What a 1969 film about fascism reveals about modern campuses and Jewish self-determination

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie remains disturbingly relevant more than half a century after its release—not because it depicts fascism, but because it anatomizes how charismatic educators convert moral certainty into intellectual obedience, a pattern increasingly visible across Western universities today.

Set in 1930s Edinburgh, the film is not merely a character study or a period piece. It is a warning about what happens when education ceases to cultivate judgment and instead rewards allegiance. At its center stands Jean Brodie, brought to life with extraordinary discipline and nuance by Maggie Smith whose Academy Award–winning performance endures precisely because it refuses caricature.

Smith’s Miss Brodie is intelligent, cultured, magnetic, and utterly convinced of her own moral authority. She does not merely teach; she selects. Her inner circle of girls—her “set”—are groomed to believe themselves elevated above their peers, entrusted with truths denied to lesser minds. Indoctrination here is not imposed through force, but through intimacy: praise, aesthetic refinement, and the intoxicating promise of belonging to a chosen few.

Smith’s genius lies in her restraint. She gives the audience no sneer, no hysteria, no theatrical cruelty. Brodie’s danger emerges instead through elegance, composure, and certainty. This is precisely why the performance endures. If Miss Brodie were grotesque, she would be dismissible. Because........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)