of his life he has avoided accepting his place even as he works to get young people interested in music, music being the one thing he loves no matter what job he is doing. The lead in Music of the Heart also loves music, but she is more directly and intensely dedicated to getting through to young people with her teaching because she knows that music is more than the music itself--it is a key to changing the human being and to getting young people interested in the world around them.
Both films recognize the importance of education in American society, as should we all. Education in a democratic society holds a special place for improving social standing, educating the electorate, and providing opportunity to all. Educational level is a powerful indicator of social inequality on several levels. The level of educational attainment achieved by the individual determines to a great degree the type of job that person will be able to get and thus the economic and social level to which they may aspire. In many businesses, continuing education is necessary for advancement and so adds further to stratification in the business world. Social inequality is often measured in terms of educational level as much as it is economic level, and perceived failures in the educational system, such as are noted in the inner cities of this nation, are blamed for many social problems based on resulting inequities in employment, social aspirations, and other dimensions.
This is especially evident in Music of the Heart in which Roberta Guaspari applies for a job teaching violin at an East Harlem public school. The students in this school are from the ghetto and are not being given the best our schools have to offer. There is insufficient funding for the classrooms, the teachers, the materials, and so on, and this is one reason why the school has no music program--music is seen as an extra rather than a necessity, and there is no funding available...