The poem appears in the 1989 American film Dead Poets Society. John Keating (played by Robin Williams), an English teacher at the Welton Academy boarding school, introduces his students to the poem in their first class. Keating is later fired from the school. As Keating returns to collect his belongings, the students stand on their desks and address Keating as "O Captain! My Captain!" The use of "My Captain" in the film is considered "ironic" by UCLA literature professor Michael C. Cohen because the students are taking a stand against "repressive conformity" but using a poem intentionally written to be conventional.