entering the school building, she is greeted by a bunch of cameras and reporters, probably set up by the principal to publicly disclose her problem and to show it to everyone. The principal proceed to explain that she will be dismissed but the school will provide their financial obligation for her pay which is $2,000 for the last pay period, and $2,000 for the current one, making it an additional of $4,000. Mrs. Wells then claimed the principal’s addition is wrong and said that it is supposed to be $22,000. She then smiles, knowing that she manages to turn the whole situation around.
PRINCIPAL:
Mrs. Wells, thank you so much for coming. You know, I’m just so sorry it happened this way. If only you’d been willing to be more open-minded.
MRS. WELLS:
About math? What about academic integrity?
PRINCIPAL:
You were warned. Given an explanation. And yet you persisted. But we will of course fulfill our financial obligations. Now, that’s $2,000 for your last pay period, and $2,000 for this one. So that’s $4,000.
MRS. WELLS:
Wrong. It’s twenty-two thousand!
S: The school building on Saturday morning.
P: Mrs. Wells and the principal.
E: Mrs. Wells comes to the school to disclose her problem to the principal.
A: As Mrs. Wells was asked the night before to come to school, she then come as she is greeted by the principal upon entering the school building. Not only the principal, there are also many reporters on set ready to record the conversation between Mrs. Wells and the principal. The principal then states that it will not happen if only Mrs. Wells is more open-minded. He then proceeded to say the amount of money the school is obligated to pay Mrs. Wells as her previous and current pay period of $2,000 each, resulting in the addition of $4,000. However, to everyone’s surprise, Mrs. Wells claimed that the principal’s addition is wrong and it was supposed to be $22,000.
K: Confusing, hilarious.
I: Oral.
N: Conversational between Mrs. Wells and the principal.
G: Conversation.
Study the Dialogue (Utterance and Why the Speakers Say it Like That)
According to Yule (1996) there are 5 types of general functions performed by using speech acts. These speech acts are utterances that is used by people in expressing their needs, emotions, or declarations of something. From that, below are five types of dialogue examples from the short movie, Alternative Math.
MRS. WELLS: Oh, hi Danny, come on in. Looks like you’re having some trouble with addition. Now don’t be upset. You’re here to learn. And we learn from mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes.
DANNY: Nuh-uh.
In this instance, the speaker is using a directive speech in order to direct a certain situation to apply. Mrs. Wells tells Danny to come into the classroom, using the directive speech she is able to make Danny comply with her command. She might use this kind of speech utterance in order for her to dictate to Danny and to further converse with him.
DANNY’S MOM: I’ll have your job, bitch.
MRS. WELLS: Not if you can’t add two and two together you won’t.
From this dialogue, the speaker is proved to be using a commissive speech by looking at how she commits herself to the performance of an action. Usually, the commissive speech is prone to be promises, threats, pledges, etc. For it to be a commissive speech, the action stated in the dialogue has to be in the future and voluntary. In this case, Danny’s mom is using this type of utterance to show that she will have Mrs. Wells fired for saying that her son is wrong.
PRINCIPAL: It’s not our job to tell students when they’re right and wrong.
MRS. WELLS: That is exactly what our job is.
Another type of utterance that can be seen from the above dialogue is assertive speech. The principal is seen to be representing a state of affairs in which this case, he is claiming something. Even though it is wrong, the way that the principal is using such assertive speech shows that he is claiming using his statement to represent a certain situation in order to convince Mrs. Wells regarding the problem that is currently raising.
SUPERINTENDENT: Please have a seat, Mrs. Wells.
MRS. WELLS: Thank you. You know, I honestly think this will all blow over if we just wait a week or so.
For this dialogue, Mrs. Wells is seen to be using an expressive speech where she is thanking the superintendent for offering her a sear. Expressive speech is a type of speech or utterance that the speaker use to express their feelings or psychological state regarding a certain situation or state of affairs. Another use of this speech act is to deliver gratitude, apology, greetings, congratulations, etc.
PRINCIPAL: Hello, Mrs. Wells. The Board decided that for everyone’s benefit, your services will no longer be required.
MRS. WELLS: For everyone’s benefit? How about the kids?
The last utterance type is declarative speech which is used in this dialogue by the principal to bring about change in this particular situation. Declarative speech is often used to declare something, might it be firing, nominating, baptizing, resigning, etc. Mrs. Wells is then fired by the Board after the principal declares so by saying it to her.
Politeness Strategies in Conversation (FTA)
● Greetings :
- Oh, hi Danny
- Mrs. Wells?
- Oh yes! Hello.
- Mrs. Wells
- Hello?
- Hello, Mrs. Wells.
● Chastisement :
- No, Danny. It’s four.
- Not if you can’t add two and two together you won’t.
- Stupid. That’s your problem. Anyone who disagrees with you is stupid.
● Thanking :
- Thank you.
- Mrs. Wells, thank you so much for coming.
● Apology :
- I’m sorry, I’m not going to be able to continue this conversation.
- Oh, sorry Principal. I didn't see you.
- You know, I’m just so sorry it happened this way.
● Rejection :
- Apol- What? His mom hit me!
- I’m afraid we can’t do that.
● Question :
- Are you calling my son stupid?
- Who are you to say that your answer is right and that he is wrong?
- [1] Something you’d like to say?
- You’re firing me?
● Disagreement :
- But that’s not true. We can’t let them bully us. This is so stupid!
- No they don’t!
- Wrong. It’s twenty-two thousand![2]
● Request :
- Mrs. Wells, can you please tell the members of this board exactly when you became aware of this fiasco and the events leading up to the riot.
- We need for you to recant that.
- Just say that you’re open to the possibility that there might be multiple correct answers.
- I need you to come by to school tomorrow.
● Suggestion :
- I guess you could apologize.
- You know, I honestly think this will all blow over if we just wait a week or so.
- Suspending. While you reconsider your extremist views.
- If you hate America that much, why don’t you just go teach in Commie France.
Taboo Words:
● Tramp: It is used as an insult towards Mrs. Wells regarding her gender. The word ‘tramp’ defined a homeless person but is more likely to describe a woman who really likes to have sexual intercourse with many men.
● Retard: The word is absolutely inappropriate. It is used to describe someone with below-average intelligence. It is used as an insult to Mrs. Wells.
● Bitch: This is rather a straight-up harsh word to use. It is used to insult a person's gender, especially a woman and it means a woman who is unpleasant or spiteful. It used to insult Mrs. Wells.
Those above-listed words are considered rude and it absolutely has an impact or maybe consequences for the direct speaker. Neither the words such as ‘tramp’ or ‘bitch’ is used as an utterance to insult a woman and it is not the right thing to say. Vice versa to the speaker of these words whether it is a woman or man it is proved to be infecting the woman he/she referred to, that’s why when Danny’s father used the word Mrs. Wells went straight silent and even backed out from the ‘chaotic’ conversation. And then for the word ‘retard’ it is also a harsh word to say to someone. The word tends to attack someone’s psychological feelings and also affects someone’s mentality. It is because the words will humiliate the person referred and he/she will have insecurities that will later affect his/her mentality.
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