Film

Frontrunners

In Caroline Suh’s new documentary on student-body elections at Stuyvesant High School, perfection is the only option

by Brian Schimpf   |   Sep 27, 2008

Frontrunners

 

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Do you remember the class president races in high school? The cardboard posters with, “Peter for Prez’’ emblazoned in gold glitter? Accompanied by a picture of Peter, thumbs up, meant to convey a feeling of “I can get a Coke machine in the lunch room for you.’’

The main difference between that presidential campaign and the one we follow in Caroline Suh’s new documentary, Frontrunners, is that most high school-level campaigns don’t include televised debates and major newspaper endorsements. That’s because most of us didn’t attend Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, a school so competitive that it only accepts three percent of its 25,000 yearly applicants.

The movie’s four main characters’ campaigns seem to mirror what we, as Americans, are already seeing every day. No detail of the campaign process is spared, from making sure the candidates’ hair is perfect to demographic concerns to endless handshaking. The atmosphere of student-body elections at Stuyvesant can be summed up by this quote from the political comedy Primary Colors: “The only shot we have here is to be perfect.”