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Additional Helpful Background

Additional Discussion Questions:
      Subjects (Curriculum Topics)
      Social-Emotional Learning
            Alcohol & Drug Abuse
      Moral-Ethical Emphasis
            (Character Counts)

Additional Assignments

Other Sections:
      Bridges To Reading
      Links to the Internet
      Selected Awards & Cast

Helpful Background

The strengths of the film include: (1) Each of the three main characters wages a valiant battle against the vicissitudes of their lives. Trevor tries to solve the problems of his alcoholic mother and create the family he always wanted. Arlene, the mother, hits bottom and stops drinking. Mr. Simonet, the teacher, is a deeply injured individual who learns through love to open himself to others. Each role is an illuminating study in real character types. (2) The main characters all practice forgiveness in their personal relationships. (3) Trevor's response to his teacher's challenge is creative and genuine. It recognizes that we should go out of our way to help others and that when someone does something for us, we should return the favor to someone else, and give back more. It also acknowledges that people can make a difference in the lives of others.

Pay-it-forwardism is a concept with severe limitations. Its focus on helping individual people can cause one to lose sight of the fact that there may be many others with far greater needs. Emphasis on the satisfaction of doing the good deed can lead a person into danger, when calling for help or working through established and experienced agencies would be safer or more effective. An emphasis on three good deeds may distract from the truth that ethics is something we live every day in all aspects of our lives. An ethical life isn't built on just three actions.

The movie has several problems of its own that are distinct from the limitations of the pay-it-forward concept. First, the ending implies that Trevor and his effort to encourage morality are too good for this world and that we can't really "change our world" for the better. That's not true. People are changing the world for the better every day in ways large and small, dramatic and undramatic. Second, the movie doesn't clearly show the mother going to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings in her effort to become sober. (She is in fact in AA as the scene with her sponsor shows. But this is almost completely submerged in the film.) Few alcoholics can stay sober without the support of a twelve-step program such as AA.

A Critical Look at Situations in Which a Character in the Film Tries to Pay It Forward

Using common sense and standard concepts of ethics education, let's analyze some of the situations in the film in which a character tried to pay it forward.

    1.   Bringing a Homeless Man Home: Trevor invites a homeless man to eat, shower, and sleep at the house that Trevor shares with his mother. Trevor knew nothing about this man, called Jerry in the movie, except that he was homeless. It turned out that Jerry was a drug addict. That's not surprising. A significant number of homeless people are drug addicts. Drug addicts often steal to support their habit. They steal from anyone, including their best friends, their families, and people who try to help them. A drug addict trying to get money for a fix is a dangerous person. Trevor put himself and his mother at serious risk by inviting Jerry into the house. Trevor also made his mother and himself vulnerable to physical or sexual assault.

    The flaw in Trevor's decision was that he didn't think through how his actions affected his own values and those of the other stakeholders in his decision, such as his mother. Focused on paying it forward and being caring to Jerry, Trevor forgot to take care of his mother and to respect her value of having security and privacy in her home. This is a typical failing for a young teenager. A mature person might have realized that the decision to bring Jerry home involved a conflict among ethical values (caring for Jerry vs. caring for himself and his mother and respecting his mother's values of security and privacy). Trevor should have applied what we call The Rule of the Most Honoring Choice to help him sort out what he should do.

    Another flaw in Trevor's thinking was that in his rush to do a good deed, he failed to consider other, safer, more effective alternatives. Determining the effectiveness of a plan of action is an important element of any ethical decision. There were safer and more effective ways for Trevor to help the homeless. Certainly Las Vegas has people and agencies experienced in helping drug addicts and those on the street. Trevor could have volunteered to work for one of those agencies, compromising neither his own safety nor that of his mother.

    In the movie, Jerry didn't steal from Trevor or his mother, nor did Jerry hurt them, but that was sheer luck. It had more to do with Jerry's internal cycles and the fact that he wasn't desperate for a fix during that particular time.

    2.  Giving a Homeless Man Money for Clothing: Many homeless are addicts. When most addicts are given money, they use it to buy more drugs. The money ends up furthering their addiction, not helping them. Again, if Trevor had wanted to befriend and help a homeless person he should have worked through an established program with a proven track record. Ethical decisions are effective decisions and this action failed that test. At the very least he could have purchased the clothing and given it directly to Jerry.

    3.   Aiding and Abetting the Escape of a Criminal Fleeing the Police: Trevor's grandmother "pays it forward" by helping a thief flee from the police. Her actions fail the Golden Rule. What if someone had hurt or stolen from Trevor or her daughter? She also breaks the law and violating the ethical precept of responsibility. In addition, if asked, the grandmother certainly would not want everyone to help people fleeing from the police. Her actions fail the test of universality. The grandmother was an alcoholic and apparently high at the time. Alcohol not only dulls a person's reflexes but it impairs their ability to make judgments. Obviously, the grandmother's decision was not well-thought-out and cannot be condoned.

