Narrative Formula(sport film) - Admission/Application Essay Example

?It is oftentimes the case that individuals outside the United s view American film as particularly comical. This is neither due to the fact that American film is not understood by these individuals nor due to the fact that the films in question are intended to be comical. Rather, a differential and culture and the unique way through which Hollywood and representations of Americanism and reality are depicted within the film leads many individuals to come to the conclusion that American film is a gross over exaggeration and misinterpretation of the way in which life truly exists. Naturally, it will not be the intent of this author, nor indeed of this paper, to argue for the fact that film is by very definition and imaginative portal through which a greater level of human understanding can be achieved. However, the particular focus of this brief analysis will be contingent upon comparing and contrasting two different films which use as their main plot line a focus upon American sporting and the means through which this serves as a microcosm of understanding for a uniquely American experience. As a means of differentiating and defining this broad categorical approach, the analysis will use to films from different genres. The first of these is with regards to the 1986 drama starring Gene Hackman and entitled “Hoosiers”. The second will be a comedy which was only recently released within the year 2009 and entitled “the winning season”. Whereas it would of course be easy to compare to films within the same genre that dealt with a similar subject matter, it is the belief of this author that an even more compound and forceful argument for the similarity in the American interpretation of life and the experience that sports provides would be more powerfully demonstrated through movies dealing with similar plot yet within different genres. Firstly, with regards to the 1986 film, “Hoosiers”, the first two thirds of the entire movie represent one particular analysis of the situation. As such, Hackman’s character is presented as a down on his luck has been, suffering from a severe form of alcoholism, that has been given a second chance by the school principal. As such, it is Hackman’s task to revitalize and ailing basketball program that only truly has one star player; one who is recently decided to leave the program. Further levels of pessimism and hopelessness are peeled back through the successive scenes of the film. Hackman is portrayed as an individual that is seemingly making a logical choices; benching players, reducing the overall number of individuals on the team, reaching out to those who had never played the sport before, and instituting a rigorous and unpopular series of practices in order to shape the team into something he views as potentially successful. Whereas all of these actions are taking place within the vacuum of Hackman’s own determination of what defines success, the parents, and stakeholders within the community, begin to increasingly question these tactics; as do some of the basketball players on the team itself. Unperturbed by these, Hackman continues within his course of what can only be defined as boneheaded optimist. As is somewhat predictable, at least within the current era, Hackman’s character experiences a pivotal moment at that such a time as when his techniques and tenure at the school are within a hair’s breadth of being dashed. Although the movie received a rave reviews and was the subject of many different awards, the means through which Hackman’s character is saved by the emergence of the star player and his commitment to only play for Hackman’s team if Hackman’s character retains his position as head coach revealed a particularly campy and predictable interpretation of snatching victory from the jaws of imminent pessimism and defeat. Not dissimilarly, the 2009, the entitled “the winning season” portrays and eerily similar plot line. A divorced dead beat dad, estranged from his family, utilizes the friendship of the high school principal to land is something of a last chance job as the coach of a varsity girls volleyball team. The majority of the movie is concentric around the difficulties and hardships that the head coach faces with regards to forming a winning team out of a rather disjointed cadre of students. Predictably, just as with the Hackman film which was previously discussed, the experience itself not only help to develop team into one that could win volleyball games, it also allowed for a degree of personal improvement and life growth with respect to the league coach and his prior failures with regards to his own life (Rodesiler 75). The idyllic interpretation of the way in which sports and the competitive process in general helps to define and congeal and interpretation of the American experience is not only were evidenced within these two films. Rather, it is equally evidenced within nearly every aspect of the current society. Rather than turning a film analysis into a diatribe with regards to sociology and the means through which individuals interpret themselves, it must be understood that they’ll is a microcosm of this sociological interpretation of the American experience. Moreover, the personal growth that is experienced by the head coach, in both films, servers to be something of a thinly veiled object lesson that the adversity and hardship that the team faces is representative of the adversity and hardship that the individual coach faces; a type of adversity that should not be given to hopelessness or pessimism due to the fact that the mutual benefit derived by both parties, as exhibited within the films, can allow for success to be attained in the end of all things. Once again, an overtly idyllic and quintessentially American interpretation of the way in which hardship should be overcome and integrated with is represented in both films; as well as many of the other films produced by Hollywood in recent years dealing specifically with sport-related plot lines. The similarities between these two films is not only indicative of a single instance; rather, it is indicative of the fact that American interpretation of life is generally associated with an overly idyllic and optimistic interpretation of the way in which victory can ultimately be snatched from the jaws of defeat at any moment. Rather than ridiculing this particular notion, this analysis focuses upon the degree and extent to which the similarity between genres, even far separated by several decades, is represented with regards to the ultimate plot lines that they engaged. In this way, a distinct level of interpretation can be made, not only with regards the way in which Hollywood has grown and evolved over the past several decades, but also with regards to the way in which the American experience, although differentiated by a number of factors, it is still ultimately believed to be contingent upon the core beliefs that are presented within such films. With regards to a visual interpretation of the similar plot line which is been discussed, it must be understood that although this identifies Hollywood as promoting a particular vision of the American experience, and indeed of life and the sporting world, it also is indicative of a fairly predictable pattern in such movies. The sports film, prior to the era of “Hoosiers”, was something that was almost unheard of. However, due to the way in which such films resonated with the populace, such a plot line became increasingly popular and had the impact of encouraging further films within the genre. Not surprisingly, the market has been somewhat flooded of late with a litany of different films concerning an individual down on their luck, integrating with a particular sports team that has a losing record, experiencing a number of drawbacks and defeats and somehow ultimately going on to win some type of championship or consolation for their efforts. Rather than proving that this particular interpretation of the American ideal and/or the American experience is somehow directly linked to the way in which Hollywood interprets society, the viability and financial success of such movies only serves to compound the proof that such films resonate with the populace as a whole. Once again, in tying the conclusion back to the statements which were made within the beginning of the introduction, this is a uniquely American interpretation and an experience that resonates the most with a domestic audience. Even a cursory review of the financial success of such films indicates that the international success is extraordinarily limited, if allowed to exist at all due to the fact that many times these releases are restricted to domestic markets only. Such a response is invariably engaged due to the fact that the individuals responsible for creating the plot and distributing the films are intimately aware of the fact that foreign audiences will not identify with such an idyllic and overly optimistic view of the way in which the world actually operates. Work Cited Rodesiler, Luke. "More Than A GAME." Screen Education 64 (2012): 72-78. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 23 Sept. 2013. Read More