In 1966 the NCAA basketball championship game consisted of the accomplished four-time NCAA tournament winner, the University of Kentucky Wildcats, and a small southwestern institution in El Paso, home of the “progressive” Texas Western College Miners. During this epoch, racism was still thriving in the South as well as the collegiate education and athletic system. Unlike most institutions of the South, Texas Western experienced integration over a decade earlier and opportuned coach Don Haskins to recruit talented players, regardless of their skin color. The film Glory Road exemplifies the many hardships these student-athletes confronted on and off the court. Prior to becoming national champs, the Miners dealt with plenty of internal tension.
Introduction Marcus Dupree was a star high school football player who had a promising future in front of him. After being recruited by multiple universities and committed to the University of Oklahoma, he soon realized that he had made a mistake and started making bad choices. Thesis Describing experiences, and also stating the personal statements of Marcus Dupree and others in the documentary, injustice was done to Marcus Dupree but also to the head football coach of Oklahoma using “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a source lens. Early age Marcus Dupree was a young, gifted running back on his high school football team.
Growing up African American is introduced to a sport, hoping to stay fit and stay on a positive road to success. “Glory Road” is a 1966 movie based on Texas Western Basketball team, who was the first team in history to have an all black starting line up that, won the NCAA title against an all white team from University of Kentucky. There are several Blacks who are not athletes and there are several who are and love what they do, but do not want to be used just for their talent. “Glory Road” shows how African Americans are recognized for being an all-time athlete who takes their team to championships, but are not respected or given the chance from no one, but Don Haskins who was white and recruited them. If we live in a world where
As a child Davis started playing football and started making headlines as a young man. Scouts started lining up to talk to Davis during his senior year of high school. Coach Schwartzwalder and former player, Jim Brown went to Davis’s hometown to recruit him to play for Syracuse. As the documentary continues the audience gets the understanding that racism is present in colleges. Not very many college have allowed black players to play for their team no matter how much potential that individual has and what they will bring to the team.
Leaving last week’s class, my mind was darting in all sorts of directions. While the “Eyes on the Prize” excerpt gave me a concrete understanding of the historic events of the desegregation of Little Rock High School, “Little Rock Central High: 50 Years Later” brought up all sorts of observations and questions on race in America that I hadn’t necessarily thought to address before. I think these two films were particularly interesting to view back to back because of their difference in style, content, and execution. I have viewed many of the “Eyes on The Prize” segments in past classes and this segment, “Fighting Back”, continues to stand out to me. Through the use of first person interviews and real footage, the piece gave me, what felt like, a clear look
In 2015, HBO aired a six-part, true crime documentary series titled, The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. Writer and director, Andrew Jarecki, examined the details of three crimes associated with Durst, including the disappearance of Durst’s first wife Kathy, the murder of his dear friend, Susan, and the murder and dismemberment of his neighbor, Morris Black. While the mini-series was met with acclaim, many – including myself – criticize The Jinx for its storytelling approach. The series seemingly blurs the lines of storytelling – for entertainment purposes – and journalism; raising many questions regarding ethics. Initially, Durst approached Jarecki regarding an interview after he saw All Good Things, a film Jarecki had released
The novel ‘Jasper Jones’ written by Craig Silvey and the film ‘Dressmaker’ directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse have connected to the audience and use of narratives conventions in very similar ways. The ways that they have succeed doing this is through characteristics, plot and setting. By looking into how they are used by the author/ director widen the knowledge and have deeper in-depth understanding on how authors and directors use them to connect with the audience. The author and director have used characteristics to connect with the audience by using relatable situations like peer pressure, disliked by people, challenges and traumatic experiences.
