| One big issue of sports, whether it is in real life or in books and movies, is the the portrayal of minorities. We have all heard and seen how race can play a part in sports. Just think about recently with Donovan McNabb saying that black quarterbacks get treated differently. Or remember how Gary Sheffield claimed earlier this year that Joe Torre treats the minority players differently than white players. It has always been a sensitive issue in sports, but chapter 11 in the Handbook points out how there has been some progress, at least in movies. Baker did a study in 2003 that found that relatively recent basketball films such as White Men Can't Jump, the Air up There and Above the Rim "emphasize the importance of interracial relationships." He also brought up Cool Runnings and the Rocky films by saying they portray positive relations between Black and White characters. At the same time, though, Baker and others have argued there is still a way to go. There is the movie Major League, in which a Cuban-born Black player "shaves his head clean with a hunting knife and communicates mostly by grunting and glaring." This shows how minorities can still be portrayed in typical, negative manners. My question is where do you think we are when it comes to portraying minorities in sports movies, and even books? I think Hollywood has made a move in the right direction, but the Major League example shows there is still room to go. The weird thing is that when I read about Major League I had never realized how negative that portrayal of the player really is. So, do you think race will always be an issue in sports movies, like it seems like it will always be in sports? Another question that comes up with sports movies and books is why do viewers get attached to these fictional characters. For example, when I went to see the final Rocky, why were people applauding and cheering like little children when Rocky Balboa was training for the fight, and then after his last fight? One theory that attempts to answer this is the disposition theory. According to this theory "viewers form opinions about characters depicted in fictional narratives as they process media messages." Basically, it is saying that the viewer will hope for a positive outcome for characters who have formed a positive disposition (the good guy). Viewers will experience either positive or negative feelings as the movie or book goes on, depending on the actions of the characters. An example the book uses is the movie For the Love of the Game. This movies follows the career of pitcher Billy Chapel to his final pitching appearance. Because we the viewers have seen all the main events in his life and career, we feel attached to him and want to see him succeed. There is still some debate about how much the disposition theory works in sports fiction, but what do you think about it? I had never thought about sports movie characters like this but I think it is true. This works with teams too, as you want to see the underdog teams in movies win at the end Are there any characters or teams in sports movies or books that you found yourself rooting for at the end, and why do you think that happened? Chapter 9 in "Media Sport" was all bout the evolution of sports heroes. It talks about how over time the media has gained power in molding our heroes, especially in sports. This relates to the disposition theory in a way because the movies are making certain characters into heroes, making viewers want to see them do well. Just like the media (newspapers, tv) can make athletes into stars, movie directors know how to make a certain character heroic. A prime example of this is with Rocky. His character, courage, and family values make him feel like the everyman. At the same time his good performances in big fights make him what is known as the "modern sports hero." Links: This is a link to a ESPN.com Page 2's list of the top 20 sports movies of all time. A list like this will always cause some debate. http://espn.go.com/page2/movies/s/top20/fulllist.html Always a classic: Rocky I, training scene. This shows his hard-working attitude, and definately makes the viewer want to see him succeed. http://youtube.com/watch?v=cavFoyYJwPQ |
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Sports fiction (books and movies) 2
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4 comments:
I apologize for being irrelevant to the course but I am currently taking an independent study regarding race and sports on the collegiate and professional level. With that said, I think it is very important that we realize how little we have evolved as a culture in regards to racial equality. This is absolutley flaunted when you think about sports. Especially in football and basketball, the racial makeup of professional athletes is overwhelmingly black. While sports have provided a great tool for cultural assimilation, we need to remember where they stand in the grand scheme of things. Professional sports is really the only lucrative career option that has blacks in america being even close to whites in socioeconomic class. More importantly, it is the white fans who are able to afford the season tickets and put these athletes on the pedastal. I'm not trying to throw the race card, but it almsot looks as if black athletes like Chad johnson and Gilbert Arenas are on stage entertaining a white audience; almost portraying and perpetuating their own stereotypes. The media (also run by mostly rich white people) are certainly not helping this situation. Trace back to last NFL season where Terrel Owens would get 20 minutes of ESPN Sportscenter coverage if he broke a nail. I'm not saying this is a problem that needs certain things to be fixed. What I will say however, is that there has not been nearly enough time so say that blacks are even close to being equal to whites in this country, and sports and sports media certainly help to create that illusion.
