William Gates says at the end of the film, ‘If I don’t make it to the NBA watch you don’t forget about me'. This feature film, the documentary Hoop Dreams, is a thorough exposition on the lives of African Americans in urban America. This is probably the best exposition of African American life presented on film. So long we have been befuddled with the sentimental pulp of fiction films that we rarely take the time to spend on a documentary which, although not fiction, has to be presented in a way where it is believable as a story. I know that there will be those people that will go and see this film and hear of the running time (176 mins) and shun it. They would rather go and watch a bad Tyler Perry film or maybe the hogwash present in a pale disillusioned romance or a hackneyed action film. After my disillusionment with these sorts of films I decided to watch Hoop Dreams for a good dose of reality. I however received more enlightenment from the film than I expected. The themes explored in this film have been referred to many times before; you hear the rappers and the dancehall artistes speak poetically about their struggles and the resolve to pursue their dreams. You always hear of the system that looms so vast over our heads that it seems unbreakable. I have heard this many times before but I have never internalized the message until now thanks to one of the greatest films about the black experience in urban America: ‘Hoop Dreams’.
This film centres on two promising black basketball athletes, William gates and Arthur Agee. When we first meet them they are in the prime of their youth and their dreams seem too far removed from the harsh daily reality. Their dream is to play in the NBA and as the film opens in the Chicago projects one of the first shots is both youngsters watching the great Michael Jordan playing for the Chicago bulls. Their dreams however are believable because they are extremely talented players and it seems possible that they will achieve their goals because the great Isaiah Thomas also took the same route to success. They are so talented that a scout comes and recruits them to play for a premier high school St. Josephs. It is emphasized throughout the film that the great Isaiah Thomas used to play for this school and ended up making it all the way to the NBA: the greatest basketball league on earth. The youngsters are accepted into the school and then their paths start to diverge and the relief is that it’s not a fictional twist it’s all apart of the daily vicissitudes of life. William gates receives a full scholarship primarily because he excels in his first year and is granted a benefactor who vows that he will not have to worry about expenses for the remainder of his time there. Arthur’s scholarship on the other hand covers a portion of his tuition and his parents have to foot the rest of the bill. After his first year the coach Pingatore is not satisfied with Arthurs’ attitude to the game believing that he does not have the drive to be a great ball player. He however sees it in William gates. Arthur joins the junior team while William is allowed to train with the senior/ varsity squad. After the first year Arthur is forced to leave the school because his parents can’t foot the bill after his scholarship is revoked. This is the first setback to his NBA dream for as you know the best way to the NBA in America is to do well in high school receive a scholarship to an A list college and then after that who knows maybe the scouts will see something special. St. Josephs is supposed to be one of those elite schools so going there should help you on your way. William continues moving forward however and seems unstoppable until, nearing the end of his sophomore year, damages the cartilage in his knee and has to be put on the sidelines. This is his first setback to the illustrious NBA dream. When these setbacks occur we begin to get a first hand look into the realities of their lives and the film takes you on an emotional journey that lasts five years: from their first year at St. josephs to their first year in college. When the setbacks occur you realise the estrangement of some people when they hear of the American dream. When the cameras make a broad sweep of the block and you hear of the trials such as when Arthurs’ family have to go through the winter without light and heat you begin to understand the distance of the American dream and how, when any slight of hand occurs, the dream might as well rival the distance of the stars from the earth. What the film made me realize is the consequences of daring to dream. This is the heart of the movie because (as does occur with a lot of people) one of the great tragedies in life for a human being is daring to dream (especially dreaming big), daring to pursue that dream and falling by the wayside unable to keep up with the requirements to pursue that dream. Although by the end of the film it’s not clear whether or not they have reached the NBA, although if you are interested in their lives you will discover that they never did make it, it becomes apparent to them by the end of the film that their drive has changed the realities creep in and take hold like tentacles.
