“Churlish” Games
Key and Peele’s Substitute Teacher
Look closely and you’ll notice the hairline. Slightly receding from the stresses of teaching 20 years in inner-city schools. The character of the substitute teacher, Mr. Garvey, is played my Keegan Micheal-Key, the character brings to light the differences that divide inner-city schools and privileged suburban schools. The skit was a huge hit in 2012 and the fans demanded a part 2 to the attention grabbing sketch comedy. As the screenwriters and the other half of Key and Peele, Jordan Peele, began thinking of new scenarios that Mr. Garvey could relate to, the group stumbled upon the massive differences of funding for extracurriculars between inner-city schools and suburban schools. Throughout many of Key and Peele’s skits, the duo represents conflicts throughout history, but in their Substitute Teacher skits the comedians focus on bringing attention to the thick divide between inner-city schools and suburban schools.
In an interview with Scott Meslow, a writer from The Week, the iconic “Substitute Teacher” skit that had become the most watched youtube video with over 33 million views, was created by a group of writers along with the two comedians. Keegan explains that the premise of the skit is an inner-city teacher subbing in all-white suburban classroom. The character, Mr. Garvey is supposed to look “tight and high” as if he was in the military years ago, but that was merely the look the actor wanted, in reality he wanted his wrinkles, short tie, and receding hairline to come from the years of teaching at an inner-city school. The writing group wanted to show that disciplining the students at the urban school had given him a rough shell. The motivation of the substitute is to “not let them pull one over on him”, while the names are secondary.
The comedians discussed that the reasoning for selecting the names for the first skit was to incorporate names that are most commonly thought of as being names to white people. The high appeal of this skit is due to the fact that everyone can relate to a substitute teacher mispronouncing names because everybody has gone to school. With the same logic, the team began to think of other scenarios in which they can bring back the same teacher in a different situation that the audience can relate to and enjoy in the process.
Part one of the Key and Peele’s hit skit begins as a regular school day with students in their seats. Then the substitute teacher stands up straight at attention and introduces himself in a low and clear voice. Mr. Garvey is a man who demands respect from his students, and it is clear that he is not in the mood for “Churlish Games”. Soon after his introduction, he begins to call roll. When the students correct the substitute for mispronouncing their names, Mr. Garvey yells in outrage.
He refuses to let the students pull one over on him and sends A.A.Ron. straight to the principal’s office for being “churlish”.
During the sequel to “Substitute Teacher”, the students are back in their seats and responding to their “correct” names given by Mr. Garvey. Shortly after, A.A. Ron. raises his hand to notify the substitute that the students have club pictures to attend. Mr. Garvey looks straight into A. A. Ron.’s eyes and refuses to let any student leave without a reasonable explanation. Even after a group of students beg and plead Mr. Garvey to let them go they are unsuccessful and are still glued to their seats. But then, “Tim-OH-Thee”,the only black student in the classroom, raises his hand and asks to be excused in order to pick up his daughter. Mr. Garvey quickly responds to “Tim-OH-Thee”and excuses him from class. The scenario highlights the large divide between inner-city and suburban school’s culture, as well as the students.
The “Substitute Teacher Part 2” sketch by Key and Peele highlights the sharp divide between inner-city schools and suburban schools across the nation. The fundamental difference between the schools is the characteristics of the students. The majority of students who attend inner-city schools come from a low-income household often living in crime-stricken neighborhoods or minority neighborhoods with limited English proficiency. The hardships that the students face outside of school greatly effects work ethic and work performance in school. A study done by Christine Kim outlines that two compelling parental factors in a student’s education is family structure and family involvement. She discusses that student’s success in school is correlated to the home life and due to America’s growing rate of divorce and split families, some students can be effected by this and fall between the cracks of the education system. Coincidentally, inner-city communities have the highest percentage of one parent families and the lowest percentage for graduation rate.While in contrast, the students attending suburban schools tend to come from middle to higher class families with a more affluent background and with more parents that earned an education after a high school diploma. The classrooms of suburban schools are known for being much more homogenous than the classroom of the inner-city schools. The urban classrooms may have students from vastly different backgrounds with all kinds of hardships ranging from money struggles to a home without parent supervision that can weigh on the student’s shoulders and haunt their everyday lives.
