Hip-hop

Half Nelson is a film that explores the frayed behavior in people. On the surface we have Dan Dunne (portrayed by Ryan Gosling) who is a Brooklyn junior-high school teacher. He is a history teacher whose brand of teaching is dialectics. This goes against the uniformed policy of U.S. public education. Dialectical teaching, in this film, is the thought that history is change and that change results from opposing forces. Dunne employs the theory in historical occurrences, basketball games, and arm wrestling. Although Dunne is a teacher who reaches children, is respected by his colleagues, and thumbs his nose at authority while admitting to being authority, he is coming apart inside.