Nerds That Geek Documentary Review – ‘The Turning Point: To Be Destroyed’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Key Art for ‘The Turning Point: To Be Destroyed’ Courtesy of MSNBC Films.

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the documentary feature, ‘The Turning Point: To Be Destroyed’.
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There was a time in the United States of America, where education… was open and free. Where teachers could assemble an impactful and poignant curriculum that would reach their students and properly teach them about the world and its workings, and the end result of that, was wondrous. Since so many of us, walked out of school feeling as though we better understood the complex world ahead and we outright used those lessons in our everyday life, alongside the ones our parent’s taught us, to become the person we are today. But over the past few years, something has changed in American schools.  

Suddenly, there is this surge of concern from parents who claim, that the very lessons they went through… are harming children. That they are somehow corrupting fresh young minds and pushing them in directions that are unsavory, and that’s led to something we only read about in school, in cautionary tales no less; book banning. Oh, and their subsequent destruction in some cases as well. Which has baffled so many of us because we all thought Fahrenheit 451 was fiction. But somehow, it’s here, and we don’t understand why or how we combat it so kids can learn in peace and well, a brand-new documentary on MSNBC that debuted last night, harbors much of the answers we seek. For The Turning Point: To Be Destroyed, takes us into a unique battle that recently took place in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Wherein a newly elected schoolboard, decided that five books, were to be banned from all English classes in the district, and in addition to that ban… be pulled from the shelves and labeled and processed for destruction. A stunning move that immediately divided the town. For so many didn’t understand why knowledge had to be limited based upon the subject matter of a book, not to mention… it was difficult to understand how this was happening in a heartland school, an American school. Where the values of the Constitution, such as free speech, were expected to be honored on a regular basis. And this documentary chronicles how this came to pass, the fight to end that kind of censorship, how the right side won and how one of the banned book’s authors, Dave Eggers, who wrote, The Circle, made it a personal quest to ensure this problem was spotlighted and that those books were available to so many.

But while that story is indeed fascinating and indeed powerful, since it speaks deeply to the divide that is now present in America, it is how this happened and how it is happening around the nation that truly allows for this documentary to shine. Because it outright exposes the fact, that schools, a place made for independent thought, and the desire for one to seek out knowledge from all the sides and angles available, have become politicized. For special interest groups stepped into the Rapid City school board election and basically introduced an ultra-conservative, MAGA agenda, into the election, and used fearmongering and the like to get hold of the board and instill the changes they saw fit.

Which is… a terrifying revelation to say the least. One that speaks to how the loudest voices in the room demand their agenda and beliefs be imparted upon children and young minds and that is frightening to say the least. But thankfully, there was mention of a happy ending, one that showcased that eventually, the right school board was assembled, and that in turn… speaks to how we combat this in our own town if it comes to our city limits. In that, we must be vigilant and involved in our school systems, and really understand who is running for the board and why. So that we can perhaps quell this before it begins. And if by chance, this kind of situation takes place, we must remain steadfast, and fight hard to counter what they want.

For these kinds of individuals will use shock and awe to move swiftly and hope that compliance immediately follows because, what’s done is done. But if we speak up, push back and call these folks to the carpet, change will be inspired and that’s lovely advice that can be applied elsewhere and that makes this, a powerful documentary. One that truly explores how politics are poisonous to our schools and why our schools need all the support they can get. So, they can remain factories of thought and imagination, so that perhaps the next generation, will inspire an end to the divides as we’ve always hoped, and it is wonderful to see a documentary out there that finally exposes this mess, and how it can quickly become a scary, yet temporary problem, if we worry about the children over red vs. blue.

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