Racism in Finding Forrester - Essay Example

Racism in "Finding Forrester" "Finding Forrester" has elements race, ethni and stereotyping and even gender inequality that are featured invariably in the various threads of the story as the director, Gus Van Sant would relate the 2000 movie. The film tries to reproduce what obtains in society in as close to reality as possible. Starting with sociological perspectives, this paper gives a synopsis of the film, progresses on to the story in selective perception mode and picks on incidents of the story featuring these sociological terms with an insight of what happened. Synopsis In a gritty New York neighborhood, a shadowy but perpetually unseen figure appears behind thin curtains. Rumors abound regarding The Window's identity and story, prompting African-American Jamal Wallace (Robert Brown) to accept a dare to infiltrate The Window's apartment and bring something out. Jamal is a 16-year-old scholar-athlete and aspiring writer in inner-city Manhattan. When he's not writing in his journal in his bedroom, Jamal and his boys would play basketball on a local Bronx street court. They note that they're being observed by someone with binoculars in a nearby apartment building. As Jamal enters the apartment, he is caught in the act and accidentally leaves behind his backpack, which contains his journals. The Scottish reclusive genius (Sean Connery) writes comments in the notebooks (the most frequent as "constipated writing"), and drops the backpack through a window. Jamal returns for more lessons. His efforts lead him to get tutored by The Window, with Jamal agreeing not to reveal his whereabouts. The tutor turns out to be a Pulitzer Prize-winning classic novelist, William Forrester, who wrote "the Great 20th Century Novel," Avalon Landing, and had been reclusive for four decades. Forrester is a male Caucasian in his mid seventies. Sociological perspectives Blacks like Jamal are considered inferior by some theorists as a result of flawed genetic traits (Eitzen and Zinn 2004). In The Bell Curve work of Herrnstein and Murray (1994), Blacks are said to be mentally inferior to Whites. Such genetic inferiority, according to Gould (1994) cannot be changed by environmental changes. These theories bordering on biological deficiency, generally are not accepted in the scientific community (Eitzen and Zinn 2004). Media, however, just like films, continue to give attention to the thinking of these theorists. The Movie Race is a huge issue in the film and many stereotypes are made. Jamal Wallace is introduced in the film as a typical Black teenage male who goes to a low class school in the Bronx and really excels on the court as a basketball player. He is looked upon as an amazing Black as though unexpected because of his color. One proof of this is that the teacher (April Grace) calls Jamal's mother in to school, to inform her of her child's amazing abilities. Jamal is also looked at as given to playing or to pleasure because of his class. Although he had wanted to realize his writing ability, the exclusive New York school that had offered him a scholarship, is actually more interested in having Jamal play basketball to improve their school image. He soon learns that after losing several players to graduation, the school is looking to restock the basketball team. In fact, Jamal gets transferred there as a junior, presumably to have him educated. A Black, Jamal is seen to fit in their objectives as Blacks are of a class, easily pliable and more oriented to playing than studying. Or so the prep school thought. Jamal has been characterized also as an underachiever in class. This plot point caters to the stereotype that Black students get bad grades. This is different from the view that Jamal may want to get bad grades to fit in with his bad-grade-getting peers. This is probable and is more of peer pressure among the young which can be found in whatever race. The first view, however, which appears truer as far as the story is concerned, is stereotyping while the second view is non-racial. The first view which is more plausible is reinforced by other details in the movie. When an adult observes that "basketball is where he gets his acceptance," Jamal doesn't exactly conceal his learning. In this prep school, he fights it out with an envious English teacher, Mr. Crawford (played by F. Murray Abraham), as evidenced by this conversation - Prof. Robert Crawford: [to Jamal] Perhaps your skills do reach farther than basketball. Jamal: "Further" Prof. Robert Crawford: What Claire Spence: [to Jamal] Don't... Jamal: [to Crawford] You said that my skills reached "farther" than basketball. "Farther" relates to distance, "further" is a definition of degree. You should have said "further". Prof. Robert Crawford: Are you challenging me, Mr. Wallace Jamal: Not anymore than you challenged Coleridge. Jamal is made to experience a budding interracial romance. His performance on the court and in the classroom earns for him the respect of many of his teachers and peers, including Claire (Anna Paquin), the pretty daughter of the head of Mailor's board of directors. However, his streetwise background makes him a social outsider amidst a sea of rich, pampered kids. That the story merely hangs