School of Rock was the film of our childhoods and it shaped a generation

It taught us all how to stick it to the man

3 years ago

If you didn’t watch School of Rock on repeat when you were younger, I’m sorry but you need to take a long hard look in the mirror and sort yourself out. This film has every single thing you could possibly want and more, and it genuinely shaped our generation.

Yes, Jack Black literally commits fraud by pretending to be a teacher, and then pretty much kidnaps a whole classroom full of children. Watching now, it feels a bit suss – you can 100 per cent see where the boring teachers are coming from – but when we were younger we couldn’t have cared less about the multiple crimes being committed in the film. All we cared about was that School of Rock was crammed full of iconic one-liners and absolutely banging songs, and was all-around just the best film of the 21st Century.

Here’s every single reason why School of Rock was the iconic film of our childhoods:

It gave us some of the best one-liners known to mankind

Brb tattooing “You’re tacky and I hate you” on myself, because this timeless line genuinely changed my life.

School of Rock is probably the most quote-able film of all time – who could forget all the kids dying of “terminal stickittotheman-itis”? Or the classic “Ned Schneeeybley”, “you’re a fat loser and you have body odour”, and “it will test your head … and your mind … and your brain”? Every single word of this film is nothing but iconic.

It’s full of banger after banger

If you didn’t spend your childhood belting out “BABY WE WERE MAKING STRAIGHT A’S” until the lyrics are now etched onto your brain for all eternity, I’m sorry but we can’t be friends. The original songs absolutely slap, and the soundtrack’s full of so many incred classic rock songs. You really cannot beat it, and School 0f Rock helped diversify our music taste from an early age.

With “math is a wonderful thing, math is a really cool thing”, they even managed to make a song about actual, literal maths into a certified tune. Is there really anything this film can’t do?

It showed us it’s okay to be yourself

As well as giving the children some borderline incredibly offensive nicknames, Jack Black had a gift for making them feel important and showing them it’s okay to be themselves.

One of the kids, Lawrence, says he doesn’t think he’s cool enough to be in the band, but Jack Black quickly puts him right and you see Lawrence grow in confidence throughout the film.

In another scene, Tomika says she’s worried everyone will laugh at her “because I’m fat”. Jack Black tells her she’s talented and that’s more important. He gives her a pep talk, saying he’s “sexy and chubby” and people “worship” him despite his weight.

She asks why he’s not on a diet, and he says: “Because I like to eat, is that such a crime?” He’s right – it’s not, but it’s an important lesson to learn.

It taught us all how to stick it to the man

Fundamentally, School of Rock was about letting go and having fun – and sticking it to the man. Jack Black came into this stuffy private school where the kids were forced to wear ties and learn Latin – he ripped up their sticker chart, got rid of their boring lessons and helped them all be themselves and actually have fun for once.

We all wished we could be in a band instead of maths, and School of Rock gave us a taste of that.