Lean On Me
When principal Joe Clark takes over decaying Eastside High School, he's faced with students wearing gang colors and graffiti-covered walls. Determined to do anything he must to turn the school around, he expels suspected drug dealers, padlocks doors and demands effort and results from students, staff and parents. Autocratic to a fault, this real-life educator put it all on the line. From TMDB
101 reactions from 2 sources (Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Sep 22, 2026 · last updated Oct 14, 2026 · How this works
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60 of 101 · most liked firstWatching 'Lean On Me', an incredible film where Morgan Freeman plays a fascist who screams "the enemy is here!" about the villain, a fire chief who wants to make sure the public school he runs is not locked from the outside
positive · AI labelView post →Just saw a comment about the movie "Lean On Me" with Morgan Freeman. They said "That mom was just pissed because she'd spent all that time trying to catch Carmen Sandiego and never managed to." I haven't laughed this hard in AGES! XD
neutral · AI labelView post →FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF played well with the kids, to no surprise. But far and away the film that really resonated with them this semester is LEAN ON ME. Fascinating.
positive · AI labelView post →Hollywood took notice. And there were few Black leading men back then. But he had five movies in the next two years, including “Lean on Me,” “Glory,” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” Boom. 52 years old and he’s a bonafide star. Because of the worst Superman movie.
neutral · AI labelView post →#LetterboxdFriday #lastfourwatched #FilmSky boxd.it/94Euv 1. The Broadway Melody – History made, patience tested 2. Lean on Me – Freeman lectures a brick wall 3. Vamp – ’80s neon trash with added teeth 4. Toni Erdmann – Dad jokes as psychological warfare
neutral · AI labelView post →Does anyone remember the movie "Lean On Me?" With Morgan Freeman as principal Joe Clark. Remember the opening scene when the teachers sell him out to the Union & he walks out the nice clean school & it slowly deteriorates into a hell hole? That has been the Democratic Party since 2016. Fuck Bernie
neutral · AI labelView post →remake of Lean On Me (1989) but at the end the fire marshall spends 20 minutes of screen time just tearing into the principal and explaining how dangerously stupid it was to lock the doors with chain and then the movie ends
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy 77th Heavenly Birthday to the massively underrated Lynne Thigpen, Tony-winning & Emmy-nominated film, television, and stage actress, famous for her distinctive voice and limitless talent in everything including GODSPELL, TOOTSIE, LEAN ON ME, and WHERE IN THE WORLD IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? and more.
neutral · AI labelView post →Protest in a Movie: Lean on Me (1989) “ Free Mr. Clark!!! Free Mr. Clark!!! Free Mr. Clark!!! “ #MorganFreeman #FilmSky #SeptemberMovieChallenge #Day17
neutral · AI labelView post →African American Role Model in a Movie: Lean on Me (1989) #FilmSky #AugustMovieChallenge #Day26
neutral · AI labelView post →Just watched the movie LEAN ON ME with Morgan Freeman. Haven't watched that movie in a long time I just Love Morgan Freeman he has made some Great movies🥰
positive · AI labelView post →a bunch of us are talking abt how batshit insane Black conservative propaganda the movie Lean on Me is and how crazy it was that we were all brainwashed with it as kids
negative · AI labelView post →Lean On Me. Some fantastic, fantastic acting in this film. youtu.be/TR9egElUTCw?...
positive · AI labelView post →Lean On Me. Quick and decisively. Garbage ass movie.
negative · AI labelView post →My Comfort Movies: New Jack City Juice Major Payne Addams Family Values Matilda Boyz N Da Hood Menace 2 Society Scary Movie 2 iRobot Life Equalizer Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Friday Forest Gump Lean On Me
neutral · AI labelView post →I was introduced to Tony Todd in the movie Lean on Me. What a career. He was in some bangers! Final Destination: Bloodlines had me crying when he appeared on screen. Those sequels won’t be the same without him.
neutral · AI labelView post →Choose 20 films that have stayed with you or influenced you. One film per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just gifs Day 12 #filmsky #movies #LeanOnMe
neutral · AI labelView post →Every teacher I know has a teacher movie they love. "Dangerous Minds", ""Lean on Me", "Stand and Deliver" or "Freedom Writers" are what I usually hear. My teacher movie is "Sunmer School". He just wants to connect with his students and is all about their growth.
