College, Right?
Two Sides, One Film
It quickly becomes apparent that Liberal Arts is the dream we all want higher education to be: a sprawling campus full of wide-eyed dreamers ready to change the world, or prepared to be changed. It is a moment of abstract pursuits and hearty exploration, where there are more questions than time for answers. Confusion is just part of the territory, and there is a longing for that modicum of lost-ness. Much of that longing emanates from the witty charm of Jesse Fisher, played by Josh Radnor. Jesse is the 19-at-heart college admissions officer who returns to his Alma Mater for his professor’s retirement party. We identify with the youthfully scruffy Radnor, who ambles around campus as if he still went there, finding grand ideas for love and life which I don’t think he ever really lost.
The 2012 feature, written and directed by Radnor himself, captivates with moments of the ideals we all have when going into college embodied in the people we meet when we’re there. Zac Efron is Nat, the adorable drifter whose origins are unknown but who acts as Jesse’s “spiritual” guide throughout the film, which is particularly helpful when it comes to Zibby, the sophomore student Jesse has to face his feelings for. The film does drag due to its employment of typical college movie tropes, especially in terms of the student-teacher relationship – there is both the older mentor romance fantasy and the old "sleeping with the professor years later". Though, those scenes are toyed with just enough that they are not egregious in their predictability. The middle-of-nowhere setting lends itself to the sprawling college green and ivy-adjacent education that presumably comes from this institution, feeding the bright-eyed future of America that we at this age wanted to believe we were. Jesse and Zibby both learn about the reality outside of the collegiate bubble, but still carry some of their heads in the clouds, the way we almost desperately wish we still could.
The 2012 feature, written and directed by Radnor himself, captivates with moments of the ideals we all have when going into college embodied in the people we meet when we’re there. Zac Efron is Nat, the adorable drifter whose origins are unknown but who acts as Jesse’s “spiritual” guide throughout the film, which is particularly helpful when it comes to Zibby, the sophomore student Jesse has to face his feelings for. The film does drag due to its employment of typical college movie tropes, especially in terms of the student-teacher relationship – there is both the older mentor romance fantasy and the old "sleeping with the professor years later". Though, those scenes are toyed with just enough that they are not egregious in their predictability. The middle-of-nowhere setting lends itself to the sprawling college green and ivy-adjacent education that presumably comes from this institution, feeding the bright-eyed future of America that we at this age wanted to believe we were. Jesse and Zibby both learn about the reality outside of the collegiate bubble, but still carry some of their heads in the clouds, the way we almost desperately wish we still could.
Liberal Arts is the story we all want to say happened when we went to college, which I can say because it is the same way I feel when watching the college years of Glee, or to go back further, the college years of Saved By the Bell (in which everybody dreams big and knows their future, and there is no middle ground between getting everything you ever wanted and being crushed by those same dreams for just long enough to completely change you and force you to reevaluate your life at 19).
This movie is like living the ideal of what going back to college will be like. Josh Radnor is Jesse Fisher, a 35-year-old college admissions officer who heads back to school for his “second favorite teacher’s” retirement party. He is the guy you’re not sure is a teacher or a student when you see him around campus, and he falls for Zibby the sophomore because it turns out he’s not so sure either. He hangs out in dorm rooms, makes new friends (Zac Efron’s Nat, the "high" thinker who adorably loves everyone and offers sage, cryptic advice that you don’t process for a while because you’re too busy thinking – “does he even go here?”), and sleeps with the professor who taught his favorite class (incidentally, it was also his “favorite” professor).
Roommate commentary: “Isn't that Ted Mosby?” Oh, roomies. OH GOD YES.
The film ends with Jesse finding an age-appropriate woman to love, making up with his deep, most likely long-lasting platonic connection Zibby after he turned her down romantically. Because apparently age isn't just a number. He watches the sunset with a different girl. More often than I should, I wonder loudly why Elizabeth Olsen isn't the most famous Olsen child, and I take it upon myself to make sure she stays properly acknowledged and remembered in the public sphere.
This movie is like living the ideal of what going back to college will be like. Josh Radnor is Jesse Fisher, a 35-year-old college admissions officer who heads back to school for his “second favorite teacher’s” retirement party. He is the guy you’re not sure is a teacher or a student when you see him around campus, and he falls for Zibby the sophomore because it turns out he’s not so sure either. He hangs out in dorm rooms, makes new friends (Zac Efron’s Nat, the "high" thinker who adorably loves everyone and offers sage, cryptic advice that you don’t process for a while because you’re too busy thinking – “does he even go here?”), and sleeps with the professor who taught his favorite class (incidentally, it was also his “favorite” professor).
Roommate commentary: “Isn't that Ted Mosby?” Oh, roomies. OH GOD YES.
The film ends with Jesse finding an age-appropriate woman to love, making up with his deep, most likely long-lasting platonic connection Zibby after he turned her down romantically. Because apparently age isn't just a number. He watches the sunset with a different girl. More often than I should, I wonder loudly why Elizabeth Olsen isn't the most famous Olsen child, and I take it upon myself to make sure she stays properly acknowledged and remembered in the public sphere.
Jasmine Penny