    4.   Giving a Jaguar to the Reporter: The reporter didn't need a Jaguar; he needed a ride and, at most, reimbursement for the deductible on his car insurance. Anything more was an unnecessary gift to the reporter's insurance company which had already figured the loss in its underwriting and had already collected premiums to cover that loss. If the owner of the Jaguar wanted to help people, he could have helped many more people who were much needier by giving the reporter a ride, paying his deductible, and selling the Jaguar. He could have used the extra money to fund a shelter for the homeless or to contribute to famine relief. Think of how many lives he would have been able to affect. In his rush to make the dramatic gesture of giving the car to the reporter, the lawyer ignored the values of these other stakeholders.

    5.  Shooting Up the Hospital to Get Care for a Girl Having an Asthma Attack: What about the risk that a ricochetting bullet would hit someone and kill or injure them? What about all the people frightened half to death by the shooting? In the rush to help one person, the man with the gun ignored the values of all the other people in the room. What about the law that prohibits these types of actions and his responsibility to obey those laws? There must have been a better way to draw attention to the plight of the asthmatic girl (effectiveness again). Or what of the gunman's duties to himself to keep his freedom and stay out of jail? Those are important values as well and he himself is a stakeholder.

    This scene plays into the fantasies of every person who has waited too long in an emergency room. It's well-acted, well-directed, and quite funny, but the shooter's method of paying-it-forward certainly shouldn't be emulated.

    6.  Trying to Help Mom by Setting Her Up with the Teacher/Trying to Help a Lonely Man Find Love with Trevor's Mom: "Paying-it-forward" is supposed to be motivated only by a desire to help another person. However, one of Trevor's "pay-it-forward" actions was primarily motivated by self-interest. Trevor wanted a real dad and an intact (or as close to intact as possible) family. He wanted someone in the home to protect his mother and himself from his alcoholic, abusive father. Trevor's actions are classic ploys by an unhappy child trying to fix his dysfunctional family. While he genuinely believed that his mother and Mr. Simonet would be happy together, his actions were not selfless. But then again, does every good deed have to be self-less?

    7.  Jerry Fixing Arlene's Truck. This was a good example of "paying-it-forward" except that Jerry should have told Arlene in advance. He almost got himself shot. On the other hand, it could be said that he was simply paying her back for Trevor's hospitality.

    8.  Jerry Convincing the Woman Not to Jump Off the Bridge. This also a good example of "paying-it-forward." It also makes the point that saving someone else's life might just start you on the road to saving your own, although there's always much more to saving your own life than helping someone else.

See TWM's article on Principled Decision Making -- How to Get the Results We Really Want, Maximize Our Strength and Power, and Be Proud of Our Actions.

Teachers may want to consider the following student handout as in-class or homework reading. Just clone the text onto a word processing document.


The world would be a better place if everyone had a personal goal of helping three other people in an important way. While the movie gets a bit carried away with itself, no claim is really made that "Pay It Forward" presents a complete ethical system. The following comments will be helpful in putting the pay-it-forward concept into perspective and deriving the most benefit from the movie.

1) A risk of paying it forward is that in an effort to help one person, you will put other stakeholders at risk of injury. (Examples are: Trevor, when he brought home a stranger and placed himself and his mother at risk; and the man who shot up the hospital emergency room to get care for the asthmatic girl, putting everyone else in the ER at risk from a ricocheting bullet and scaring them). In fact, in the movie "pay-it-forwardism" was used to justify wrongful conduct, e.g., Trevor's grandmother, when she aided and abetted the escape of a thief and when that man shot up the ER.

2) Paying it forward applied without a sense of balance can lead to helping someone beyond their real needs and ignoring the needs of other stakeholders. (Example: the lawyer who gave the Jaguar to the reporter; the reporter needed transportation home that night and perhaps it would have helped him pay the deductible on his insurance policy; he didn't need a new sports car; there were many people who had more urgent needs for the lawyer's charity than this reporter).

3) As with any good deed, an act of paying it forward can be at least partially self-serving rather than purely altruistic in that the actor seeks nothing more than a sense of accomplishment with all of the psychological benefits that such a feeling brings. (As Jerry said to the woman about to jump off of the bridge, "Have a cup of coffee with me. Save my life."). But this has dangers, because the actor's self-interest may influence his decision-making in such a way that the benefit is not as good as it appears and perhaps there's no benefit at all.

The pay-it-forward concept tells us that we can make a difference in the lives of others and it glorifies random acts of kindness. It tells us that when someone is kind to us, it's a good idea to repay mankind several times over by doing good things for others.


Additional Discussion Questions:

Continued from the Learning Guide...

4.  Describe two risks in focusing on paying it forward as a guide to acting ethically. Tell us how these can lead to unethical conduct and give examples from the film or from real life. Suggested Response: See IS "PAY IT FORWARD" A PRESCRIPTION FOR A BETTER WORLD?.

5.  Trevor died in an attempt to do a good deed. What does this tell you about paying-it-forward? Suggested Response: There may be risk to what you do. If you are trying to pay-it-forward, you need to calculate the risk and the effects on your loved ones and yourself if the risk comes to pass.

