When we
watch movies, films and documentaries such as Hoop Dreams, The Blind Side and
Remember the Titans, African American athletes continually are depicted in the
same manner. Constantly films as the above mentioned highlight lives of
marginalized African American athletes living in inner cities with little to no
resources. Sports act as the way out, “the path to righteousness” for these
teens instead of their predestined paths to the streets and hustling. Constantly
sports such as football and basketball in particular serve as “saviors” for
these boys who would otherwise have no other way out. The problem with these
portrayals is the very fact that young African American boys and girls are
growing up taking in these messages, that somehow their culture is innately
inferior, incompetent, and destined for destruction. Often times the African
American culture is over exaggerated and presented in racial stereotypes.
Let’s take for
example the movie The Blind Side, where Sandra Bullock’s role in the movie is
the savior of a poor abandoned black teen, Mike. In his character we can see
both similarities, but I argue there are also a lot of differences that the
boys in the documentary Hoop Dreams. Although all three boys come from limited
families and backgrounds, both of the boys have their parents however Mike is
shown alone, in despair and need of “salvation”. Hollywood portrayals of the
African American athlete create damaging images for the Black communities in
America, accepting and believing such portrayals will preserve the myth of
race.