this kind of romance shows that it will not lead to anything, as Claire is White. This is more the norm in society where White females don't normally pair with Blacks in romantic relationships. Claire is only often seen just cheering at Jamal in virtually all of the shots. In Forrester's tutoring Jamal, the Caucasian author shows a character being hard to please. He lashes out at Jamal in a vaguely racist way, and the boy is supposed to handle it. To me, Jamal is not even compelled to look past skin color and suppositions. It is more that Jamal is able to showcase his patience at his age because, even as a Black, he had lived in a warm home and has not yet absorbed racism thinking about his group. For example, he didn't think that being a Black is supposedly being culturally deficient and that he had to remain underdeveloped. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to seek the author's help. It is possible though that the author's patient corrections of his journals had emboldened Jamal to cross the border - if at that time he was strongly conscious of the racial divide. That the self-righteous Forrester makes him promise never to reveal his identity to anyone, even though this means he has to lie to people about where he is and what he's doing every afternoon is a tall order. However, Forrester's finding security in Jamal about his secret shows that in Forrester's thinking, Jamal's being Black is as thick a covering for White secrets to let out. That is recognition enough of what obtains in society - that color strongly divides races of all kinds. On Jamal's background, at some point his English teacher charges him with plagiarism of an article Forrester wrote years ago. Any teacher is expected to disapprove of such act. The difference is that his teacher accuses Jamal of cheating because he refuses to believe that a boy with his background could be that gifted and that fast. Mostly, he didn't take Jamal seriously. He is forced to question whether Jamal is in fact writing his own material. Was Mr. Crawford simply envious Or was he not acting out of unchecked racism Both of these are possible, with envy coming out of racism. Finally, the remark of Forrester in couching Jamal reveals his chauvinistic tendencies - the predominating notion of male dominance over women, assigning them a status lower than that of males. He gives the kid all kinds of useful advice about being a writer, including the insight, "Women will sleep with you if you write a book." He goes even more encouraging: "Women will sleep with you if you write a bad book." Gender is learned on a variety of social conditions affecting the socialization practices of the young who get molded along different lines (Eitzen and Zinn 2004). From Forrester's teaching Jamal, the latter may later on think of women the way Forrester does. Throughout the film, Jamal is presented as disadvantaged as though having nothing to share. My favourite lines in this film pertain to the exchange of discourses between Jamal who has a thing to teach, and his mentor: that of growing emotionally. These lines project Jamal as breaking all the stereotypes boxing him up as society's liability. He is, after all, an asset - Jamal: Man, fuck you William! You wanna know what the real bullshit is How about you let me take on this one cause you're too damn scared to walk out that door and do something for somebody else. You're too damn scared, man! That's the only reason. Forrester: [throws glass against wall and breaks it] You don't know a goddamn thing about reason; There are no reasons! Reasons why some of us live and why some of us don't! Fortunately for you, you have decades to figure that out! Jamal: Yeah, and what's the reason in having a file cabinet full of writing and keeping the shit locked so nobody can read it What is that man I'm done with this shit. Conclusion The messages being told in this film are that everyone is equal no matter where you come from or what your ethnicity is and that you should not let anyone keep you from following your dreams. The fact that Professor Crawford's stereotyping is discredited supports this notion. Jamal and Forrester's friendship was so great. They both helped each other overcome obstacles. Jamal is only viewed as somewhat of an enigma, and so he is treated badly because of his differences. The story ends with the thought that although a Black is normally considered a liability in society, Jamal has shown that he is, in fact, an asset who should be tapped. Color does not make a person; what does is the heart. Works Cited Eitzen, D. Stanley and Maxine Baca Zinn. Social Problems with Research Navigator. 9th Ed. New York: Pearson Education, Inc. 2004. Herrnstein, Richard J. and Charles Murray. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life. New York: Free Press. 1994. Gould, Stephen Jay. "Curveball." New Yorker. 28 Nov. 1994: 139-149 Morris, Wesley. "Writer, Ghetto Kid Find Easy Rapport. Gus Van Sant keeps 'Forrester' understated." San Francisco Chronicle, E - 1. 25 Dec. 2000. "Finding Forrester." Movie. United States, 2000. U.S. Release Date: 12/19/00 (NY, LA); 12/25/00 (wider). Running Length: 2:18. MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Profanity, mature themes). Read More