Chalk (2008) Film Review

Vee Hua 華婷婷2 min readOctober 18, 2007Add comment

Chalk is the latest release by Morgan Spurlock, so one is immediately pre-disposed to having opinions about it due to the fact that Supersize Me was so controversial. Although entertaining, Chalk is flawed in a most significant way: it comes off as a documentary when, in fact, it is not one. Its tagline, “Real teaching leaves a mark,” is extremely misleading.

At the time, I figured the film was a documentary. But I couldn’t help but wonder how some of the scenes were caught on camera, as having a camera in a classroom would certainly cause students and teachers to act differently. It wasn’t until I came home and double-checked that it began to make sense — the names of the teachers don’t match up with the names of the actors and actresses who played them so convincingly. It was a most disappointing discovery.

Four teachers were the primary subjects of the movie, and Chalk showed most of them in their classroom environments or in a teacher break room. Class sizes were tiny, quite unlike those of a real school.

Amongst the more notable teachers in the movie are Mr. Lowrey, played by Troy Schremmer, and Mr. Stroope, played by Chris Mass. Mr. Lowrey was a former engineer turned first-year teacher, and the focus was largely on his awkward stylings and numerous mistakes. He was probably the most actualized character, though, as he grew and changed throughout the movie. Although teaching was something that frustrated him at first, he began to like it and appreciate his students. He seemed to be the only teacher who actually learned from his students.

Mr. Stroope, the History teacher, wanted nothing more than to become Teacher Of The Year, and stopped only at threatening students who were smarter than him. Unlike Mr. Lowrey, he was relatively static throughout the movie — staying as the same determined, tempremental teacher that he started out as.

The movie is just short-term entertainment and is not at all life-changing, particularly because it’s not real. This small bit of relatively minor deception actually made quite an impact on me on the viewer… perhaps at some point someone will be able to make a documentary on the real trials and tribulations of teaching.

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Vee Hua 華婷婷

Vee Hua 華婷婷 (they/them) is a writer, filmmaker, and artist who splits their time between Oaxaca, Mexico, and Seattle, Washington. Much of their work unifies their metaphysical interests with their belief that art can positively transform the self and society. They are the Editor-in-Chief of REDEFINE, Interim Editor-in-Chief of International Examiner, and an Environmental Justice reporter at South Seattle Emerald. They also previously served as the Executive Director of the interdisciplinary community hub, Northwest Film Forum, where they played a key role in making the space more welcoming and accessible for diverse audiences.

Their latest short film, Reckless Spirits (2022), is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy; the feature film version is slated for production in 2026. In 2025, they premiere their documentary short film, Hunt's Trading Post, set just outside of the Navajo and Ute Nations.

In 2017, Vee released the narrative short film, Searching Skies — which touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States — and co-organized The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia.

Vee has two narrative short films. Searching Skies (2017) touches on Syrian refugee resettlement in the United States; with it, they helped co-organize The Seventh Art Stand, a national film and civil rights discussion series against Islamophobia. Reckless Spirits (2022) is a metaphysical, multi-lingual POC buddy comedy for a bleak new era, in anticipation of a feature-length project.

Vee is passionate about cultural space, the environment, and finding ways to covertly and overtly disrupt oppressive structures. They also regularly share observational human stories through their storytelling newsletter, RAMBLIN’ WITH VEE!. They have a Master’s in Tribal Resource and Environmental Stewardship under the Native American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota and are pursuing a certificate in Incidencias en Problemas Socioambientales at the Universidad del Medio Ambiente in Mexico.

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