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Undefeated Film Analysis

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UNDEFEATED – “it’s not just about the sport”
Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin’s Undefeated, released in 2012 has become a global phenomenon. The Academy Award winning documentary follows the story of the doomed-to-fail Manassas football team and many of the students’ senior year. It is their last chance to redeem their team, and to ever have a chance to play again. My own experience of the film was obviously influenced by filmic techniques, but also by personal factors unique to me. In particular my family experiences, training in media literacy and attitude towards American Films influenced my unique response to Undefeated. Furthermore, those factors are the reasons I believe, under the guise of telling the truth, documentaries only entertain us with lies.
My family experiences had a significant influence on my experience of Undefeated. The ever inspirational coach, Bill, is seen as completely selfless throughout the film, and …show more content…

Many American movies are produced on a superficial level to entertain an uneducated broad mass and do not necessarily induce critical thinking. There appears to be a trend towards sports topics used as the generic ‘mask’ for inspirational films, implying that it is “not just about the sport”. The target audience of this film is clearly the American public. As an Australian with European Heritage and little to no relations (WC) towards American Football, I struggle to comply and embrace the Elements in this film. So many hours spent wasted watching “American” cliché movies, awakened in me strong dislike towards generic “American” flicks. Undefeated has many twin movies, to name a few, “We could be King,” “Hoop Dreams,” “The Blind Side,” “Invincible,” (etc.) Specific Elements of this Documentary were blatantly suited to the very common/generic way that American movies tend to turn out. (SCENIC ELEMENTS

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