Notes on a Selfish Scandal

So, I watched the film Notes on a Scandal. It was very interesting. It is the story of two teachers in a London middle school. The new teacher, played by Cate Blanchett, is a young, lively and attractive woman with a semi-happy marriage and home life. The other teacher, Judi Dench's character, is the stereotypical old-maid teacher. She is grouchy, lonely and critical of seemingly everything and everyone.

On one level, this movie is so easy to watch that it is almost boring. Everyone who has ever been in any school knows both of these teachers. My third grade teacher could have been replaced by Judi Dench. The graduate assistant who taught my first English class in college could have been the Cate Blanchett character. And just when I thought that this movie would bore me, the unthinkable happened.

During a school play the older teacher realizes that her only friend, the new teacher, has not arrived yet. So she goes in search of the novice. What she finds is surprising to say the least. For the younger teacher is found in her classroom in the arms of one of her 15 year old students. Apparently an affair has been going on for some time. The story that continues from here is not predictable, and I will not spoil the plot for those have not seen the film yet. But, I would like to draw some comparisons between the movie and real life.

Actually, there are only two comparisons, and they are the same. People are selfish. We all look out for number one. We are more concerned with our own interests than we are with anyone or anything else. Too often, our only concern for anyone else is how to get them out of the way when they are interfering with our own desires.

• Sheba, the younger teacher, is selfish in that she spends the whole movie thinking only of her own desires. To begin with her selfishness is evidenced in her disregard for her family, for morality, for societal conventions, or ethical behavior. Her affair with a teen-aged boy exemplifies what many people believe. 'I deserve whatever I can get.' And then, after her affair is discovered and revealed, Sheba desperately works to preserve her reputation, her dignity, her family. However, I was left with the feeling that she wanted to save herself only to save herself. She had little or no concern for the victim of her sexual abuse, her co-workers or her family.
• Barbara, the other teacher, may be more selfish. In her quest to be rescued from her loneliness, Barbara manipulates those around. This alienates some people and submits others to her. However, no one has true affection for Barbara. Her loneliness has become permanent and almost suffocating as she tries in vain to co-erce others into being her friend. This is completely different than Sheba's, but it is nevertheless selfishness of the highest order.

I believe that selfishness is the one thing that all humans hold in common. In theological terms we talk about original sin. This is that nature that each of us inherits at our birth. Every person is selfish. Each of us thinks more of ourselves than we ought. Notes on a Scandal is a perfect illustration of this principle. Barbara and Sheba are repulsive. They show us what we could be. Let us pray to God that it is not so.