One of the smartest and most compelling shorts around, ALTERNATIVE MATH, a 9-minute American piece directed by David Maddox, is a deeply layered and remarkably sophisticated pieces of intelligent comedy. Alternative Math went on to have a successful film festival run, winning awards such as Best in Show for Shorts at the 2017 Austin Revolution Film Festival. Highly recommend.
Our heroine is a veteran grade school teacher trying to explain to her student that 2+2=4. The child however, believes the answer is 22. So do his parents. How dare this teacher censor their child and restrict his learning. What kind of professional does this? The child’s parents are out for blood and soon our heroine is trapped in a vicious media onslaught and a school board demanding her resignation.
What makes this film so special is that it functions on so many layers. It works comically due to it’s wonderfully executed reducto-absurdum, but just a little bit deeper we find an allegory for our modern world carrying a concerning warning. What happens when beliefs are taken too such a degree that basic knowledge is questioned? What happens to a population when the right to free speech becomes more important than the recognition of fact? There is a frightening undertone in ALTERNATIVE MATH that speaks to a greater and more terrible world lurking in a reality not too far away from our own.
Of course, this allegory is one that comes gift-wrapped clearly and politely in the bow comedy for an audience can unwrap it with glee, not fear. Perhaps this is one of the best reasons to see ALTERNATIVE MATH, a film with heart, humanity and humor, as well as deeper philosophical undertones. A family film to be enjoyed by teacher and student alike.
这部短片极其荒诞，一个小学生的关于2+2的数学计算，竟然引起整个社会的骚乱，这部短片其实反映了美国的教育现状，类似的事不久前还在美国真实发生过。
之前美国的“黑命贵”运动不是闹得轰轰烈烈嘛，临近期末考试了，就有人给大学教授写信，说黑人兄弟最近不好过啊，整天忙着搞0元购，你看是不是批改试卷的时候，高抬贵手，给黑哥们降低一点难度，体现一下学校的人文关怀呀？
教授就回信说：第一，这学期上的是网课，我这里只有名单没有照片，我怎么知道谁是黑的谁是白的？第二，我要是给黑学生降低了难度，那是不是就对白人、亚裔不公平呢？马丁路德金曾说过：不以肤色论英雄。你们觉得他说的对吗？
听起来有理有据，有理有节，对不对？
可最后这位教授还是被下课了，超过20000名学生联名上书，认为他对黑兄弟不够友善。教授除了回家吃自己，还能干啥？
连马丁老爷子的话都不好使了，这说明美国人争的其实并不是什么公道和大义，就是自己那点蝇头小利。
美国的快乐教育，在未来还会带来更大的麻烦。
美国人必须从基础教育抓起，别再用2+2=22糊弄学生了，真要改，绝不是一朝一夕的事情。
Ivy League Education Center 