Hoop Dreams and Sports Movies

The documentary Hoop Dreams chronicles the dreams and struggles of two African American high school student athletes in Chicago as they attempt to pave their way to the professional level. It depicts the issues of race and the culture of high school athletics in a realistic manner, starkly contrasting archetypical sports films such as The Blind Side, Coach Carter or Remember The Titans. It has received almost universal acclaim from critics and audience members alike due to its realism and rejection of the stereotypes perpetrated by more simplistic depictions of African Americans in sports. In traditional sports movies, African Americans are portrayed as lacking discipline unlike their white counterparts, until a hard nosed coach comes in and turns their lives around. Inevitably, they all come together to win the big game and celebrate while many eventually go to the professional level. As touched upon in class, the reality is that a high school player is extremely unlikely to go onto the next level, as is a college player. Statistics are stacked against athletes, especially Black athletes like Gates and Agee who come from poverty. The socioeconomic status of athletes is important for cultural and racial reasons, as both Gates and Agee have to adapt to transitioning to a predominantly white, upper class high school.

African American culture is tied to the aesthetic of athleticism and sport culture in the United States. The media focuses primarily on African Americans who have achieved wealth and fame through athletics rather than education, so in response the "American Dream" is measured by athletic success within predominantly Black communities. Hoop Dreams reflects the notion that success is measured in athletic achievement, and highlights all of the obstacles stacked against Gates and Agee. Neither of them make it to the NBA, which is typical of nearly every kid growing up with dreams of playing professionally. Still, both were able to learn from chasing their dreams and able to achieve a better economic status through their respective careers and through the documentary itself. Sports play an invaluable role in our society, and especially to African American communities in which sports are synonymous with hope. The problem is often time this is false hope, and as Langston Hughes wrote A Dream Deferred can fester and ruin lives. The reality is that most athletes won't actualize their professional goals, but Hoop Dreams showed that these initial goals can be adapted and revised in order to achieve success, nevertheless.

Gender in Sports Commercials

Whether NASCAR can actually be considered a sport is a topic for ripe for debate, but in this post I'm going with the assumption that it is. While it is definitely perceived as low-brow and geared towards men, it has had much success in particular areas and demographics in America. The face of NASCAR could be considered any number of talented male drivers, but the best advertising appeal is by far and away held by its 'sexiest' female driver, Danica Patrick. Danica Patrick's fame for her racing skills is dwarfed in comparison to her advertising campaign with Go Daddy, a domain name purveyor. They have utilized Patrick's sex appeal in Super Bowl commercials especially, for the past half-dozen years to reach hundreds of millions of Americans, creating controversy over sexism and promiscuity. Although there have been numerous commercials over the past several years, I have chosen one from 2009 to provide the context of the campaign and included another from 2014 to show how the ad campaign promotes its values.

2014 Super Bowl Commercial
2009 Commercial

Both commercials essentially ignore the fact that Patrick is an athlete, the only give aways are the featured Go Daddy car in the second commercial and the super tight racing-like shirt Patrick wears. Her sense of authority comes from her status as a sex symbol. Both of these advertisements are, as Coakley would say, are "male centered," presuming that their audience is mostly male (specifically horny 14 year old boys) despite the fact that almost everyone watches the Super Bowl. Danica Patrick is objectified, not as an athlete, but as a sex object in both commercials. This marginalizes women in the male dominated sports world and suggests that their only value lies in their looks.

In the first voyeuristic commercial, several geeky boys watch as Patrick and one of their professors shower together through a computer while controlling what they do. The end is used to illustrate Go Daddy's effectiveness, as the gender roles are reversed and Patrick controls the voyeurs through her computer making them slap themselves. This commercial promotes the stereotypes that women are mere sex symbols to be seen by men, and that they seek to  actively control and tease unattractive men for pleasure. 

By the second commercial, Patrick has become infamous for her advertisements. After she slowly unzips her Go Daddy Uniform, she relays that "Go Daddy gives her all of the exposure she needs, so she can keep her beaver safe and out of sight." Their are several actual beavers, but it is clearly a double-entendre that works as a euphemism for vagina. Essentially, she is saying that because of her work for Go Daddy (and as an athlete maybe?) she doesn't have to expose herself for attention and money. Once again, this advertisement operates  under the assumption that a woman need attention, and her options are limited to being a spokesman or exposing herself publicly. 

These advertisements clearly are 'male dominated,' as men are the judges of qualification, and as mentioned 'male centered' (Coakley Kindle Ed.). The consequences for these types of advertisements are more devastating towards youth viewers than your typical male oriented sports ad, as it features a rare female, but instead of being championed for her athletic accomplishments she is being sexually objectified. Meanwhile, all men are represented as being control-seeking, voyeuristic, sex-obsessed, dweebs. Ultimately, these commercials promote gender stereotypes for both men and women that damage both sides for the sake of an attempt at humor and soft-core porn.