The limitation of funds for urban schools restrict the students from having extracurriculars. While the higher income of the area in suburban schools make it possible to fund extracurriculars, the limited amount of income in inner-city schools has stunted the development of in-school clubs and student-run organizations. Extracurriculars and clubs within the school help generate passions within the students and in turn, also help keep students off the streets and distracts them from difficult situations at home. Mr. Garvey shows his understanding of the shorter end of the stick when he makes the students stand up and explain what club they are involved in, while he rejects every single one as a true club. The lack of funding in his area has him at a disadvantaged to the privileged suburban students. Yet the only request that he does understand is Tim-OH-Thee’s reason to leave.
Another line dividing the two types of schools is determined by the family characteristics of the students. Urban schools are often flooded with students who come from either a home with money struggles, or one parent homes where the parent is at work for the majority part of the day. The importance of having a parent at home to look after the child is crucial to child development, as well as their success in school. In a study conducted by Paula Fomby with the National Institute of Health, a lack of parental guidance can lead to behavioral problems and possibly mental disorders such as depression. As the higher possibility for inner-city families to be unstable weigh on the student’s shoulders and take focus away from learning, it can also guide them towards a negative path. Children also tend to grow up and mimic their parent’s household structure. In the same study, Fomby discusses the connection between negligible parents and young daughters who become pregnant at an early age. Fortunately Key and Peele’s skit does not fail to demonstrate this example of division by Tim-OH-Thee’s request to leave the classroom in order to pick up his daughter.
Key and Peele bring to light the harsh reality that is the contrast of inner-city and suburban schools. The ample funds available to suburban schools create various programs that increase graduation rates and promote further education. While the lack of funds in urban schools diminish the opportunities offered to the students with something as simple as not providing enough books for each student. These obstacles make it difficult for students to thrive in school, stay in school, or graduate from school. Mr.Garvey taught at an inner-city school and understands the harsh realities, although he is subbing in a different school district, that does not change the norms that he is used to.
There is no doubt that Key and Peele’s fame is centered around experiences that their audience can relate to, but they also expand on the experiences and demonstrate to the audience problems within the community. Emily Nussbaum published an article in the New Yorker, explaining that the comedian duo uses their biracialism to expand on Golden Ticket themes instead of having it constrict their ideas. The comedians’ amazing use of this has created an empire of sketches. In the Substitute Teacher skit, Key and Peele demonstrate the contrast between suburban schools and inner-city schools, ranging from the school’s differences of student characteristics, the differences between the student’s family structure, and the differences of school funding that limit the student’s success in inner-city schools. But not only that, they use the skit to leave the audience wondering about what other issues arise from the difference of demographics of the two areas.
Comedycentral, director. Substitute Teacher . YouTube, YouTube, 17 Oct. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw&t=40s.
Comedycentral, director. Substitute Teacher Pt 2. YouTube, YouTube, 18 Feb. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLAq3JVJ6Ho.
“Differences in Urban and Suburban Schools.” Actforlibraries.org, www.actforlibraries.org/differences-in-urban-and-suburban-schools/.
Fomby, Paula, and Andrew J. Cherlin. “Family Instability and Child Well-Being.”American Sociological Review, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Apr. 2007, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3171291/.
Kim, Christine. “Academic Success Begins at Home: How Children Can Succeed in School.”The Heritage Foundation, www.heritage.org/education/report/academic-success-begins-home-how-children-can-succeed-school.
Meslow, Scott. “Interview: Key & Peele Explain How They Created ‘Substitute Teacher’.” The Week — All You Need to Know about Everything That Matters, 25 Sept. 2013, theweek.com/articles/459650/interview-key — peele-explain-how-created-substitute-teacher.
Nussbaum, Emily. “Color Commentary.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/09/30/color-commentary.
Smith, Zadie. “Key and Peele’s Comedy Partnership.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 20 July 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/02/23/brother-from-another-mother.