Hoop Dreams

Introduction

1. ‘Hoop Dreams’ gives an account of two African-American teenagers who struggles in life. Gates and Agee strive to achieve their dream of joining the National Basketball Association despite their poor socioeconomic status (Bruton, 2017). The teenagers come from a poor background   and environment which is characterized by unemployment, low wage jobs, drugs and violence.  This is an important film which reveals the race and challenges met by minorities in U.S.  The teenagers believe that they have an opportunity to create a bright future through sports but the film shows that their desire to join NBA is not an opportunity but it is an obligation. The film plays an important role of revealing an important theme other than basketball glory.  It reveals the life of Black American in the American society and how they strive to achieve their dreams despite various challenges which hinder success such as class and race.  Relating the movie with sociology, the reader is able to see the living conditions and desperate situations which bring disastrous consequences to Black Americans (Bruton, 2017).

 

1. The film reflects African American’s life and unique ability which is portrayed by William and Arthur. The film is presented in a way that the two teenagers live in an isolated world surrounded by neighborhood with many housing projects (Press & Barkley, 1996).  The author’s point of view is focused on the two teenagers   and captures all their action to fulfill his intention.  Many occurrences in the film play a significant role in developing the story and help the reader gain a deep understanding. For example, William and Arthur react joyously while watching NBA All-Star game and their desire to play in the NBA.  Later, they join St. Joseph’s Catholic school where they face challenges such as walking a long distance and inequality in education between white and Black people.  In the film, the author intends to reveal the struggle and courage which Black people face in U.S. The film tends to reveal the race and social structure especially on Black community (Press & Barkley, 1996). Close-up shots help the audience capture the real message of the film which mainly addresses the struggle of poor neighborhoods compared with wealthier neighborhoods.  Music presents racism and this is portrayed when Arthur is listening to songs describing black people as ‘apes’. The substantive points which the author makes is that poor people in American have limited opportunities which are rooted from deindustrialization. The latter emerged after post-World War which brought economic changes. This made ethic group in U.S to suffer from disproportionately in terms of lack of employment, lack of education, and low wages among other social issues (Press & Barkley, 1996).  This is clearly presented in the film when the father to the teenagers was laid off and looked for other alternatives to sustain his family.  In fact poverty among the minority is due to class division.  Note that William and Arthur have a bright future and are willing to fight poverty through available opportunities.
2. In the film, the author uses popular culture to construct the movie and to clearly allow the audience captures the real picture being portrayed. Normally, popular culture creates categorical distinctions. In other words, popular culture is portrayed in the character with respect to the cultural practices they engage in. Popular culture in the film creates social-culture patterns- the culture is used to shape social dynamics (Carnoy, 1994). In constructing the film, the author presents William and Arthur in a scenario where they are creating an identity. The film presents a popular culture through the way the teenagers struggle to achieve goals despite the challenges. However, they are unable to succeed due to poor education and poor living standards which hinder their ability in making an identity.  In this case, popular culture play a significant role as it allows the audience reflects   on the America culture as well as stereotype.   William and Arthur strive to achieve their dream but they are hindered by racial discrimination (Carnoy, 1994). America is country which is divided between whites and nonwhites.  Minorities, including students are discriminates in socioeconomic opportunities, education and more.  Popular culture is presented in a way that American society has limited the opportunity of Black people despite their effort to deal with socioeconomic disadvantage. The society portrays blocked opportunities toward Black people and they are unable to succeed in life. The film also reveals how Black people struggle with social class which hinders their success in life. Class conflict has developed violence, poor condition in the place of work, coercion among other (Carnoy, 1994).  

 

1. In the film, the author employs sociological cultural concepts which allow the audience gets the real message in the film. For example, social organization plays an important role in developing the story. In this case, the education institution where William and Arthur join hinders their success (Carnoy, 1994). Despite the fact that both teenagers have an ambition and endure hardship, the school increases the amount of money and the teenagers are forced to pay the extra money. Indeed, the   education institution fails to support Arthur since he is not a star material as they expected.  Racial discrimination is a sociological concept in the film and this is a challenge that hinders achievement. African American children lack education opportunities due to the social class. For example, Arthur was denied the opportunities despite the fact that he had the ability to play basketball. The film presents a social structure and social life (Carnoy, 1994).The two teenagers come from a poor background where they struggle with life to achieve their goals. In many films, Black people are portrayed as poor and the root cause of poverty is political and socioeconomic disadvantage. The family suffers from economic instability despite their hard work and struggle. Inequality is also a sociological concept which makes the two teenagers fail to accomplish their goals in joining NBA.  They end up playing basketball in college rather than joining NBA as they wished. In addition, White students are professional athletics compared with Black students. The root cause of the difference is stereotype which is associated with to poor living standards (Carnoy, 1994).

 

1. The film has provided a major important strength in that the story is real and the audience derives important lesson based on struggling to achieve the dream despite challenges. William and Arthur face racial discrimination and denial of opportunities but these does not make them quite from achieving their dreams. Even though their dreams end up unreleased, they are move on with life to ensure they have accomplished their set goals. The author shows that the men are able to cope with family poverty, violence, physical injuries among many. However, the film has weakness in that the author uses high school students to reveal the racial discrimination and social class in America (Press & Barkley, 1996).

 

1. ‘Hoop dream’ and ‘A Raisin in the sun’ have similar popular culture concepts. For example, Mr. Linder in the ‘A Raisin in the sun’ film portrays racial discrimination which Black people face in American society. Minorities face challenges rooted from socioeconomic disadvantages and this makes then unable to achieve their dreams. The film also reveals race and racism in American society and how Black people struggle to gain justice in the society. Similar themes are presented in the ‘hoop dream’ where William and Arthur have to endure challenges in order to move on with life. They face racial discrimination and poverty, and they are denied opportunities to shape their life and create a bright future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

 

Carnoy, M. (1994).  Faded dreams: The politics and economics of race in America. Cambridge u.a:

Cambridge Univ.

 

Press.Joravsky, B., & Barkley, C. (1996). Hoop dreams: A true story of hardship and triumph. HarperCollinsPublishers

 

Bruton Daniel. (2017). Hoop Dreams 1994 Full Movie. Retrieve from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mo2byncsO4