Hoop Dreams

As I continue to read bell hooks' essays, it is abundantly clear that she is consistently taking the oppositional view to almost every film she discusses. Her analysis of the 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams, in comparison to the raving reviews of critics and moviegoers alike, highlights this conflicting perspective hooks has towards black cinema. While Hoop Dreams received numerous praises for its insightful and passionate storytelling of Arthur Agee's and William Gates' routes to fame in attempt to become professional basketball players. Most viewed the film as a genuine depiction of the lives of young athletes trying to achieve the American Dream. hooks, on the other hand, interpreted the film as media representation which reinforced black parental stereotypes and emphasized the idea that black male bodies are seen only as commodities for the "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy" that is American society. She views the film as one which focuses on all the wrong issues asserting that the filmmakers didn't discuss how becoming a successful athlete is (what she considers) the only way poor black youth can make it in America. I am interested in viewing the film as to see where I believe the film guides audiences and to uncover whether or not hooks' claims are accurate.