Coach Carter (2005)

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Coach Carter was released on January 14, 2005, in the USA. The American drama film was produced by MTV Films. The movie storyline was written by Mark Schwan, directed by Thomas Carter. The movie was based on the true story of Ken Carter, a basketball coach at Richmond High in 1999. Moreover, some of the facts of it may have been even worse such as having no shoes for the basketball team and no nets on the hoops within the gym.

Coach Carter[1]

Plot

Coach Ken Carter returns to his old high school in Richmond as a basketball coach, where he was a basketball star player on the Richmond Oilers. He commands a strict regime typified in signed contracts that demand respectful behavior, a formal dress code, and a minimal 2.3 GPA. Despite the outrage towards his method, he attempts to discipline the basketball team in a way that not only allows them to win the basketball games but also graduates from high school excellently and winning everything in their life for their future.[2]

Black Empowerment

In the movie, there is a scene where Coach Carter locks the gym and requires the players to catch up on their education. The parents gather against Carter assuming that he has stolen the path where their kids can be in the spotlight — on the basketball court. But the coach has a much higher thought for each of the players — a life that will not end with a series of triumphs on the basketball court. He knows that most of the players would probably fail after high school graduation and escaping from racism and poverty can be outperformed with higher education. In the end, most of his players went on to attend college furthering their studies and succeed in their life[3].

Controversy

The racial differences are shown very vividly such as when Coach Carter goes to where Richmon High is placed, there is graffiti on the walls, the necessity of locking up his entire shop implicitly shows that the place where African Americans live is lots of theft and crime. Moreover, the students of Richmond High speak ill-mannered, show violence, and bad behaviors which imply that African Americans come from a bad neighborhood.

References