We encounter two male figures present in the boys’ lives that have fallen by the wayside and are a constant reminder throughout the film of the fate that awaits these youngsters should they fall. William’s brother Curtis and Arthur’s father Arthur Bo' Agee, he is referred to as Bo. Curtis, William’s brother, also began promisingly like his little brother but lack of discipline and finesse cost him his college scholarship and now he has grown overweight working as a security guard dreaming through his brother. He always makes clear that he wants his brother to make it so bad so at least he can see his dreams come through albeit in a different light. The same goes for Arthur’s father Bo who was also a promising basketball player but also became lost in his pursuit although its not fully explained why he fell by the wayside for he certainly was not as promising as a Curtis for example. He was probably a very talented player who never had the outlet where he could expose his talent to the world. He became a drug pusher and one of the telling scenes in the film is seeing Arthur’s father receiving drugs while the filmmakers were getting footage of Arthur's workout. It’s not done in a close up but at a distance in a little alley. Arthur is clearly ashamed. His father eventually goes to jail because he beat on Arthur’s mother because she tried to resist his propensity to steal goods from the house to buy drugs so as to satisfy his addiction or perhaps to sell. He too, like Curtis, wants to see his dreams fulfilled through his son.
The mothers however are the true anchors in the lives of the two boys. Their solid devotion to the needs of their children is truly inspiring. William gates says he does not know how he could ever repay his mother which is a sign that love is a rare thing from their areas in the projects and the role of mothers is practically a lifeline and we see the consequences that befall Arthur’s best friend because he did not have a solid family background. Arthur’s mother gets more attention in this film as she speaks more about her trials in life especially her inability, at times, to provide for the needs of her children making $268 a month and it gets worse when she's taken off welfare. She asks do you ever wonder how she manages to take care of her children on such a small budget? What the film does without trivializing isin highlighting the efforts made by both families to keep the kinships alive. Dinner is always put on the table even if its scraps and when Arthur celebrates his 18th birthday it is overwhelmingly important for they make it clear that not many of his childhood friends will reach that milestone in their lives. One of the most powerful scenes is when Arthur’s mother receives a certificate so that she can practice as a nurse's assistant and she achieves this milestone at the top of her class. We have some fiction films that trivialise the importance of people reaching the pinnacle or the zenith in some activity like cheerleading or some sports league (imagine the rise of Forrest Gump) but when has receiving the position of a nurse's assistant been so moving. The ceremony is only attended by her son Arthur and his little brother but it’s now one of the most memorable images of my film viewing experience. This scene made me realize that although there are admittedly big achievers there are the people whose recognition largely goes unrecognized but are keeping the engines turning and setting the platform so that great achievements can be achieved. She achieved it(a summary of what she said) also to give Arthur the extra motivation he needed to complete high school for at the time she received her certificate Arthur was deflated after hearing that he had to drop out of St. josephs, the school of his idol Isaiah Thomas, and would now have to take the weary path of so many of his brothers through the public school of Marshall High. His grade point average became substantially low and the basketball team was an unknown challenger in the high school competition. After that scene with his mother you notice that Arthur becomes more focused on his game and he does so well the team places third in the overall national competition. The focus and determination that made him strive for the NBA when he was younger becomes more apparent yet again and by leading the underdogs to place third in the national championships he is able to go to junior college and eventually goes to Arkansas state university for two years. That was the energy that would have seen him go to the NBA but as a result of various setbacks he had to bite the bullet and by the end you could tell that his heart is not into it anymore as it was when he was younger.