6.  Assume Trevor had lived. Can you see some problems in the future from Trevor's pay-it-forward act of getting his mother together with Mr. Simonet. What are they? Suggested Response: Any reasoned response will be acceptable. Here is an example, when Arlene and Simonet's relationship takes off, Trevor might feel left out and slighted. This will become acute if he is ever disciplined or punished by the two of them. He might think, "Hey, I got you two together. It's not fair for the two of you to gang up on me."

7.  Do you think about what is going on in the outside world when you are not in your social studies class? Tell us some of the things that you think about. Suggested Response: The desired response is that the students think about the world outside.

8.  What does the world expect of you? Suggested Response: There is no one right answer but a great answer would be, to live morally and leave the world a better place than it would have been had you not lived.

9.  Do you like what the world is? Describe three things about the world that inspire your and three things that disappoint you. Suggested Response: If the world is disappointing we need to work to change it.

Social-Emotional Learning Discussion Questions

Alcohol and Drug Abuse; Mother/Son; Families in Crisis;

1.  Arlene "hit bottom" when she slapped Trevor. What is "hitting bottom" and what is its significance in a person's battle against alcoholism? Suggested Response: "Hitting bottom" is the low point that some alcoholics reach before they become convinced that their life will be intolerable unless they stop drinking. For each person it's different. Some people don't hit bottom at all and their alcoholism eventually kills them.

2.  The movie fails to show one important part of Arlene's battle to stay sober. What was it? Suggested Response: The movie doesn't show Arlene attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings or some type of program. It's very difficult for alcoholics to stay sober without the support of a 12 step program such as AA. The daily AA meeting becomes a focus of their life. (We know that Arlene was in AA because she had a sponsor and the dialog contains references to several AA precepts. One example is that Arlene was not supposed to start a new romantic relationship until she had been sober for a year.)

3.  Could the family of Trevor and Arlene have healed itself while Arlene was drinking? Suggested Response: No. Trevor would have turned into a codependent or he would have left Arlene, emotionally or physically.

4.  What did you think of Mr. Simonet as a teacher? Suggested Response: He appeared to be able to inspire his students. At least he inspired Trevor.


5.  How did Mr. Simonet deal with his disabilities before he met Arlene? Suggested Response: He had carved out a safe place, a "thing I do every day. It's all I've ever known. It's routine. It's what I have. It's what I want." Until Trevor tried to get him together with Arlene, Mr. Simonet did not dare to try to have a relationship with a women or get involved with people on a personal basis.

6.  In this movie, what was the danger for Mr. Simonet? Suggested Response: See response to the preceding question. The risk was that he would not have allowed himself to reach out to Arlene or accept her advances due to fear of rejection.

Moral-Ethical Emphasis Discussion Questions (Character Counts)
(Teachwithmovies.com is a Character Counts "Six Pillars Partner"
and  usesThe Six Pillars of Character to organize ethical principles.)


1.  The following is a conversation from the movie Contact between characters David Drumlin and Ellie Arroway. It takes place after Arroway has told the truth about her lack of belief in a Supreme Being to the commission which was selecting the person to ride the space-time machine. Drumlin lied to the committee saying that he believed in a Supreme Being when he really didn't. Drumlin was selected to ride the space-time machine because it was felt that since most of the people on earth believed in a Supreme Being, mankind's representative should as well. The following exchange raises the question of the reason for ethics in the first place.

ELLIE: Funny; I've always believed that the world is what we make of it.

Suggested Response: Obviously, Arroway is right. Drumlin is arguing that the ends justify the means. Most people, religious and non-religious, base their ethics on an understanding that relationships and society work better when people take principled actions. These people agree with the Arroway character that life is what we make of it and they derive a sense of satisfaction by acting morally. Many of us act ethically because we feel good about ourselves when we do and bad about ourselves when we don't. Some religious people believe that a Supreme Being has prescribed ethical rules of conduct. Interestingly enough, the ethical principles in most cultures have many similarities. These "consensus" values have several formulations. TeachWithMovies.com uses the Six Pillars of Character.

See The Six Pillars of Character.

Additional Assignments:
  • Separate students into groups of three or four and assign each group one of the instances of pay-if-forwardism shown in the movie. Ask them to answer the question, "Was this an ethical action?" In the alternative, this task can be assigned as an essay topic.


Bridges to Reading:

The novel from which the movie was made, Pay it Forward, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, is fun to read for those who liked the movie. The story line is a bit different from the movie. Students can compare the characterizations, the examples of pay-it-forwardism, and the endings.

Links to the Internet:

Selected Awards, Cast and Director:

Selected Awards:

Featured Actors:  Kevin Spacey as Eugene Simonet; Helen Hunt as Arlene McKinney; Haley Joel Osment as Trevor McKinney; Jay Mohr as Chris Chandler; James Caviezel as Jerry; Jon Bon Jovi as Ricky McKinney; and Angie Dickinson as Grace.

Director:  Mimi Leader.



Many thanks to Elaine Portnoy and her teacher education class, "Building Language and Character through Film," at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) extension for a valuable discussion that caused us to rethink our approach to this film.

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