As discussed in Lecture 8, boxing has long been an urban sport that is popular amongst working-class ethnic and racial groups, including immigrants

PART 1 – As discussed in Lecture 8, boxing has long been an urban sport that is popular amongst working-class ethnic and racial groups, including immigrants, who live in the rougher, harder-hit  communities of the Big City As with basketball, boxing promised escape from poverty, and the dream of ‘making it big’. Correspondingly, boxing, along with other urban sports, as served as a mirror, reflecting cultural attitudes about race, ethnicity and identity in America.

That is why  (according to former NBA basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar) professional sports may be the best hope for change –  regarding racial issues –  because it has the best chance of informing the public about those issues, and motivating them to act. Sports offer an impactful ‘closeup’ on the surrounding, daily social reality of the athletes’ environment, to which spectators can relate.

Can we say the same about politics? For example – social and political movements,  urban protests and violent confrontations with police  in the city streets? Do these also help to inform the public about pressing issues in their society and culture, and motivate them to act?   

Discuss with respect to the films Medium Cool, Creed, and any other films in the Media Kiosk that you deem comparable or relevant. How do these two films inform us about important issues, and also, how do they reflect the context of their times, both narratively  (in terms of the story and character) and cinematically (in terms of ‘cinema verite’ techniques)?

 Don’t forget to include examples from the films to support your points – and  feel free to also include relevant examples from the Media Kiosk items in Stop 8!

PART 2: Watch the extract  from The Purge Anarchy (James DeMonaco, 2014) and look for uses of Cinema verite technique!  How is the iconography of the city, combined with cinema verite techniques to represent urban space as a dark and terrifying space, but also to comment on pressing social and political issues in the current context off-screen?