Introduction
The film, Pride, by Lionsgate entertainment is a glamorous documentary about African-American competency in sports. The movie shows the potentials of blacks in sports, particularly in swimming, that is perceived to be for whites. Pride was released in 2007 and features a true story of James “Jim” Ellis, Bernice Mac, Pride stars Terrence Howards, and Kimberly Elise. The movie addresses the issues of race, ethnicity, culture, race constancy, social identity, self-esteem, and institutionalized racism. These are paramount issues that are deeply rooted in the society and are mostly exhibited in cosmopolitan societies like in the US. The film is commendable due to its appeal in overcoming racial barriers of prejudice, racism, and stereotype projected against African-American by proving that blacks are equally capable to the whites.
Essay Body
The film has addressed the themes of racism, cultural prejudice and stereotypes in western cultures where blacks are rarely accommodated. The term race refers to categorization of people into distinct groups based on geographic ancestry, history, physical appearance, social status and culture. A clear distinction between African-Americans and whites is shown through the prejudice, stereotype, poverty, and crime, which is projected to the blacks. Jim and Elston are struggling to help African-American kids to overcome the chains of racism by enabling them to succeed in swimming. Ethnicity, which refers to people with a common language, culture, and dialect, has been featured in the film. In this case, a clear division between blacks and whites is manifested in the film based on the issue of ethnicity.
The cultural differences and ways of life between blacks and whites are featured in the film. Whites are viewed to have a more sophisticated and civilized way of life as compared to the blacks. This is a clear description of the prejudice and stereotype subjected to blacks regarding swimming and other sports perceived to be for whites.
Alongside the issue of cultural differences, the film has clearly manifested the concept of institutionalized racism. This term refers to systems of inequality on the basis of race. As observed in the film, African-American are discriminated in lucrative jobs simply because of the color of their skin. Racial identity is what matters in employment rather than academic qualifications. Race constancy means that an individual’s race does not change during is life. This concept is used in the film to empower people of different races to embrace tolerance and diversity.
The film is well developed and clearly captures different scenes showing racial hatred, prejudice and conflicts. The film has apparently demonstrated the obstacles and challenges faced by African-American in day to day life. By featuring the life of Jim, the film highlights the issues of oppositional culture, social role theory, social identity, and illusory correlation among others. Based on the film, life is simply not easy for African-American due to their racial and social identity. African-Americans are associated with poverty and crime, which have in this case compromised their social identity, roles, self-categorization, and self-esteem.
Conclusion
The film is well presented, whereby it efficiently addressed the themes of racism, cultural identity, ethnicity, prejudice and stereotype. Ethnic, cultural, and racial cultivated problems faced by African-American have been clearly outlined in the film. In light with the film, the negative stereotype and prejudice subjected to African-Americans regarding their abilities are ill driven since blacks are equally potential as whites as evident in their success in swimming.