Does Night School Represent Students with Learning Disabilities?

Night School, directed by Malcolm D. Lee, stars Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish. Hart plays a successful salesman who needs to get his GED in order to get a corporate job.

On Wednesday, Andre Perry wrote this article for The Root (and three other platforms) titled, “Night School Make the Grade in Depicting Adults With Learning Disabilities.” He details that he watched the trailer, and goes on to applaud the movie for representing “special needs,” and shedding light on special education.

Admittedly, I have not seen the movie. But watching the trailer, just as Perry did, I did not get the sense that the point of Night School is to start a conversation. Haddish’s character tells Hart that he is “clinically dumb,” and that there is no cure for what he has. That was the end of that brief discussion of the topic.

There are two criticisms I have of Perry’s article. First, I think there it is dangerous to use blanket terms such as “clinically dumb,” or “special needs” to describe all students with learning disabilities. So, no, it is not representative of all students who struggle with school because all disabilities and abilities are different. Second, no cast members have a known disability (I tried to search if Hart does, but could not find anything). If producers wanted to represent learning disabilities, they should have casted actors to do so.

However, I do think the movie sheds light on the fat that not all students are good at school and should not feel pressures to go to college. I applaud the movie for showing that students without a higher education can be successful if they do not follow traditional paths. Additionally, it seems like Hart’s disability is supposed to be a surprise for audiences, sending a message to the audience that not all struggles are seen.