The Faculty glamorizes substance abuse. It showcases obscene language. And in it, hormones rule and authority figures take a beating.A sci-fi/horror hybrid of The Breakfast Club and Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the story pits a frantic band of students against parasitic aliens stealthily inhabiting the bodies of teachers and administrators. It addresses abstract social issues as only science fiction can. It also gives fed-up adolescents a cathartic rush via “justifiable” homicide. Killing these infected educators in gruesome fashion becomes the ultimate retaliation for pop quizzes and too much homework.
One of the film’s young “heroes” sells drugs, fake IDs, flavored condoms and pornographic videos in the school parking lot. His vials of homemade white powder turn out to be the only thing that can kill the aliens-and snorting the contents is the only way the teens can prove to each other that they’re still human. It’s a disturbing metaphor for young people using drugs to silence personal demons and bond with disenfranchised peers.A diploma from Hollywood High will only prepare teens for careers in sex, drugs, alcohol, profanity and rebellion against authority-tired, exploitative conventions. The classroom is a darkened theater. Any note-taking is purely mental and probably subconscious. Don’t let your teens be miseducated.