Films have long exposed the exploitative and malicious side of the sports industry, where profit, power, and fame often overshadow the vitality of sports themselves and the genuine performance of athletes. In a culture that idolizes sports, cautionary tales tend to be dismissed as mere fiction or drama. Films are nuanced pieces of art, and lots of nuance leads to lots of misinterpretation as well. The question that arises is: are these cautionary tales as depicted in films truly understood as such, or are they just viewed as mere works of fiction?
Films are also a universally enjoyed form of entertainment, just like sports. The shared popularity of sports and films makes it easier for their purpose or intent to be misread. This is due to a number of factors such as cognitive biases surrounding certain favorable arcs in films, or certain athletes and sports teams, as well as prioritization of entertainment and numbers as opposed to quality and truth in media today. When a film attempts to expose one of the darker truths of the sports industry, it gets lost under the guise of entertainment, as well as the authenticity of sports becoming overshadowed by glamour and hype.
Vulnerable Audiences and the Danger of Falsified Narratives
Young athletes are the most vulnerable of the bunch, considering that most of them tend to be juggling academics and sports. School athletics offer a way to further engage and embrace school culture . Some student athletes have passion for the sport they chose to partake in and want to go somewhere with this passion. Young athletes tend to be unaware or ignorant to the predatory nature of the sports industry, only seeing its glitz and glamour. This ties back into the crucial roles of films about the sports industry. These films can be an eye opener for naive and overly-optimistic kids. Even though a director may try to convey the exploitative nature of the sports industry, they may do the opposite because of the stylized storytelling or dramatic exaggeration, fueling vulnerable athletes’ flawed perception of the industry.
This is why media literacy and exploitation in the sports industry conveyed through film are so important, yet so overlooked. Teens being at an impressionable age and a heavily media centered era makes media literacy more important than ever. The media that teens consume heavily impacts their understanding and interpretation of the world and industries surrounding them, including two dominant ones: sports and films. While it is expected that the shared popularity should simply better kids’ understanding of films surrounding sports instead it might cause them to be more susceptible to falsified ideas surrounding the sports industry. Falsified ideas do nothing to encourage cautiousness when it comes to the sports industry, but instead enables kids to continue with their likely unattainable ideas.
Fans, Media, and Misinterpretation
In Requiem for a Heavyweight, directed by Ralph Nelson, the character Maish says, “You’re not a fighter anymore, you’re a piece of meat.” This powerfully encapsulates the director’s intent to expose the darker message of the sports industry. It’s brutally honest, fulfilling its purpose of revealing the commodification of athletes.
A significant amount films centered around the exploitative nature of sports tend to focus on issues such as sexual assault, commodification, or performance enhancing drug abuse. These are undoubtedly grave issues that deserve onscreen representation. However, this side of sports the media doesn’t cover is the audience itself. Sport fans are known for their passionate feelings surrounding certain athletes or sports teams. These passionate feelings may be admirable, but tend to get excessive, leading to the objectification and harassment of athletes simply trying to pursue their passion. Sport audiences tend to idolize athletes and hold them to this almost unattainable standard which further perpetuates objectification and commercialization.
How Films Shape Perception
An aspect that fuels this false perception of the sports industry is that many popular sport films tend to highlight triumph, perseverance, and courage. Similar arcs that showcase these themes in sports films are usually as follows: the underdog rises, the team unites, or the final game is won. This formula is comforting, satisfying, and entertaining, as well as incredibly popular in the media. With these repeated arcs being so popular, they further fuel the idea that you can overcome and flourish in such a difficult, hierarchical industry, which is not entirely unrealistic but unlikely. Additionally, these formulas in movies surrounding the sports genre invoke a sense of nostalgia or familiarity because of their prevalence. Therefore, when a film deviates from these repeated narratives it feels foreign, and almost unwelcoming in a way. People tend to subconsciously reject or avoid these portrayals because of their unfamiliarity.
Additionally, marketing and packages of sports films often contribute to accidental misinterpretation of films. Trailers, posters, and promotional material tend to highlight the dramatized, entertaining, and amusing aspects regardless of the deeper moments and meanings of certain films. A film that criticizes the commercialization of sports might still be marketed using slow motion shots of athletes in action, intense music, and taglines about victory and heart. This creates a disconnect between the film’s intent and the audience’s expectations. A prime example of this is Oliver Stone’s 1999 film Any Given Sunday. The film discusses the commodification of athletes, specifically professional football players. The film highlights the exploitation of athletes and the corrupt nature of the industry surrounding the sport. Yet the marketing, specifically the posters of the film indulge in the very same tropes it condemns in the film: commodification.
The involvement of real-life athletes or sports organizations in the production of these films can dilute their deeper meaning. When professional athletes endorse or participate in a film, it’s expected that they maintain a positive image. This can lead to sanitized narratives that gloss over troubling aspects of the sports industry to showcase the athlete or organization involved in these films.
Perspectives on Sports Films
This concern is not just theoretical. Mr. Samuel Grossman, an English teacher at Bronx Science, has extensive knowledge surrounding the arts, and he tends to watch a lot of films, including sports films. Grossman noted that sports films tend to romanticize the games that they depict. He also remarked that some films disrupt this sense of familiarity by exposing corruption and exploitation. He mentioned the film Eight Men Out, a movie directed by John Sayles that dramatizes the Black Sox Scandal, where eight members of The Chicago White Sox professional baseball team were accused of intentionally losing the 1919 World Series in exchange for payment from a gambling syndicate led by crime boss, Arnold Rothstein. Grossman explained that such films add a “shadowy tinge,” but he also acknowledges that, in the case of young athletes, the entertainment value of sports films comes first. Grossman believes that some of the best sports films aren’t cautionary tales due to the fun and excitement contained in them. He agreed that media literacy is crucial when watching films, since it allows students to “sift through the excitement and romance to discover the social messages hidden beneath the plot.” He cautions that without critical viewing skills, young teens may entirely miss the message of certain films. Finally, Grossman emphasized that there is a depressing and sleazy underbelly to the world of professional athletics that is difficult to discern from the glitz and glamour.
Ms. Abigail Chavez, another English teacher at Bronx Science, also emphasizes the importance of approaching sports films with a critical lens. Chavez explains that sports movies such as The Blind Side, a film covering the struggle of a NFL player, Michael Oher who grew up in poverty to becoming a professional athlete with help from his adoptive family, are often celebrated for their inspirational narratives. However, the reality behind Michael Oher’s conservatorship complicates the story, as it reflects the commodification of athletes. Chavez also connects this dynamic with Serena Williams, an American professional tennis player. Chavez specifically noted how Williams athletic achievements were praised but her identity was not. For Chavez, these contradictions highlight the ways in which society only embraces athletes when they conform to a narrow image of success due to false narratives presented in the media. Chavez argues that sports films should be treated as cultural texts, ones that reveal predatory structures. Finally, Chavez cautioned that media literacy is a crucial skill to learn. Without it, young viewers may absorb glamorized ideas surrounding the sports industry without acknowledging systemic and societal pressures behind it.
Ultimately, while some films do shed light on the darker corners of the sports industry, the impact can be blunted due to a multitude of factors. However, this doesn’t mean that these films cannot be seen in the future; if the importance of media literacy is emphasized to young teens, the entire trajectory could transform.
In Requiem for a Heavyweight, directed by Ralph Nelson, the character Maish says, “You’re not a fighter anymore, you’re a piece of meat.” This powerfully encapsulates the director’s intent to expose the darker message of the sports industry. It’s brutally honest, fulfilling its purpose of revealing the commodification of athletes.