Jonah, you’re absolutely right about the message you could take from SoR. On the other hand, consider how the Black character grows: from wanting to cheat the school and deny the kids any education, to developing a great enthusiasm for teaching, giving the kids confidence in their abilities, and ultimately acting like a parent in protecting the kids from the lamer rock musicians at the contest. The film ends with Black’s character running an after-school program after profusely apologizing for all the lying he did. All in all, the politics of it sort of balance into a traditional American film formula: underdogs find their inner strengths and triumph and live happily ever after.