The more pressing issue in the film is not only the drive of the athletes but of the structures of professional basketball which start at the high school level. William gates by the end of the film does not get much motivation from basketball anymore and this depression occurred with those setbacks due to injury and then the subsequent aggravation of the injury because of the drive to succeed. The pressure of achieving in a sport like this has everyone questioning their potential. The coach at St. Josephs, Pingatore, is a driver he works the boys hard because he has always wanted to go down state and as good as the structure at St. Josephs is the team never went downstate to the national championships even when Isaiah Thomas was on the side. The coach sees this possibility with William gates but without giving his injury a time to heal William goes against the wishes of his doctor and is injured again. His coach simply told him that it’s up to him, and only him, if he wants to play despite William informing him of the doctor's instruction. William says of his coach that basketball became his life and he wanted you to feel the same. He goes on to say that after awhile he felt that he was working rather than playing for love of the game. Its telling because he was only 16 and this is why many talented players never make it as far. We watch in the documentary how the two boys, following in the path of Isaiah Thomas, have to get up at 5:30 every morning to commute to school for nearly a hour and a half journey by bus and train. It’s no surprise that William arrives late for a game in one scene. William however can’t focus entirely on basketball because he has family commitments such as his baby daughter and he becomes disillusioned by his coach who tells him after he asks advice on what to do about the mother's parents annoying him the coach simply tells him to forget about them. It’s clear that by the end it’s not just the dreams and not everyone can make basketball their all consuming desire. I can imagine that some professional players in these top sports leagues are not good at committing to the so called banal activities of family life because of this all consuming desire that needs the regular shot in the arm. I am supposing that if you do make it to the NBA you would want your team to win the championships and so forth and you can see during the final discussion with his coach that William can’t share in his overriding passions for the game and their separation is so estranged that it lingered with me. One satisfying moment was seeing Coach Pingatore watch from the sidelines as Arthur led his team to third position in the national championships; the same Arthur who he said did not have the drive or confidence. Arthur was hard done by that school that at one time refused to release his transcripts to the Marshall school because his parents owed them 1800 dollars. What Arthur’s parents make clear is that he would not have to owe the school anything if the scout had never come and recruited him in the first place. The scout was responsible for sending the not so well to do Arthur to this prestigious school without even considering the negative outcome of such a situation should his parents, who are not so well to do, be unable to find the money to pay. It’s a telling scene when the parents have to go to the school to beg for the transcripts so that their son would be able to graduate from high school. The parents eventually received it after making arrangements to pay back the school.
The projects are presented as a very cold place and even though you are a part of the city you still feel as if you have to keep pushing because there is a centre from which you are far removed and this reminded me of the struggles of inner city communities in many industrialized countries. In the film the community is a distant urban dwelling given shape and structure by the poverty that lingers in every shop or on every journey through the streets. It can bind you so tight that if you do not have any desires of success you can be rest assured that your fate looks grim. This film captures the essence of family and what a small bundle of faith it is in communities like this for with family there is a chance that you can make it out of the ghetto however without it you are left to the whims of the drug pushers and gang bangers. Although Arthur’s father admittedly falls off and by the end you are aware of his many flaws you can’t help but appreciate his desire to remain a part of his son’s life. There is one duel that they have on the court where Arthur beats his father in a ne on one game but his resentment at his father comes boiling over. Arthur may dislike his father but one cannot deny that he remained committed to his family even seeking repentance with the church although this too was short lived. There are not many fathers who will hang around when times get sticky. William’s father for instance only takes notice of his son when he realizes that his son has a good chance of going pro; prior to this he was not in the least interested in his sons’ future These episodes reminded me of the final scene in the spike lee film released in 1998 'He got game' which was clearly influenced by this film. In this film it is made clear that although the father (Denxel Washington) has his flaws the son cannot deny that his father remained committed to see him be successful.
There are countless films dealing with the matters of race and the struggles of blacks in America however the themes presented in those films are often presented with too much flair and sentimental pulp. These films emphasize too often how the white man sees the black man as a savage and so forth but few of them paint the picture which would give the viewer a sense of the environment that creates the so called. ‘Hoop Dreams’ achieves this in powerful ways because, as a result of their journey, the insights of these boys with regards to life seem fresh. This is all achieved because in the film it’s taken time to develop. ‘Boyz ‘n the Hood’ also does this to an extent but not on the scale of ‘Hoop Dreams’. What these two films have done is to give you a sense of the environment that has been created and which creates an endless cycle of despair unless you have the daring to dream big and work towards it. Now when I see these NBA stars and the riches that they have accumulated films such as this keep you grounded and gives you a look at the other side. You also get a sense of the material motivations of the African Americans and when some people see the success of the black man as crass materialism I have to see it as success for no one splurges money like the capitalist class. This film is eternal, its unpretentious, this is one of the greatest films ever made from a black perspective. There are no forced errors and you can at last sit back and enjoy without wondering how did he do that? or how did that happen? And like all great films the scenes are allowed to develop and most of these scenes have a definite impact on the final outcome.
