Million Dollar Arm is a biographical sports comedy-drama film based on the true events of the first two Indian men to be signed into professional baseball. A sports agent comes up with a new and inventive ways to search for new untapped talent in the country of India. His strategy is recruit talented cricket players to play Major League Baseball. This move was released May 16, 2014 and was based on a reality show competition held for the chance to win one million dollars. After the two top players finished the finals, they were to travel to the United States to train for a try out for major league teams. Although culture shock is one way of describing the two individuals’ experience, both in the end has an overall positive experience with acculturation. I selected this movie because, I believe culturally emerging oneself into new traditions and …show more content…
Within the American culture main stereotyping centered on American’s only valuing business/money, parties, presentation, material needs. Indian portrayals included: unstop chaos with the hustle and bustle on the streets, hardworking, grateful, overcrowded, religious, and easily excited. Examples of dehumanization included the agent setting up a media frenzy tryout in a parking lot to receive a payday. The players were not ready, yet had to perform for so many scouts and cameras. Their mental state and physical readiness was not taken into account, so they completely ‘choked’. One example of stereotyping in the movie was quoted by the agent and heard by the players. The agent assumed “all of them” played the game of cricket. Rinku and Dinesh both had background in track and field in their local community, but had never acquired the liking for the game of cricket. By the agent making this statement, he put all Indians into one category and without consideration assumed his winners were cricket
The film, “In the White Man’s Image” and Sally Jenkins’ narrative, “The Real All Americans” both discussed the controversial issues and historical significance of nineteenth century social policies dealing with cultural integration of Native Americans, yet while “In the White Man’s Image” covered the broad consequences of such policies, it was Jenkins’ narrow focus on the daily lives of students involved that was able to fully convey the complexities of this devastating social policy. Jenkins’ recreated the experiences of students at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, bringing the reader along with her as students were stripped of culture, language, and family to be remade into a crude imitation of white society. “...Now, after having had my hair cut, a new thought came into my head. I felt I was no more Indian…” (Jenkins, pg 75). Richard Henry Pratt, the creator of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School that became the inspiration and model for many similar institutions across the nation, intended to save a people from complete destruction, yet the unforeseen consequences of his ...
Lliu, K., and H. Zhang. "Self- and Counter-Representations of Native Americans: Stereotypical Images of and New Images by Native Americans in Popular Media." Ebscohost. University of Arkansas, n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014
“Did you see the 15 year old who hit the game winner for American Heritage last night? He’s not even a freshman and he’s already playing with the big boys.” The name of this baseball prodigy is David Villar. Villar was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but is of Cuban descent which can be easily noted from hearing his heavy accent. Villar moved to Pembroke Pines when he was just a couple months old and lived there until recently when he moved to Tampa to take on the next journey in his athletic life. When asked when he started to play the sport he responded, “I was 2 ½ years old when I started to play, I don’t even remember any point of my life without baseball.” In the 16 years since first picking up the bat he’s won multiple accomplishments such
Stereotypes dictate a certain group in either a good or bad way, however more than not they give others a false interpretation of a group. They focus on one factor a certain group has and emphasize it drastically to the point that any other aspect of that group becomes lost. Media is one of the largest factors to but on blame for the misinterpretation of groups in society. In Ten Little Indians, there are many stereotypes of Native Americans in the short story “What You Pawn I Will Redeem”. The story as a whole brings about stereotypes of how a Native American in general lives and what activities they partake in. By doing so the author, Alexie Sherman, shows that although stereotypes maybe true in certain situations, that stereotype is only
Jack Shakely uses pathos by making people feel that Indian mascots are unpleasant to have because they are portrayed as fools. “It was that cringe-worthy Chief Noc-A-Homa who came stomping and war-dancing his way out of a teepee in center field every time the Braves hit a home run that got to me” (522). The author feels that Indians were being portrayed as village
It appears the caricature of Native Americans remains the same as first seen from the first settler’s eyes: savage-like people. Their culture and identity has become marginalized by popular culture. This is most evident in mainstream media. There exists a dearth of Native American presence in the mainstream media. There is a lack of Native American characters in different media mediums.
