Questions regarding the proper role of the arts in education have occupied many thinkers throughout the ages, no less than the likes of Plato and Rousseau. Like them, several have argued that paintings, for example, are mere re-presentations of and certainly not, to borrow a term from Kant, the "thing-in-itself." From a Platonic and Rousseauian perspective, those who behold images and conclude that the "thing-in-itself" (on all occasions) and its rendition on canvas in sundry lines and colors are indistinguishable would be led astray from the truth in pursuit of shadows, or would contribute to the moral collapse of the polis. In this article, the author proposes to employ film to release the imaginations of preservice teachers. More precisely, the author rejects Plato's claim that art is imitation of what "is." The author explains why professors of education should help preservice teachers to develop their skills and capacities to support the rational analysis regarding the "reminiscences of the suffering and . . . complaints" of the downtrodden, lest the latter's future students assimilate images uncritically at their peril. (Contains 50 notes.)