neutral · AI labelView post →Both are used to describe something of inferior quality; the ultimate “bad.” Worse is often used in comparative situations: “Red Delicious apples are worse than Honey Crisp apples.” Worst is the general adjective: “Lean On Me was the worst movie Morgan Freeman ever acted in.”
neutral · AI labelView post →I wish Morgan Freeman's Joe Clark from LEAN ON ME was the guy driving Miss Daisy. Imagine this scene after Miss Daisy crashes her car at the beginning of the movie.
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight’s Tubi movie is Lean On Me. The world needs more Joe Clarks.
positive · AI labelView post →#MovieChallenge 2: Lean On Me. A film based on a “true story”. Morgan Freeman plays a fascistic head teacher who reforms a school from hell into a functioning institution. By all accounts it’s not that accurate and the real Joe Clarke is as reviled as he is lauded. It’s Rocky for schools. 6/10
neutral · AI labelView post →🎬 Our review of the recent "Lean on Me" Blu-ray! 🏫 This is a very impressive transfer with deep blacks and film-like grain, plus great fidelity in the DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. If you love Morgan Freeman and great looking 80s films - then this one's for you!! 💿 Buy link below! #PhysicalMedia #FilmSky
neutral · AI labelView post →Remember when blocking code officials in NJ was a major plot point in the 1980s movie Lean on Me? en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_on...
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm probably going to say "Lean on Me", for reasons that while the movie was based on a true story, I learned later the real Joe Clark had a lot of criticism re: his methods of discipline. I liked it because of the cast.
neutral · AI labelView post →My #LastFourFriday films: Lean on Me (1989) Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) Road House (2024) The Manchurian Candidate (2004) #filmsky #letterboxd
neutral · AI labelView post →Listen. Ask your nonacademic friends to name their professors. See who they recall. lol It’s doesn’t mean we aren’t important, but some of us want to be like the movie “Lean on Me” or something, and that’s not the job.
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy Basic Skills Test Day. And now, arguably the greatest singalong moment in cinematic history, from Lean on Me (1989). www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VmR...
neutral · AI labelView post →Coach Carter: I think you'd have a damn fine sports film if it wasnt so very clear your black movie is very anti-black (whiters am I right?!) One Lean on Me is enough...
neutral · AI labelView post →Next up: Lean On Me (1989) Based on a true story, it's a decent movie. youtube.com/watch?v=0MVj...
positive · AI labelView post →Blocking/locking the doors. Isn’t that what got the LEAN ON ME guy fired? I figured that movie was required viewing in Jersey.
unlabelledView post →Discovering “Lean on Me” a 1989 movie with Morgan Freeman. 10 minutes in and I’m already horrified. But it’s ok, Joe Clark is coming to the rescue! Ever seen this one? @jazzlikestogame.bsky.social @thatgrumpyscotsman.bsky.social ?
unlabelledView post →Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gof. Hard mode: no Star Wars or Trek, LOTR, or Marvel Lean on Me
unlabelledView post →Absolutely mind-blowing that from what I can see, not a single person said Morgan Freeman. Not only do you get the best film ever made, you also get Nolan's Batman, Gone Baby Gone, Million Dollar Baby, Unforgiven, Se7en, Glory, Daisy, Lean on Me, etc. My runner up would be Tom Cruise tho.
unlabelledView post →I fucking love Morgan Freeman especially in this flick. Lean on Me is the best! This is a perfect movie. For everyone who thinks Shawshank Redemption is his best or Se7en is his best, you're all wrong. His top 5 goes: (Continued)
unlabelledView post →I have to know; why Paterson, specifically? 😆 Things that I, a more or less lifelong resident of NJ know about Paterson: That movie Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman is about it. Good movie. RIP Lynne Thigpen, I loved her. They flood a lot. Like, a LOT.
unlabelledView post →Fun fact.The movie Lean on Me portrays Eastside High School in Paterson, NJ in the mid-80s. I was a teenager in Paterson, NJ in the mid-80's. This would have been my school and Joe Clark would have been my principal if I hadn't gone to a private Christian school. www.youtube.com/watch?v=evA9...