I completely agree with Mike with regards to women in sports literature and the fact that they are just no seen at all. However, one of my favorite movies is Love and Basketball and I think that it portrays women in sports really well. In the end, the woman in the movie actually succeeds in the sports world more than the man does. Concerning Ron’s post I agree that the race issue is usually always played. However, baseball is a white man’s sport and football is predominately black people. I think Donovan McNabb is a big woman and needs to get some class before he starts throwing around the race card. I also think that Latinos and Asians are currently growing as sports stars. I do think in future movies that will be shown; however, I think that in our society people don’t want to accept Julio Lugo as the star of a baseball team. Cool Runnings is a great movie because it breaks down the color barrier and is fun to watch, and who doesn’t like singing the Jamaican Bobsled team. An example of the underdog winning is actually my favorite sports movie – Miracle. I feel like it gives people so much hope that and it is a microcosm for what was going on in the world at that time. In one of the links that Ron posted he added that lists like that always cause debate and I don’t really like that list at all…I think its completely geared towards men from the 1950s. Really annoying list. No offense Ron haha.
I think a major reason why race in sports plays such a huge role in movies is because it is true and we do have racial issues when it comes to sports. McNaab, even though I hate to admit it is a huge example. Yes maybe he is being criticized but lets be serious...McNaab better step it up or Philly fans will start booing when he walks out to the field (myself included, haha). I mean who can blame them? McNaab just sucks in general right now and it has nothing to do with him being African American. Many black men are loved and respected in the NFL and all other leagues; it has nothing to do with the race in these days.
Moving away from McNaab and onto movies. There are so many great sports movies out there it is truly difficult to just pick one great movie. A sports movie draws emotion and excitement from the audience. I can honestly say that some of the best movies out there are sports movies. They make people believe that anything is possible. Comparing movies to actual sports is sometimes difficult because we hardly ever see a fairytale being reported on ESPN, it’s just not what ESPN is there for. I sometimes think that some success stories are overlooked and perhaps should be reported on more often than they are. Professional sports are all about the money and no one really is looking for the small town success story because it's not making them money. So one would have to ask themselves a simple question...where does the true love of sports exist today?
There is definite inequality in the portrayal of minorities in sports movies/books, however I agree that Hollywood especially has made strides over the years to equal out the roles. I’m sure that has a lot to do with the higher amount of successful and somewhat influential minority figures in Hollywood today, i.e. Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry. However, as stated in this article I found on Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/108413/hollywood_history_how_hollywood_treats.html?page=2) Hollywood does not create American ideology, nor does it create biases, it simply reproduces them as reflection of our society in the form of profitable entertainment. This goes for sexism, racism, and all other inequality issues that do exist in our society. As for minority characters in films, sports related or otherwise, the article suggests that minority characters “rarely bring any natural ethnic concerns with them as they attempt to help out the white characters with his or her problems.” The more I thought about this statement, the more examples I thought up making it very true to a lot of films.
I have not read very many sports books, but I do watch a lot of sports films. My favorite sports film is hands-down Rudy. Looking at the characters in that film, minorities were present, but definitely overshadowed by white heroic figures and the background story of a white middle-class American family. Granted the movie was based on true events, but even if the story was fictional, do you think Rudy would have been a black college hopeful trying to get into Notre Dame and play football for them? I don’t think so. However now, I see a lot more minority representation in films about the sports that have become very much dominated by minorities. Remember the Titans, another great film, has many minority characters that are favored and portrayed as heroes. Characters like Coach Boone, Julius, Petey, are all representative of morale and equality among a group of interracial athletes. If nothing else, this movie definitely stresses Bakers argument on the importance of positive portrayal of interracial relationships in sports fiction. However I do agree that our society has a long way to go with improving the perception of these relationships, and in turn, hopefully Hollywood will adjust their influential portrayal of them as well.
As for viewers getting attached to fictional sports figures in these movies, I think that is also a reflection on the way our society views actual sports figures today. Athletes are idolized in our society, so it is of no surprise to me that viewers of Rocky movies fall in love with his character and show so much emotion and attachment to the character when watching the film. I swear that the die-hard fans of the Rocky series don’t even know that Sylvester Stallone exists; he is Rocky Balboa to them. The disposition theory of viewers forming opinions of fictional characters as they process media messages makes a lot of sense to me. Think of how these films and the characters featured in them are advertised: as real people in real situations with real feelings. Everything appears to be based on a true story, it’s what Hollywood does. In sports films, there is most often a heroic character that creates positive disposition of themselves as a “good guy,” so viewers root for their success and become attached to their character.
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