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.

Blog 11

After watching the trailer for the documentary, Hoop Dreams, I felt inspired and uplifted. In the matter of 1 minute and 38 seconds, the producers and directors managed to get the point across about what the documentary is about, while also making the audience feel how they want you to feel. Also in that short amount of time, they showed how the main characters went from a working social class and basically having nothing to having about everything they ever dreamed about and achieving the American Dream. It also showed that not every Black male fits the stereotype of being a Black male, in that they are poor, lazy thugs, because they can be successful and achieve dreams with hard work and dedication.
Personally, I have not seen the film, but from watching the trailer, I would not completely agree with bell hooks' assessment of the film. Although I would not agree with her completely, I would agree that it fits the stereotype of Blacks being athletes and succeeding in doing so, but at the same time, one has to remember that it is a documentary, so it is about people's lives, and these two individuals just so happen to have had dreams of playing in the NBA. The trailer has intrigued me, and now, I am wanting to watch it, so I can compare her thoughts of it not being as good as it is praised to be.

bell hooks

I think that black women can be seen as sex workers could also be depicted as transformative, if the film is done right. It can show a new view of women as not just some sex objects. A huge example is of the character Foxy Brown from the film Film Six. Foxy only got into the sex industry as a phone sex partner as a way to avoid being seen as a sex object on the screen. It can cause a soul search for the place of women, and their potential powerlessness in certain industries.

Black Women As Sex Workers

I do believe that a film can portray black women (and all women) as sex workers in such a way that can be transformative.  In the example given by bell hooks in Reel to Real, the character Foxy Brown in Girl 6 only seeks her job as a phone sex specialist after being denied a job in the film industry because she refused to be sexually objectified on the big screen.  This has a profound message behind it.  When done in creative way, such as the way Spike Lee produced Girl 6, films can possess a greater meaning within their own plots, and thus, disperse a more deep, intelligent, serious message throughout society.

bell hooks

I think that a filmmaker can can represent Black women as sex workers in a way that is cinematically transformative. A lot of the possibility to do so lies in having a foundation of appropriate narrative components and taking the steps laid out by bell hooks for such a re-framing. Representation is a big part of that. A film would need to consider new representations of liberatory sexuality and a challenging of the notions of "the eroticism of the patriarchal phallic imaginary." The characters must be complex, and shouldn't be portrayed as victims, as properly done in Girl 6. It must also not dwell solely on one section of race, sex, or class, but consider all, as in Exotica.

Bell hooks

For filmmakers to represent black women as sex workers and to make such an action trans-formative , in my opinion the filmmaker must not ignore the race of the women, in fact, the race of the women should be the first priority. The fact that the women are black is problematic within itself.

hook

I think that it is possible for filmmakers to represent black females as sex workers in a transformative way, but I think that it would be very hard to do.
I completely agree with Valerie, in order for this to happen, the female character needs to have more depth, we need more knowledge of the characters background as to why they had to choose this job to acquire the job of their dreams, make it literally the last option.

In Spike Lee's "Girl 6" she turned down all other sexual demanding jobs, and was forced to become a phone sex operator in order to make a living and to get to achieve her dream of becoming an actress. I like this because it gave the character some morals, she was almost forced to take this job, I think that spike lee did  a really good job of transforming and developing this character into a person that the viewers had sympathy for.