Hello everyone, it’s me, your Feisty Indian Aunty who just watched The Chair on Netflix with great awe as it was so brilliantly done. This was a series that really resonated with me as I began my career as a teacher (Economics and English) and have spent my life in education, in one way or another.
This series begins with an Asian woman, Ji-Yoon Kim ( Sandra Oh), who inherits “The Chair” of the English department of the fictional Pembroke College, a wannabe Ivy, whose history far outweighs its impact on society. Ji-Yoon is the first female Chair and she’s inherited and English department with mostly male, mostly white lecturers who are old, uninspiring, occasionally decrepit, and have lost their ability to draw students to their classes. The University is suffering decreasing enrollment and the new Chair is ordered by the Dean to shake things up and get rid of the non-performers.
Under Ji-Yoon’s care is a gaggle of quirky academics. We have Chaucer scholar Joan (Holland Taylor), who has had an illustrious career but has since banished to a basement office. We have the American literature professor Elliot (Bob Balaban) whose lectures are so boring that students have stopped signing up for his classes, opting instead to be taught by the dynamic Black lecturer Yaz (Mana Mensah), who in turn has to suffer Elliot’s power over her tenure. And then there is the unforgettable Bill (Jay Duplass) whose life takes a roller coaster ride down to chaos following the death of his wife.
What does this series tell us about student life in a University and the ability of professors and lecturers to draw them into their world? Teaching is a noble profession, and with the world changing in so many different ways, those in charge of our children’s education need to be even more conscientious than ever before.
The big conflict in The Chair occurs at the end of the first episode when Bill, during one of his lessons, does the Seig Heil salute in order to make a point about racism. All hell then breaks loose. There is pandemonium as students strike and call for his resignation. The series makes it a point to reflect the real world clashes, social, cultural, and intellectual, that play out on a daily basis. From the deep-seated resentment of older white men to how the world is changing around them, to the equity and justice that so many young people feel has been denied to them for so long. And it does it oh so well!
Everyone in this series is exceptional in their respective parts, but for me, it was Sandra Oh who really shines. There was so much realism in her portrayal. The struggle to juggle work, and life, family and love, what’s best for you versus what’s best for everyone else, is something that every woman can relate to. And it’s something you can see in every second of Oh’s performance.
Education is about learning a skill, or a profession, that will engage your passion for the rest of your life. A lecturer can make or break a student’s spirit and passion. These lecturers that make you can be far and few.
As a passionate teacher and trainer, I have had the unique privilege of training lecturers at various universities in Malaysia. My focus was to build an Image for them as educators. Yes, all educators need to create an Image for themselves to attract students. They need to make them want to learn from them. (It’s something Yaz does exceptionally well in The Chair!)
This series reminded me of something that during one of my classes. One professor, who was forced to attend my training sessions, was reluctant to appreciate the idea of being popular and engaging with the students. He said that he was the Assistant Dean, and that he had a PhD in his subject, and that it was all the qualifications he needed. He said that his job was teaching them what they should know. I asked him if he was ever evaluated by the students as an educator. He was shocked and said, “who are they to evaluate me?”
Who are they? They’re the one’s deciding if you are worth the money that they’re paying for their education. My parting words to him were, “This is why you’re still the Assistant Dean. This is why you’re here attending this session.”
The Chair felt like one of the most accurate depictions of this life that I have ever seen. Yes, there is drama, and comedy, and romance (much like real life), but it still feels like a genuine exploration of what it is like for a woman in academia. In just six episodes, the creators and writers of this show have managed to do so much and yet still keep it grounded in a very emotional and relatable reality.
I am profoundly thankful that it exists.
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