Overview of the Film ‘Coach Carter’
Coach Carter is a 2005 movie directed by Thomas Carter. One thing about this film is that it based on a true story and tells the life of Ken Carter, a 1999 basketball coach in Richmond High School. The movie stars Ken Carter who is the coach of the basketball team.
At the time he is taking the team, Ken observes that the members of his team are disrespectful and extremely rude. He decides to tackle the behavior and sets a high mean score of 2.3 for the players. Three members of the team do not follow the coach’s requirements including Cruz Timo who eventually quits the team.
Kenyon Stone, another teammate is not in terms with Kyra, his girlfriend who is pregnant, and soon they separate (Coach Carter). Carter does not let Cruz rejoin the team later because of his deviant behavior. He has to do 2500 push-ups and 1000 suicides to become part of the team.
Throughout the film, Carter is teaching the players respect, personality and positive behavior. Eventually learns that the players had not been doing well in their studies. The coach forbids the teenagers from playing until they work hard to improve their scores.
This angers everyone with Cruz deciding to quit once again after which he starts taking drugs with Remmy, his cousin. The coach eventually allows him back after his cousin is shot. Eventually, the school board summons and confronts the coach who justifies his actions.
He identifies the importance of better education for the members of the team as his driving force (Coach Carter). Carter eventually quits but the team continued to study and everyone is working hard to fulfill their potentials.
The players succeed and improve their grades and are eventually back in the basketball teams. Kenyon reunites with Kyra after she aborted. Every individual is happy for their achievements and eventually manages to go to college.
The main characters include Carter, Cruz, and Kenyon. Carter is patient, charismatic, helpful, inspirational and concerned. Throughout the film, Carter is concerned about the welfare of his players. Cruz in presented in the film as an impatient and naïve character.
He makes quick decisions without considering the consequences. Eventually he realizes his goals and potential (Coach Carter). Kenyon is determined but unsupportive, and the reason he decides to leave Kyra after learning she was pregnant. The characteristics of these main characters help a lot towards the development of the film’s storyline.
Sociological Issues Presented in the Film
The outstanding about this film is that it portrays several sociological issues affecting the society today. The first issue is language and social deviance. The youth are using abusive languages against one another. The teenagers in the film disrespect and call each other ‘dogs’ or ‘nigger’.
They players did not respect the coach during the first encounter. The second issue is the lack of values, respect, and attitude among the members in the team. This is the reason Carter tried every possibility to ensure the youths behaved (Coach Carter).
The third sociological concern and issue is the teenager pregnancy. Kyra is pregnant and therefore Kenyon finds it hard to continue relating with her. Because of this, Kyra has no option but to abort if she is to get along with the situation.
According to the film, it is clear that the issue of pregnancy seemed to affect the future for both of them. The fourth sociological concern highlighted in the film is insecurity and drug dealing in the society. The youths and other individuals are involved in drugs and this affects their education and behavior in the society. The issue of discrimination and racism is another sociological concern in the film.
Sociological Issues and Relation to Sport in the Movie and the Real World
After examining these sociological issues as presented above, it is notable that the issues are relevant to sporting activity as portrayed in the film. For instance, the use of drugs affects the performance in the sporting activity. Bad language is a sign of disrespect and this causes tensions in the team (Coach Carter).
The issue of teenage pregnancy affects the success of the team because Kenyon is unsettled and unwilling to take any responsibility. Lack of values, positive attitude and respect affects the success of the team with some players like Cruz disrespecting the coach. These issues have direct relation to the sport as portrayed in the film.
In the real world, these issues have significant impacts because they affect how people live in the society and relate with one another. It is also agreeable that the use of illegal drugs in the society result in insecurity in our real world. Lack of respect and values affects the society due to increased disrespect and social deviance.
The use of bad language shows poor communication skills in the real world and this can cause enormous problems in the society (Coach Carter). Racial prejudice and discrimination cause tensions among different individuals thereby widening the problems faced in the given society.
These sociological have therefore been highlighted in the film because it was intended to be a leadership movie aimed at addressing the sociological issues and bringing a new order, respect, and love in our society.
Theories Relevant to the Film
One of the theories relevant to this film is the deviance theory. This theory explains the nature of violence and its solution in sports. The theory explores different causes of violence and deviant behavior in sports. In this movie, some characters including Cruz appear to defy the rules and have poor manners.
This is explainable using the constructionist approach, which states that individuals will deviate when actions and ideas seem to fall outside their predetermined social norms and boundaries. According to this theory, the individual tries to determine what appeared unacceptable or acceptable in the social world (Coach Carter).
The ethical theory is also relevant to the film because it sums all the sociological issues as highlighted above. The use of the ethics theory can explain the nature and solution to these sociological issues.
Addressing the Problem of Racism/ Discrimination Today
In the film Coach Carter, the problem of racial discrimination occurs throughout the storyline. The film tells a story whereby there is economic and social discrimination founded on false ideas and assumptions that one race is biologically and culturally superior to the other.
The film portrays the black boys as individuals who are involved in criminal activities based on statistics. The coach is against the stereotype and the reason he is willing to encourage the black youths to work extremely hard and achieve their potential in the society.
If this was a situation faced today, I will apply a number of theories to solve it and ensure there was no discrimination in the society (Coach Carter).
The first approach is to promote cohesion and teamwork. This will make it possible for the individuals to look at everyone equally and without any form of prejudice. Through motivation and encouragement, the individuals will not discriminate against each other.
Instead, the individuals in the society will be supportive of one another and encourage a proper social integration despite their cultural or racial background. Leadership theories are also applicable to help address the issue of discrimination in the society today.
Reference
Coach Carter. Dir. Thomas Carter. Prod. David Gale and Brian Robbins. Paramount Pictures, 2005. Film.