TOBBOTT ELEMENTARY
Type: comedy
Director: Fifth Brunson. With Quinta Brunson, Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Chris Perfetti, William Stanford, Zack Fox. On Disney+
The series is available on the Disney+ platform Abbott Elementaryfresh winner at the Golden Globes for best comedy series. It is a curious and innovative operation from the point of view of the genre: a product halfway between a sit-com and a so-called “mockumentary”the fake documentary, where the protagonists are represented as if they were really an expression of the narrative world in which they are inserted, breaking the fourth wall with interviews grafted into the story.
Finally, we add to this an element of denunciation in a light key on the conditions of public education. The reference context is that of an elementary school in the suburbs of Philadelphia, attended by predominantly colored children, as were many of the teachers; a context, therefore, of difficulty, of marginality (geographical rather than social, to tell the truth), in which we observe the attempts of teachers to raise funds for structures and teaching and to innovate teaching methods.
Front row, from left, Tyler James Williams and Quinta Brunson; behind, Janelle James and Chris Perfetti; standing, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter (ABC Photo/Pamela Littky).
The teacher Janine (Quinta Brunson), will discover the difficulty of passing on one’s ideas, but also what good remains in consolidated activities and relationships. All teachers are an expression of different and conflicting cultural worlds.
To smile at the distortions of a public system and rediscover humanity in ramshackle suburban schools.
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