unlabelledView post →Post a favorite Black TV or movie MALE character. Post 1 per day for 10 days, in no particular order. No explanation, no review, just the Black MALE character, name & movie/TV show. Day Five Principal Joe Clark LEAN ON ME #BlackSky #BlackSkyOver30 #BlackSkyOver40 #BlackSkyOver50
unlabelledView post →Everytime I thought I had my lineup, another film got on my radar. This is tough! The Breakfast Club Who Framed Roger Rabbit Lean On Me ...I gotta add Poltergeist and Back to the Future. Sorry.
unlabelledView post →On the other hand, Rocky IV is objectively a bad movie. Short Circuit, Weird Science, The Goonies and Teen Wolf aren't really all that great, either. And I've never seen Lean On Me or The Evil Dead, so I have no opinion on them at all. Mask is a good movie but not one I come back to, or Big.
unlabelledView post →I will be at the gathering in Texas! Regarding Morgan Freeman’s fantastic movies, “Lean On Me”was one of his best and earliest. Mr. Freeman had the starring role as the principal of Eastside High. This movie was deemed the “feel good movie” of that year. Inspirational for secondary students!
unlabelledView post →An example of a movie I loved as a child but HATE as an adult: Lean On Me Absolutely horrid respectability politics victim blaming slop of a movie but the school song scene is still goated 🙂↕️
unlabelledView post →Great song. The movie Lean on Me introduced a new generation to it cbwrong.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...
unlabelledView post →#nfotd LEAN ON ME (1989) Side Note 📝: The great thing about watching a film this old, most of the crucial scenes that stand out to me, a first time viewer is usually already @ YouTube.
unlabelledView post →speaking of Lean On Me… top tier horror movie.
unlabelledView post →Neither here nor there, but I struggled for years with confusing that movie and Lean On Me. I think I'm past it now, but it took way too long
unlabelledView post →…and to my great fortune, he thinks the movie I was playing was LEAN ON ME, the inspiring movie about the high school principal who saves a school full of troubled teens. He told me he appreciated that I picked a movie like that, but that it was still Rated R and to tone it down next time. Whew.
unlabelledView post →You said that and the song Fair Eastside from the movie, Lean on Me with Morgan Freeman started running through my head.
unlabelledView post →They also made a movie about him, starring Morgan Freeman (Lean On Me).
unlabelledView post →Oh, he knew that. Trust. He just wanted to test the waters & see. LMFAO me, too 😅. The last time I seen it happen in a movie was “Lean On Me” 🤣.
unlabelledView post →The new ‘L’ jingle kicks ass and is very busy. The drummer is out of control. The movie lists are very interesting. A few I’ve never either seen or heard of. I will put ‘Lean On Me’ on my list. I expected you both saw ‘Last Tango in Paris’ and it didn’t make either list.
unlabelledView post →Lean on Me is my favorite movie of all time.
unlabelledView post →My favorite nostalgic movie to HATE is Lean On Me. Is it worse than that?
unlabelledView post →Shawshank can stay, Lean On Me can go FIRST. Came around to realize that whole movie is just respectability politics and I’m good bro
unlabelledView post →Movie #32 of 2025: Lean On Me (1989)
unlabelledView post →My ★★★½ review of Lean On Me on Letterboxd boxd.it/8VW12v
unlabelledView post →This song at the beginning of the movie Lean on Me, was some of the hardest shit I had ever experienced at the time.
unlabelledView post →Eating leftovers from yesterday and watching the movie Lean On Me.
unlabelledView post →I love the movie Lean On Me for reasons I can’t fully explain, but every time Lynne Thigpen comes on screen I yell “GUMSHOES!”
unlabelledView post →Literally don’t know how people ever answer this question 🙃. I make films and I cannot identify a single film that is my favorite. But idk: Wild Reeds, Pulp Fiction, The Celebration, all the HP films, E.T., Halloween, Lean On Me, Gummo, The Doom Generation, Dead Poets Society, Call Me By Your Name.
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