Set in the early Sixties, An Education show us how a young woman gets a much different education than she expected. Jenny is bright and has a wonderful future planned out for her. She'll be going to Oxford to study English. No doubt she'll have a great life after her education. It will require a bit of work, but she's clearly the cleverest girl in her class, so it shouldn't be a problem. But then she meets David.

David is older and far more worldly than the boys Jenny is used to. He says that he attended the school of life and didn't earn a very good degree. He is slick and charming and opens her eyes to things in life she never knew before—fine dining, art auctions, travel. He is able to charm Jenny's parents as well so they allow her to go places with David that they wouldn't ordinarily condone. David has the charisma of a con man, but never seems to have an ulterior motive behind his scheming. He is a fresh and exciting experience in a sixteen-year-old's life.

Jenny is at that age where the world is just beginning to open up before her. Her parents have been a bit controlling. Her father's view of education centers on pragmatic. You do what helps you achieve your ends (which in his mind is having a good living). He is the one who is pushing Jenny to go to Oxford because that will give her such an education. When David comes into her life with a world that is sophisticated and (better yet) fun, she begins to rebel against the plans her parents have made for her. Will she be willing to choose David's way over the education route she has been working toward? And what will the consequences be of such a choice?

The idea that comes to mind as I look back on this film is a line from the story of Adam and Eve: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal. . . . David brings temptation into Jenny's life. Like the serpent in Eden, he isn't crass about it. Indeed, while we start off thinking his main desire is probably to get into Jenny's pants, he is so easygoing and patient that we soon set that aside. There is no pressure on her to do anything. Rather David just shows her a life that can be hers now—a world that differs from the "go to school, get a job" world of her parents and teachers. She begins to see the future her parents have laid out as lifeless. She asks her teacher, "If we're all going to die when we graduate... why not have what fun we can now?"

But David does this tempting without malice. He is kind and gentle, but without understanding. He thinks "fun" is the measure by which life should be lived. David could be the poster child for Peter Pan Complex—he has never grown up. He fails to see that his actions have consequences—and, we discover, he has never learned from the errors he has made in the past. That is what makes his temptation so dangerous. He doesn't see that it may steal away a potential of an even better life than he imagines.

Just as in the biblical story of Eden, the real responsibility does not lie with the serpent. David may offer a temptation, but it will be Jenny who must choose whether she will set aside all she has worked for to follow that temptation—and if she does, how she will live her life.

Ah, those old stories from the Bible. They just seem to fit our lives so well.