This movie requires some serious intestinal fortitude to watch. I could only wince as I heard the N-word used indiscriminately and see a young Black man being targeted for abuse. That was the apex of all things unjust in this movie, but they weren't the only things and he wasn't the only target. But any movie with serious injustice has the ability to have some glorious and righteous justice. The Lords of Discipline gave us both. We saw the wretched injustice of a military academy in the South as well as the actions of a courageous young man to right the wrongs.
1964 North Carolina wasn't known for tolerance. Their epic intolerance extended beyond ostracizing Blacks, they'd ostracize anyone different. When a military academy is integrated with its first Black cadet it was only a matter of time before the full weight of Southern inhospitality would come down on his neck. To his credit he bore the name calling and the general abuse with dignity and honor (if bearing abuse can be done with dignity and honor). What I mean is that he opted to go into the belly of the beast knowing what was in store for him and he took it like a soldier. That is until he was kidnapped by "The Ten."
"The Ten" were supposedly ten of the finest cadets of the graduating class and their job was to make sure that all undesirables were weeded out. They used any and all methods including kidnap and torture. Cadet Pearce (Mark Breland) was earmarked for such treatment until cadet Will (David Keith) risked his own future to save him.
It was an incredible act of bravery even if it wasn't done for Pearce's sake necessarily. You see, Will didn't have a soft spot for oppressed Black folks and didn't particularly care if Pearce made it through the academy or not, but what he did care about was the integrity of the academy. The academy always professed such high morals, values, and ethics that should they allow something so underhanded and dirty as "The Ten" then the high morals, values, and ethics weren't worth more than the paper they were printed on.
So, Will's actions to expose "The Ten" were beneficial to everyone. They were beneficial to the academy--to give it real prestige--they were beneficial to all of the cadets because now they could all compete to belong on equal footing, and by extension of that they were beneficial to Pearce who could now perform as a cadet without fear of torture or death. Yes, he would still have to put up with racists and bigots, but that was something he was dealing with already just living in the South.
1964 North Carolina wasn't known for tolerance. Their epic intolerance extended beyond ostracizing Blacks, they'd ostracize anyone different. When a military academy is integrated with its first Black cadet it was only a matter of time before the full weight of Southern inhospitality would come down on his neck. To his credit he bore the name calling and the general abuse with dignity and honor (if bearing abuse can be done with dignity and honor). What I mean is that he opted to go into the belly of the beast knowing what was in store for him and he took it like a soldier. That is until he was kidnapped by "The Ten."
"The Ten" were supposedly ten of the finest cadets of the graduating class and their job was to make sure that all undesirables were weeded out. They used any and all methods including kidnap and torture. Cadet Pearce (Mark Breland) was earmarked for such treatment until cadet Will (David Keith) risked his own future to save him.
It was an incredible act of bravery even if it wasn't done for Pearce's sake necessarily. You see, Will didn't have a soft spot for oppressed Black folks and didn't particularly care if Pearce made it through the academy or not, but what he did care about was the integrity of the academy. The academy always professed such high morals, values, and ethics that should they allow something so underhanded and dirty as "The Ten" then the high morals, values, and ethics weren't worth more than the paper they were printed on.
So, Will's actions to expose "The Ten" were beneficial to everyone. They were beneficial to the academy--to give it real prestige--they were beneficial to all of the cadets because now they could all compete to belong on equal footing, and by extension of that they were beneficial to Pearce who could now perform as a cadet without fear of torture or death. Yes, he would still have to put up with racists and bigots, but that was something he was dealing with already just living in the South.