There were over 250 hours of film footage which was eventually cut down to three. It was never nominated for best documentary at the academy awards or best film and this gave rise to much public outcry. After watching it you will see why. It was nominated for best film editing which was a first and only for a documentary feature. If you watch only one documentary in your life let it be ‘Hoop Dreams’.
This film centres on two promising black basketball athletes, William gates and Arthur Agee. When we first meet them they are in the prime of their youth and their dreams seem too far removed from the harsh daily reality. Their dream is to play in the NBA and as the film opens in the Chicago projects one of the first shots is both youngsters watching the great Michael Jordan playing for the Chicago bulls. Their dreams however are believable because they are extremely talented players and it seems possible that they will achieve their goals because the great Isaiah Thomas also took the same route to success. They are so talented that a scout comes and recruits them to play for a premier high school St. Josephs. It is emphasized throughout the film that the great Isaiah Thomas used to play for this school and ended up making it all the way to the NBA: the greatest basketball league on earth. The youngsters are accepted into the school and then their paths start to diverge and the relief is that it’s not a fictional twist it’s all apart of the daily vicissitudes of life. William gates receives a full scholarship primarily because he excels in his first year and is granted a benefactor who vows that he will not have to worry about expenses for the remainder of his time there. Arthur’s scholarship on the other hand covers a portion of his tuition and his parents have to foot the rest of the bill. After his first year the coach Pingatore is not satisfied with Arthurs’ attitude to the game believing that he does not have the drive to be a great ball player. He however sees it in William gates. Arthur joins the junior team while William is allowed to train with the senior/ varsity squad. After the first year Arthur is forced to leave the school because his parents can’t foot the bill after his scholarship is revoked. This is the first setback to his NBA dream for as you know the best way to the NBA in America is to do well in high school receive a scholarship to an A list college and then after that who knows maybe the scouts will see something special. St. Josephs is supposed to be one of those elite schools so going there should help you on your way. William continues moving forward however and seems unstoppable until, nearing the end of his sophomore year, damages the cartilage in his knee and has to be put on the sidelines. This is his first setback to the illustrious NBA dream. When these setbacks occur we begin to get a first hand look into the realities of their lives and the film takes you on an emotional journey that lasts five years: from their first year at St. josephs to their first year in college. When the setbacks occur you realise the estrangement of some people when they hear of the American dream. When the cameras make a broad sweep of the block and you hear of the trials such as when Arthurs’ family have to go through the winter without light and heat you begin to understand the distance of the American dream and how, when any slight of hand occurs, the dream might as well rival the distance of the stars from the earth. What the film made me realize is the consequences of daring to dream. This is the heart of the movie because (as does occur with a lot of people) one of the great tragedies in life for a human being is daring to dream (especially dreaming big), daring to pursue that dream and falling by the wayside unable to keep up with the requirements to pursue that dream. Although by the end of the film it’s not clear whether or not they have reached the NBA, although if you are interested in their lives you will discover that they never did make it, it becomes apparent to them by the end of the film that their drive has changed the realities creep in and take hold like tentacles.
We encounter two male figures present in the boys’ lives that have fallen by the wayside and are a constant reminder throughout the film of the fate that awaits these youngsters should they fall. William’s brother Curtis and Arthur’s father Arthur Bo' Agee, he is referred to as Bo. Curtis, William’s brother, also began promisingly like his little brother but lack of discipline and finesse cost him his college scholarship and now he has grown overweight working as a security guard dreaming through his brother. He always makes clear that he wants his brother to make it so bad so at least he can see his dreams come through albeit in a different light. The same goes for Arthur’s father Bo who was also a promising basketball player but also became lost in his pursuit although its not fully explained why he fell by the wayside for he certainly was not as promising as a Curtis for example. He was probably a very talented player who never had the outlet where he could expose his talent to the world. He became a drug pusher and one of the telling scenes in the film is seeing Arthur’s father receiving drugs while the filmmakers were getting footage of Arthur's workout. It’s not done in a close up but at a distance in a little alley. Arthur is clearly ashamed. His father eventually goes to jail because he beat on Arthur’s mother because she tried to resist his propensity to steal goods from the house to buy drugs so as to satisfy his addiction or perhaps to sell. He too, like Curtis, wants to see his dreams fulfilled through his son.
