Sports Pages #13: Hoop Dreams and The Blind Side

Both films suggest the significance of sports in the African American culture as a means of escape. All three of the boys in both films are able to attend college due to sports, and feel that doing so will help them escape their not so glamorous realities. Both Michael and William get to attend private high schools as a result of sports. The difference between Hoop Dreams and The Blind Side is the fact that The Blind Side makes it all look so easy. Michael is a kid from the Projects who gets "discovered" by a rich, white family and suddenly discovers he's good at sports. It was never an innate passion of Michael's yet he makes it to Ole' Miss and the NFL as if it were a cakewalk. Both Arthur and William live for basketball. Not only do they love the game; they need the game. Both boys dedicate four years of high school and four years of college to the sport without ever making it big. Hoop Dreams shows just how competitive it is to make it big in sports. The Blind Side glosses over the gritty details, leaving only the success story with a few bumps and bruises.

While sports can serve as a positive outlet for African American boys who are pressured to participate in deviant activities, sports also perpetuate the myth of race. There is the overwhelming stereotype that African Americans are better athletes than other races. This is partially due to the fact that so many African Americans participate in sports. As a society, we highlight the differences between the races more in situations like sport. I still think that sports are positive for both races to participate in. However, the way the media frames sports encourages the myth of race.

Gendered Advertising (Real Women?)

This ad is a part of the 'Nike REAL WOMEN Campaign'. This ad plays in to the fact that women are often evaluated in terms of the appearance of their bodies. While it is true that men are also evaluated in regards to appearance, they are not nearly as ridiculed or held to as high of standards as women to look "perfect". Nike takes something that has a negative connotation ("thunder thighs") and makes it positive. I hear girls complain about their "thunder thighs" all the time, and it's no wonder why. As women, we are constantly exposed to the size zero, supermodel prototype that embodies the so called "perfect woman". Nike suggests that we should be praising women for their strength over shallow beauty, and that strength in itself can be beautiful. You would never see an ad like this for men. Sure, men are expected to have broad shoulders and the "six-pack abs". But, in general, people focus more on their ability than what they look like. This ad is obviously attempting to poke fun at the idea that a female athlete can only be successful if she is strong but also fits the commodified mold of being "attractive". I remember when this campaign came out and the reception was overall positive. However, it will sadly take more than a Nike ad to change the way that we evaluate women in the media.