SP #13: Hoop Dreams and Sports Movies

Today, athletes in America are constantly being put on a pedestal.  No matter your age, sports are important to to parents, teachers, friends, coaches and family, but even more so when you have a special talent.  Many movies in todays society that carry a sports theme are portrayed in a manner that is very different from real life.  Basketball movies especially seem to portray certain types of people in a different light.  Movies such as Coach Carter, Remember the Titans, White Men Can't Jump, and  Jerry Mcguire are all movies that take real life scenarios and turn them into movies.  The movie Hoop Dreams, although, is an exception to this.  Hoop Dreams was originally conceived to be a 30 minute documentary about two inner-city chicago African Americans who had dreams of making it big in the NBA.  The difference between Hoop Dreams and the rest of the movies I listed, is that Hoop Dreams is completely fabrication free.  Movies like Coach Carter, White Men Can't Jump, and Remember the Titans are all the same.  They depict a group of athletes, mostly African Americans, who dream to play their sports with great success, end up struggling to the point of almost hitting rock bottom, and then pull themselves together, work harder than ever before, and end up winning the championship and celebrating into the night.  Hoop Dreams follows the same athletes, but shows their real struggles.  It shows one of the boys getting kicked out of his high school because he was falling behind in class.  Even though they brought him to the mostly white school to play basketball, they allowed him to fail and then kicked him out.  Hoop Dreams shows the real struggle of dealing with family in hard times.  Hoop Dreams follows the two stars of the movie from their beginning to their end.  The two players do not end up reaching their dreams of being NBA stars, but they do both end up succeeding, which i almost think is a better message to kids then letting them watch the movies in which the protagonists always reach the 'final game' or 'make it big'.  Arthur Agee from Hoop Dreams ended up launching a foundation promoting high education in the inner city where he was born, and also started a clothing line called "Hoop Dreams'.  The older of the two, William Gates, played college basketball and helped Michael Jordan train at one point, but overall, did not make it big in the NBA.  He instead received his Bible Degree from Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

Gender Sports Commercial

For this post, I decided to choose a commercial shot by Nike, in which they titled "Voices"; it can be seen HERE.  

I remember seeing this commercial on TV a few times, and I remember it resonated with me.  Even though I am a male, the faces and voices of these female athletes and how the commercial is filmed is truly amazing.  The commercial begins with close-ups of female athletes speaking directly into the camera.  The four featured athletes are Joan Benoit Samuelson, an American marathon runner and Olympic gold medal winner; Marlen Esparza, an American boxer and Olympic qualifier; and finally Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi, both WNBA stars. 

The women each begin by describing some of the hardships of playing their favorite sports and chasing their dreams.  Samuelson, the marathon runner, says in the beginning "when I was growing up, girls just didn't run in public." Some of the other opening statements were "no one on my all boys team would pass to me", "Dad told me I couldn't be a boxer, he said I was too small."  A few more of these hardships are stated, all while showing representations of these athletes as kids, who are in fact young girls chasing the same dreams that these women chased years ago, but in a more accepting world.  

This commercial is reflecting on the many challenges female athletes had to face in past generations, but still reminds us about the challenges female athletes need to face now.  These are incredible athletes who have achieved greatness in their mind and the publics.  These athletes had to not only achieve greatness, but do it with backlash.  These girls are reminded to "play by your own rules".  The film continues with one of the athletes saying "One day I just said it doesn't matter what other people think....I'm a fashion model who can dunk...I'm a girl, that doesn't mean I have to wear a skirt".  This is the girls breaking out of their shell and proving that they can do anything men can, even if they are women.  It is women taking a stand, and proving that they should follow their dreams, no matter what they are.  The commercial comes to an end, taking a 5 second pause in the voices to just show the images of the little girls, looking tough, brave and proud to be on the field.  The last girl they show is the one representing Diana Taurasi, who touchingly says into the camera, "I just want to play ball."

I love what Nike did with the commercial.  It was able to grab my attention at the very beginning hold it the whole time.  This was released on the 40th anniversary of Title IX (2012) to celebrate how far women have come in pursuing their sport and following their dreams. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ighxU1vYw