Basketball Diaries Sociology

The following paper presented is designed to implement the ideology and foundation of elements pertaining drug use among the youth, as well as focusing on addiction and the longitudinal effects of drug dependency. In particular, we’ll be deriving sources and dissecting from the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries, in adjacent to sources relating to the topic of drug addiction and it’s antithetical approach: recovery. Additionally, the outcome of this research is to uphold the quality of an individuals mental state prior and after the usage of an illicit drug(s), as well as the prolonged consequences that come with. The depiction of drug use among youths, addiction, and drug dependency in film have been around since the introduction of mainstream media. However, in this particular case we’ll be focusing on the autobiographical film of Jim Carroll titled The Basketball Diaries. The Basketball Diaries is an adaptation of Jim Carroll’s memoir of the same name. In this, he recounts his teenage years between the ages of twelve and sixteen, the profound experiences he underwent living in New York City, and the progression toward his subsequent drug addiction of heroin, as well as other psychoactive substances. The motion picture, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, with supporting roles by Mark Wahlberg and Lorraine Bracco, is set in present-day New York City. The film begins with an opening shot of Jim Carroll awakening to the sound of a lady muttering a violent prayer across his apartment complex,

Of course, this particular scene is powerful in demonstrating the message that the tragic death of a loved one brings upon severe misery, sorrow, and just pure agony. For this reason, the next scene unfolds into a dream-like sequence. As mentioned by Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries (Kervert,