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.