The Emperor’s Club (Reflection Paper)

The Emperor's Club is an American drama film. “Every child should

have a caring adult in their life. And that’s not always a biological parent or
family member. It may be a friend or neighbor. Often times, it is a teacher," as
per Joe Manchin. That quote is what the movie is all about.

Mr. Hundert is a classics teacher at Saint Benedict’s, a boarding school

for boys only. The film showed how Mr. Hundert strives to be an effective
teacher to bestow honor, knowledge, and wisdom on his students like the
Emperor Shutruk Nahunte is. But there is this one student of his named
Sedgewick Bell, who is an arrogant, spoiled brat whose father is a senator.
Despite being rude, Mr. Hundert chose to see the good in him, cared for him,
and rooted for him. But Sedgewick failed Mr. Hundert not only once but twice.

There are three dilemmas shown in the movie. This first is the bad
parenting of the Senator, witnessed by Mr. Hundert when he approached the
Senator to consult about Sedgewick’s unpleasant attitude. The senator
welcomed Mr. Hundert with boastfulness and a domineering approach. The
senator even told Mr. Hundert that his job is to teach Sedgewick, not mold
him. Because he, the Senator, will mold his son himself. The senator’s act
explained everything—that Sedgewick is like that because his father is just
the same. But despite that horrible conversation, Mr. Hundert chose to be the
father that Sedgewick would never have. He decided not to give up on
Sedgewick to bring out the best in him.

Second is when Sedgewick failed to be one of the top three finalists

needed for the competition. For your information, there’s this traditional
competition in their school, the Mr. Julius Caesar Contest, in which the top
three pupils compete in front of the entire school in a classics quiz. The
elimination round was done in essay form. As the host of the contest, Mr.
Hundert was the one who rated the works of the aspiring contestants. Since it
is a subjective type of exam, he can base the results on his feelings, or, in
other words, his personal perceptions. Supposedly, the third finalist was
Blythe, but because Mr. Hundert was too driven by his belief that Sedgewick
could do more, he chose Sedgewick but soon cheated and failed him.

Third is, of course, still on Mr. Hundert—putting others' faith in your

hands. When the headmaster died, the school needed a new one. Mr.
Hundert, as the assistant headmaster for 17 years, is expecting to be the one.
But since he is too old and lacks fundraising ability, he wasn’t chosen to be
the headmaster. Because his pride and ego were trampled, he decided to
resign and just focus on other things that he loved to do. Not until he received
an invitation from Sedgewick to attend their batch’s reunion and be the host of
the rematch of the Julius Caesar Contest for their batch. He thought
Sedgewick wanted a fair competition this time, but he was wronged for the
second time as Sedgewick cheated again, and he only used Mr. Hundert for
political purposes. He disguised his political agenda as their reunion.
Afterwards, Mr. Hundert and Sedgewick ran into each other in the bathroom
and confronted each other. After the confrontation with Sedgewick, he also
confronted Blythe and told him the truth. Instead of getting angry at Mr.
Hundert, Blythe thanked him for the goodness and favor he showed. Blythe
also chose to see the good in Mr. Hundert, and through that encounter with
Blythe, Mr. Hundert realized that he didn’t fail as a teacher. It’s just that
Sedgewick is a dick. Therefore, he changed his mind and decided to teach
again, as Blythe even enrolled his son to be Mr. Hundert’s student.

The lesson that I learned in this film is that not everyone is good
enough not to hurt you, despite everything good that you did. But we can
always choose to see the good in people and care about other people.
Especially to be a good parent to your children, be a role model that your
children will admire and idolize. As per James Baldwin, “Children have never
been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to
imitate them.”