Chapter fifty-five: Music of the Heart

Hey everybody! I'd like to start this entry with a word that I think is reflective of the week I've had, Stoichiometry. I know what you're thinking, and believe me, I am too. That's a word that I didn't even know existed until we learned about it in chemistry class a few weeks ago. I mention it only because we had a test over it this week. Stoichiometry has something to do with the grams and moles of two different chemical compounds that you have to convert to find the answer, and- I don't know, don't ask me. My teacher openly said we could use Google, but Google was no help. I'm still shocked that I got a 16/17 on the test, considering that my friends failed it, and with a half-hour left in the class period, I still had half the questions to go. Don't you just love chemistry?

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Anyway, speaking of school subjects, one that I do enjoy is band class, and this week's movie is called Music of the Heart. From 1999, it's a true story about a woman named Roberta Guaspari who started a violin program from scratch at an inner-city school in East Harlem, New York (a low-income school/residential area) during 1988. It's definitely in the list of my top five favorite Meryl movies hands down, and I find it very interesting to know that it's true.

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In the film, which spans ten years, Roberta Guaspari (Meryl) is a newly-divorced woman after her husband left her and their two young elementary school sons to be with her best friend. Now, alone, depressed, and forty, she finds a job at the advice of her mother wrapping presents at a department store, which makes her even more depressed as she battles through her mid-life crisis. Then one day, Roberta's old boyfriend from high school, Brian Turner (Adrian Quinn), recognizes her as the gifted violinist she once was and tells her about a nearby school that may have an opening for a music teacher.

Roberta seizes the opportunity and is quickly (unannounced) in the principal's office of the school with her two sons to demonstrate her teaching abilities. She hastily mentions that she bought fifty violins in Greece once, which is enough for the students, and has been playing for years herself. The principal (Angela Bassett,) despite Roberta's qualifications, shuts down her enthusiasm by a lack of funds (which, from personal experience, have no doubt gone to the athletic department.) Another teacher points out the fact that the attention span of the kids at this school is notorious for being less than eight seconds like the average human. But, Roberta is determined to teach the kids saying,

"I think you're underestimating them."

All the while, Roberta is now living with Brian, trying to get herself back on her feet. He acts as her support system, but when news comes that she's gotten the teaching position, they mutually break off because Roberta is now able to independently care for herself and her kids.

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Things are looking up for her as the three of them make the official move to East Harlem. Their apartment is run down, but they make use out of it. The school is for children of all ages, but the children Roberta teaches are primarily younger to ensure that they'll stick with the instrument. But, she's noticing that these younger kids are more interested in using the violin cases as guns. It's a substantial transformation process for sure, and as the new teacher, Roberta's pushed around. But, this allows her to find a piece of her strength that was lost in her divorce as she adjusts to her surroundings under the mantra,

"Anyone can play the violin."

This mantra becomes true when Roberta notices that one girl in her first-year class is handicapped and wears leg braces to maintain balance. The girl is upset that she can't stand the way she's supposed to when holding the violin. Roberta's advice to her is,

"Standing strong doesn't mean just using your legs. You can stand strong on the inside."

I'm realizing about now that I've probably made this entry longer than it needs to be, but I really like this movie, and specifically, as a handicapped girl who wears braces to maintain balance, that quote means something to me.

With her first concert, Roberta is now a thriving instructor. She's earned the respect of the school's principal, her students have built a trusted relationship with her, the parents have seen their kids become happier with the music they've learned, and Roberta herself has realized just how impoverished some of her students' lives are. With this knowledge, she improves her sense of empathy. Then, after ten years and 1400 kids have gone through the program, the funds are cut, and she's being fired. This brings us to the second half of the movie.

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Roberta fights a good fight with the support of her students, their parents, friends, and the school's principal who has seen and appreciated all the work she has done. They rally together to put on a concert to raise money for the program. Roberta's students, both past and present, rehearse furiously only to have the venue pulled out from under them days before the concert. That's when a friend steps in whose husband has connections with the one, the only, grand Carnegie Hall. So, that's where they perform along with all of the great violin players of their craft (Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, and Arnold Steinhardt.) The performance is a triumph, and in 1991, she got the support to start her own school, which today is the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music. She's 73 but retired from public teaching. Meryl had to learn the violin in four weeks for the role, which is something only she can do because one year being a percussionist and I still can't get my arms to fully relax.

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I say this as someone who loves music, but I'm far too attached to this movie. It's wonderfully empowering as it showcases how music can change your life. It's an art that our culture and society would not be the same without, a form of expression for hundreds of thousands of people; I'm only one of them.

As always, thank you for the entertainment, Meryl.