Therefore, in “The Only Traffic Signal on the Reservation No Longer Flashes Red,” Alexie uses the epitome of the burnt-out sports hero that appears frequently in twentieth-century American literature as a commonality between reservation life and the rest of America. Thus, the reader can relate to the sports hero, and he/she can understand the anguish felt when the dream of stardom falls short. Every generation has a basketball hero, whom the other reservation natives believe is going to be great enough to get a scholarship to play basketball at the college- and maybe even pro-level. If so, he/she would be breaking the trend of living a life in poverty and resorting to alcoholism as a past time. However, each time someone comes close to breaking the trend and escaping the continuous cycle of a life on the reservation, he comes under the influence of alcohol. Victor, the nar...
Many people do not realize that Indian people are around us everyday. They could be our neighbors, our bus driver, or anyone that we see on a daily bases. In Thomas King’s essay “You’re not the Indian I Had in Mind,” and his video “I’m not the Indian You Had in Mind,” he exemplifies the stereotype that many people make about Indians. King mentions in his essay that people always would say to him, “you’re not the Indian I had in mind,” because he did not look like the stereotypical Indian. Through King’s essay and video, I have been educated about this stereotype that I was unaware of. Since I now have an understanding of how unrealistic this stereotype is, I now can educate friends and family members on this issue.
Neil Diamond reveals the truth behind the Native stereotypes and the effects it left on the Natives. He begins by showing how Hollywood generalizes the Natives from the clothing they wore, like feathers
middle of paper ... ... In general, all the actors in the movie make the audience feel what they are feeling and this is essential for the movie as the plot is deeply emotionally charged. As reviewer Sean O’Connell notes in his column at Filmcritic.com, Million Dollar Baby was expected to be “a half-baked, rushed-into-awards-season castoff by a respected filmmaker still basking in the glow of his last well-received piece”.
A sudden change in one’s surroundings can result in culture shock. Culture shock refers to the anxiety and surprise a person feels when he or she is discontented with an unfamiliar setting. The majority of practices or customs are different from what a person is used to. One may experience withdrawal, homesickness, or a desire for old friends. For example, when a person goes to live in a different place with unfamiliar surroundings, they may experience culture shock. Sometimes it is the result of losing their identity. In the article “The Phases of Culture Shock”, Pamela J. Brink and Judith Saunders describe four phases of culture shock. They are: Honeymoon Phase, Disenchantment Phase, Beginning Resolution Phase, and Effective Function Phase. These phases denote some of the stages that exemplify culture shock. The four phases are illustrated in the articles “New Immigrants: Portraits in Passage” by Thomas Bentz, “Immigrant America: A Portrait” by Alejandro Portes and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “When I Was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories” by Thomas Kessner and Betty Boyd Caroli, and lastly, “The New Americans: Immigrant Life in Southern California” by Ulli Steltzer, and are about the experiences of some immigrants. This essay will examine the four phases of culture shock and classify the experiences of these immigrants by the different phases of culture shock identified.
Terrence and Jordin Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, in Canada’s arctic region. They were like other Inuit children in Rankin Inlet in many respects: They were brought up to respect the customs of their people and they enjoyed the resources the land around them provided- they learned to hunt and fish for food like the others. However, the brothers were also different from their peers in one main respect- they were blessed with a love for the game of hockey, and also with extraordinary amounts of talent which would enable them to leave their native community to pursue the dream of professional hockey. While the brothers were growing up they were inseparable; however, after leaving Rankin Inlet to pursue the professional game their respective careers took strikingly different paths. Jordin’s journey took him to the top- he was drafted into the National Hockey League and signed a lucrative contract with the Nashville Predators. However, Terrence’s road to the professional ranks was filled with hardship and tragedy, ultimately resulting in his suicide in August of 2002. The contrasting paths taken by the brothers is an illustration of how professional sporting careers can have varying impacts on the lives of Native American and Canadian athletes and their communities. In the following few paragraphs I will outline the history of Native Americans and Canadians in sports. I will examine how successful Native athletes are able to help their communities, both financially and by serving as role models for younger Natives. Also, I will argue that their still exist barriers and challenges to Native athletes that do not confront other athletes. For example, Native athletes are often placed under increased scrutiny because of their positions as role models. I will conclude by commenting on how Native athletes fit into pro sports today, and speculate on what can be done to increase the amount of success enjoyed by Natives.
Platt, Larry. New jack jocks: rebels, race, and the American athlete. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002.. 56-60
In Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water, many people take pictures of the sacred Indian Sun Dance. This urge to take pictures proves that many whites view Indians as a source of entertainment or as a curiosity.
A stereotype about Asians that was witnessed in the movie is during the opening scene. When an Asian and Mexican driver had an accident for that reason the Mexican is being prejudice