Alternative MATH

Perhaps one of the smartest and most compelling shorts around, ALTERNATIVE MATH, a nine minute American piece directed by David Maddox, is a deeply layered and remarkably sophisticated pieces of intelligent comedy.

Our heroine is a veteran grade school teacher trying to explain to her student that 2+2=4. The child however, believes the answer is 22. So do his parents. How dare this teacher censor their child and restrict his learning. What kind of professional does this? The child’s parents are out for blood and soon our heroine is trapped in a vicious media onslaught and a school board demanding her resignation.

What makes this film so special is that it functions on so many layers. It works comically due to it’s wonderfully executed reducto-absurdum, but just a little bit deeper we find an allegory for our modern world carrying a concerning warning. What happens when beliefs are taken too such a degree that basic knowledge is questioned? What happens to a population when the right to free speech becomes more important than the recognition of fact? There is a frightening undertone in ALTERNATIVE MATH that speaks to a greater and more terrible world lurking in a reality not too far away from our own.

Of course, this allegory is one that comes gift-wrapped clearly and politely in the bow comedy for an audience can unwrap it with glee, not fear. Perhaps this is one of the best reasons to see ALTERNATIVE MATH, a film with heart, humanity and humor, as well as deeper philosophical undertones. A family film to be enjoyed by teacher and student alike. 

• Fonte: FESTIVAL REVIEWS – Film Review: ALTERNATIVE MATH (USA, Comedy)
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• IMDb – Alternative Math

Uma opinião alternativa

Observação em relação à nota considerada na parte final da legendagem em Português [“PS: o correcto pela regra de adição proposta seriam 20 002 000 dólares (vinte milhões e dois mil dólares)”]: Como a quantia era 2 (mil dólares) em cada um dos dois períodos em causa, ter-se-ia pela “adição alternativa” um valor total de 22 (mil dólares), conforme é considerado no diálogo da cena em causa.

A génese da “adição alternativa” que nos é presenteada por David Maddox já anda esboçada nas tenebrosas estrelas cartunistas pelas antevésperas do ano das trevas de 2004 e antes mais até

Certamente que não pode ser de outra forma… As imagens seguintes fazem parte de um lote mais numeroso que foi difundido pelos vários espaços da escola no âmbito da iniciativa Dias da Matemática/Informática, que decorreu de 27 de fevereiro a 3 de março de 2004.

A primeira imagem apresentada abaixo (2 + 2 = 4) ainda permanece (e ainda bem!) colada no vidro da porta do Laboratório de Matemática.

TEMPOS MODERNOS: Questões antigas exigem respostas modernas! Pois, pois…!

• 2 + 2 = 4
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