The mothers however are the true anchors in the lives of the two boys. Their solid devotion to the needs of their children is truly inspiring. William gates says he does not know how he could ever repay his mother which is a sign that love is a rare thing from their areas in the projects and the role of mothers is practically a lifeline and we see the consequences that befall Arthur’s best friend because he did not have a solid family background. Arthur’s mother gets more attention in this film as she speaks more about her trials in life especially her inability, at times, to provide for the needs of her children making $268 a month and it gets worse when she's taken off welfare. She asks do you ever wonder how she manages to take care of her children on such a small budget? What the film does without trivializing isin highlighting the efforts made by both families to keep the kinships alive. Dinner is always put on the table even if its scraps and when Arthur celebrates his 18th birthday it is overwhelmingly important for they make it clear that not many of his childhood friends will reach that milestone in their lives. One of the most powerful scenes is when Arthur’s mother receives a certificate so that she can practice as a nurse's assistant and she achieves this milestone at the top of her class. We have some fiction films that trivialise the importance of people reaching the pinnacle or the zenith in some activity like cheerleading or some sports league (imagine the rise of Forrest Gump) but when has receiving the position of a nurse's assistant been so moving. The ceremony is only attended by her son Arthur and his little brother but it’s now one of the most memorable images of my film viewing experience. This scene made me realize that although there are admittedly big achievers there are the people whose recognition largely goes unrecognized but are keeping the engines turning and setting the platform so that great achievements can be achieved. She achieved it(a summary of what she said) also to give Arthur the extra motivation he needed to complete high school for at the time she received her certificate Arthur was deflated after hearing that he had to drop out of St. josephs, the school of his idol Isaiah Thomas, and would now have to take the weary path of so many of his brothers through the public school of Marshall High. His grade point average became substantially low and the basketball team was an unknown challenger in the high school competition. After that scene with his mother you notice that Arthur becomes more focused on his game and he does so well the team places third in the overall national competition. The focus and determination that made him strive for the NBA when he was younger becomes more apparent yet again and by leading the underdogs to place third in the national championships he is able to go to junior college and eventually goes to Arkansas state university for two years. That was the energy that would have seen him go to the NBA but as a result of various setbacks he had to bite the bullet and by the end you could tell that his heart is not into it anymore as it was when he was younger.
The more pressing issue in the film is not only the drive of the athletes but of the structures of professional basketball which start at the high school level. William gates by the end of the film does not get much motivation from basketball anymore and this depression occurred with those setbacks due to injury and then the subsequent aggravation of the injury because of the drive to succeed. The pressure of achieving in a sport like this has everyone questioning their potential. The coach at St. Josephs, Pingatore, is a driver he works the boys hard because he has always wanted to go down state and as good as the structure at St. Josephs is the team never went downstate to the national championships even when Isaiah Thomas was on the side. The coach sees this possibility with William gates but without giving his injury a time to heal William goes against the wishes of his doctor and is injured again. His coach simply told him that it’s up to him, and only him, if he wants to play despite William informing him of the doctor's instruction. William says of his coach that basketball became his life and he wanted you to feel the same. He goes on to say that after awhile he felt that he was working rather than playing for love of the game. Its telling because he was only 16 and this is why many talented players never make it as far. We watch in the documentary how the two boys, following in the path of Isaiah Thomas, have to get up at 5:30 every morning to commute to school for nearly a hour and a half journey by bus and train. It’s no surprise that William arrives late for a game in one scene. William however can’t focus entirely on basketball because he has family commitments such as his baby daughter and he becomes disillusioned by his coach who tells him after he asks advice on what to do about the mother's parents annoying him the coach simply tells him to forget about them. It’s clear that by the end it’s not just the dreams and not everyone can make basketball their all consuming desire. I can imagine that some professional players in these top sports leagues are not good at committing to the so called banal activities of family life because of this