The film 13th directed by Ava DuVernay targets an intended audience of the Media and the three branches of the United States government with an emphasis that mass incarceration is an extension of slavery. It is intended to inform viewers about the criminalization of African Americans and the United States prison boom. 13th uses rhetorical devices in its claim to persuade the viewers by using exemplum in the opening seconds of the film. President Barack Obama presents statistics, saying “the United States is home to 5% of the world’s population but is home to 25% of the world’s prisoners.” Also the film uses a hyperbole in talking about the movie Birth of a Nation produced in 1915 which portrays a black man as a violent savage who will kill white women.
Glory: Directed by Edward Zwick, Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, 1989. 122 Minutes Reviewed by Mike Edward Zwick’s Glory is a movie in which the balance between entertainment and history was perfectly managed. He uses the letters sent by contemporary Col. Robert G. Shaw to his wealthy family back in Massachusetts as the historical foundation of the movie while imagining conversations between characters. Through Col. Shaw’s eye, we are able to uncover the birth, the development, and the end of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first colored regiment fought in Civil War. Just like any other war movie, Glory has several battle scenes that were unpleasantly bloody, yet they managed to stay authentic.
Ethical challenges are of universal span; many people including police officers are confronted with the opportunities for violating organizational rules and norms daily. Most of the stories about police officers in the media, including Cops and Criminal Minds, are about respectable police officers, but the intense 2001 movie Training Day is not. Alonzo Harris, a veteran police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), is training Jake Hoyt, a rookie officer on his first day with the narcotics unit. Harris’ character is an example of police officers’ potential for corruption. For instance, when Harris misuses the police authority and uses some fake arrest warrant seizing millions of dollars from a former LAPD veteran, now an informant
The use of lighting and filters for colours is not just used for simple illumination but it is more meaningful. It helps to understand the characters and focus our attention on certain objects and actions. The colour can be used as a motif, an occurring manifestation in which the shades themselves become an important part of the story, reflecting emotions, altering situations and underlining scenes. (Bordwell, Thompson and Smith, n.d.)
Even where they appear as entirely nonpolitical, movies tend to inevitably have political messages. However, the notably evident aspect in numerous films is their tendencies to integrate liberal ideas. Using the film, Independence Day directed by Roland Emmerich, the current essay examines the themes related to conditions under which liberal ideals can influence elite policy-makers in achieving rational foreign policy decision-making. Several relevant themes are likely to emerge in films pointing towards the liberal tendencies or otherwise among elite policy-makers that contribute in promoting greater international experience. Even though in an indirect manner, it is common for American films to exhibit liberal ideals that are likely to provide
Steven Spielberg’s exhilarating film, The Post, is centered around The Washington Post, a family owned newspaper company, which is racing against the New York Times to exploit the wrongdoings of the U.S. government. It tells the story of the Pentagon Papers and how the Government hid these classified documents from the public along with the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War for three decades and four presidencies. This film stars Meryl Streep who takes on the role of Katherine Graham, Chief Publisher of the Washington Post after her husband passed away. Co-star Tom Hanks takes on the role of Ben Bradlee, executive editor of the paper. This film was directed by Steven Spielberg, an extremely talented director/producer for many well
“A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory.” Louis Zamperini dealt with bullies at a young age when his family moved from France to America. He began to get in trouble with the authorities, often running from them, but when his brother noticed he could run, his life changed. Zamperini joined the school track team and excelled, eventually moving on to the Olympics. However, in a twist of events, Zamperini joins the army and finds himself stranded at sea, then stuck in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp.
Breathless, originally titled ‘À bout de souffle’, made in 1960 is a movie about a small-time thief who steals a car and murders a policeman. The story is about authorities chasing him while he reunites with an American journalist and attempts to persuade her to run away with him to Italy. Jean-Luc Godard, the director of the movie often quotes, ‘To make a film, all you need is a girl and a gun.’, which is probably the inspiration behind this movie. Breathless was one of the movies that kicked off the French New Wave. Like several of his French New Wave members, Jean-Luc Godard started as a film critic, and wrote for the magazine ‘Cahiers du Cinema’ in the 1950s, when he was in his early 20s.