all consuming desire that needs the regular shot in the arm. I am supposing that if you do make it to the NBA you would want your team to win the championships and so forth and you can see during the final discussion with his coach that William can’t share in his overriding passions for the game and their separation is so estranged that it lingered with me. One satisfying moment was seeing Coach Pingatore watch from the sidelines as Arthur led his team to third position in the national championships; the same Arthur who he said did not have the drive or confidence. Arthur was hard done by that school that at one time refused to release his transcripts to the Marshall school because his parents owed them 1800 dollars. What Arthur’s parents make clear is that he would not have to owe the school anything if the scout had never come and recruited him in the first place. The scout was responsible for sending the not so well to do Arthur to this prestigious school without even considering the negative outcome of such a situation should his parents, who are not so well to do, be unable to find the money to pay. It’s a telling scene when the parents have to go to the school to beg for the transcripts so that their son would be able to graduate from high school. The parents eventually received it after making arrangements to pay back the school.
The projects are presented as a very cold place and even though you are a part of the city you still feel as if you have to keep pushing because there is a centre from which you are far removed and this reminded me of the struggles of inner city communities in many industrialized countries. In the film the community is a distant urban dwelling given shape and structure by the poverty that lingers in every shop or on every journey through the streets. It can bind you so tight that if you do not have any desires of success you can be rest assured that your fate looks grim. This film captures the essence of family and what a small bundle of faith it is in communities like this for with family there is a chance that you can make it out of the ghetto however without it you are left to the whims of the drug pushers and gang bangers. Although Arthur’s father admittedly falls off and by the end you are aware of his many flaws you can’t help but appreciate his desire to remain a part of his son’s life. There is one duel that they have on the court where Arthur beats his father in a ne on one game but his resentment at his father comes boiling over. Arthur may dislike his father but one cannot deny that he remained committed to his family even seeking repentance with the church although this too was short lived. There are not many fathers who will hang around when times get sticky. William’s father for instance only takes notice of his son when he realizes that his son has a good chance of going pro; prior to this he was not in the least interested in his sons’ future These episodes reminded me of the final scene in the spike lee film released in 1998 'He got game' which was clearly influenced by this film. In this film it is made clear that although the father (Denxel Washington) has his flaws the son cannot deny that his father remained committed to see him be successful.
There are countless films dealing with the matters of race and the struggles of blacks in America however the themes presented in those films are often presented with too much flair and sentimental pulp. These films emphasize too often how the white man sees the black man as a savage and so forth but few of them paint the picture which would give the viewer a sense of the environment that creates the so called. ‘Hoop Dreams’ achieves this in powerful ways because, as a result of their journey, the insights of these boys with regards to life seem fresh. This is all achieved because in the film it’s taken time to develop. ‘Boyz ‘n the Hood’ also does this to an extent but not on the scale of ‘Hoop Dreams’. What these two films have done is to give you a sense of the environment that has been created and which creates an endless cycle of despair unless you have the daring to dream big and work towards it. Now when I see these NBA stars and the riches that they have accumulated films such as this keep you grounded and gives you a look at the other side. You also get a sense of the material motivations of the African Americans and when some people see the success of the black man as crass materialism I have to see it as success for no one splurges money like the capitalist class. This film is eternal, its unpretentious, this is one of the greatest films ever made from a black perspective. There are no forced errors and you can at last sit back and enjoy without wondering how did he do that? or how did that happen? And like all great films the scenes are allowed to develop and most of these scenes have a definite impact on the final outcome.
There were over 250 hours of film footage which was eventually cut down to three. It was never nominated for best documentary at the academy awards or best film and this gave rise to much public outcry. After watching it you will see why. It was nominated for best film editing which was a first and only for a documentary feature. If you watch only one documentary in your life let it be ‘Hoop Dreams’.
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