Stereotypes In Finding Forrester

Professor Crawford is a assertive human. He does not like to be corrected. The first time Jamal turned in an essay Professor Crawford doubted that he wrote it by himself. Crawford doubted Jamal because he was African American. Jamal is an extremely talented writer and Crawford knows, but he refuses to accept the fact and continues to bring Jamal down. Crawford wanted to see if Jamal can come up with his own words so he made Jamal write an essay with his supervision.

William and Jamal both experienced struggle but that is what made them who they were. Jamal and william both struggle with accepting themselves. Jamal is a genius but doesn’t want people to know how smart he is. He thinks that his peers my tease him or view him a different way. Willam can't accept himself for who he is he doesn’t even let people get close to him so that they can realize who he is.

An identity of an individual may not conveyed to everyone in society, and they may possess unexpected qualities and skills. Throughout Finding Forrester, Jamal, the main character from the Bronx, meets a man who turns out to be William Forrester; a famous author. Jamal is intrigued to writing and is a skilled writer, enough to get him transferred from the public school to a private school. Jamal frequently visits William at his apartment that he never leaves to discusses literature and write papers. In the visits, Jamal and William discover each other's true identities through their writings. Jamal´s professor accuses him of plagiarism for using writing from Forrester, but is saved by William when he says he had permission to use his work. This moment shows the relationship they built by showing their true identity to each other. In the movie, Finding Forrester, a message displayed is that identity can be revealed through stereotypical based conflicts, and by individuals stereotyping another without further knowledge of their background.

On the other hand, Jamal is a sixteen-year old African American male who went to a private school on a scholarship and lives with his mother and brother. Unlike Forrester, he enjoys going outside, interacting with his friends from school and going to basketball games. Another difference between the Jamal and Forrester is his confrontational attitude. When harassed by another student from school on the basketball court, he handled the problem in his own way, proving his ability to do as well as the next person, which gained the respect from the coach and the other students.

Jamal also has better resources to deal with the struggles of adolescence because he has a close friend. William Forrester, who helps him in his school. We can see that in the film, Forrester, being a writer, helps Jamal improve his writing skills. Forrester also helps Jamal against his teacher who believes that Jamal is plagiarising his work from someone. Forrester does this by coming to his school and showing them how good of a writer Jamal actually is by reading out his

For Jamal this dream is to write. A simple ambition with little direction to begin, encouragement from an unexpected, but beneficial friend, leads to a blossoming of potential in Jamal. This skill is especially prominent when Jamal’s test scores come back. Everyone is surprised at the excellence they show from a student who does just enough to get by, but they open doors Jamal had never considered for himself. A full scholarship to the prestigious private school, Mailor-Callow, being at the top of the list. Having this opportunity presented to him is a shock to Jamal, who simply knew he loved to read and write. Now, having to consider his options, Jamal reflects upon them. Either he can either continue at his present school and maintain his status with the same assumptions involving his race and economic status to be made about him or he can pursue his dreams. But the decision and how he will use the opportunity are left up to the only person that can truly impact his dreams, Jamal himself. In the end, opportunity wins out and Jamal chooses to attend the school and begin his new path. Such a path may not have been possible at all without the help of William Forrester. “Forrester brings out Jamal’s intelligence and Jamal brings Forrester back into life,” says Rob Brown. “They need each other in a way they never imagined, (Movielocity, 2001, p. 2).” Both individuals assist and encourage each other's dreams. Forrester’s method and help is obvious throughout the movie while Jamal’s effect on Forrester is more subtle. The one instance of Jamal directly influencing Forrester is when, on Forrester’s birthday, Jamal attempts to take him to a basketball game. Hundreds of people are in attendance and after years of isolation, the crowd is frightening to Forrester. Jamal redeems the evening by taking him to an empty Yankee Stadium, where some of Forrester’s better memories of the past

Different characters find different mechanisms to hide their true selves to avoid reactions. In the movie Finding Forrester the main character Jamal Wallace, a 16 year old African American kid from the Bronx is challenged. During his time attending a public school in the Bronx,

Finding Forrester is a story about Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) finding himself through his writing. In the beginning of this movie, Jamal is shown playing basketball with his friends, and his mother is told that he has very high test scores. However, he only has a C average, but he receives an offer from the preparatory school Mailor-Callow. As he attends this school, he excels in school and basketball, and he is able to embrace his talent as a writer with the help of William Forrester (Sean Connery). Finding Forrester is a typical example of a movie lacking in plot lines that is both predictable and cliché, however; the backgrounds in this movie represented the change from hopelessness to hopefulness of William and Jamal.

An anonymous person stated “You’re always one decision away from a totally different life”. This quote explains one, little or big, decision a person makes can change their life majorly. In Finding Forrester, Jamal and William Forrester always make decisions that change their life. Jamal is an African American student who lives in the Bronx. He is a good author and basketball player, but he is afraid to show his writing skills. Jamal is definitely not afraid to show off his basketball skills; meanwhile, him and his friends will be playing basketball on the outside court and there is, what they believe, a stalker watching them. One day, Jamal's friends dare him to break into the stalker’s apartment and steal something. Jamal takes on this dare and decides to go into his apartment through the window. While looking through the apartment, not only

When Jamal is initially introduced in the movie, he does not trust William because of the rumors that were spread about him. Although he does not know William, he has a negative attitude towards him because of his lack of trust for him. This connects to the topic because it displays how Jamal’s attitude towards William is influenced by his lack of trust for him. Professor Crawford, with minimal trust in Jamal to begin with, loses his remaining trust in Jamal and does not believe that he is doing his own work. His attitude towards Jamal changes; therefore, he becomes skeptical because of this lack of trust and suggests that Jamal proves that he writes his own papers. Jamal and William see past racism and discrimination to help each other solve problems (Movielocity, 2001, p.2). William and Jamal are able to trust each other, which allows them to disregard their differences. This also makes it easier for them to exhibit positive attitudes towards each other as they work together. Berardinelli (2000) states, “Although his streetwise background makes him a social outsider amidst a sea of rich, pampered kids, Jamal’s performance on the court and in the classroom earns him the respect of his teachers and peers” (p.1). This exemplifies trust because his performance on the court and in class earned him the trust of other people. The people display positive attitudes towards him, so they respect

The setting takes place in a time period where black people face discrimination every day. Both these men are joined together and find that they have a lot in common because they are from the same race. They both understand how it feels to be rejected and mistreated by a superior race. In this novel, African American people have and are still being treated horribly by others, as Grant Wiggins states, “We black men have failed to protect our women since the time of slavery. We stay here in the South and are broken, or we run away and leave them alone to look after the children and themselves.”(Gaines 167) Grant Wiggins is a smart and kind man who wants to change things for his people. Although Grant wants freedom for his race, it is difficult to achieve because they are surrounded by a large number of superior racist social classes in the South of United

A black teenage boy living in the Bronx and a best selling novelist living in isolation. Sounds like complete opposites right? Well they actually are quite similar but in fact these two’s differences do help them push each other to new understandings and ways of thinking. In the movie Finding Forrester, two unforeseen individuals become companions and form a bond as teacher and student. In the beginning both characters are closed off to the world in some way. Forrester traps himself in his home hiding from his critics and pain from the past, Jamal tries to fit in by maintaining a C average and practicing his love for reading and writing in secret. This secret is not kept for long after Jamal 's test scores come in showing the evidence of

Sixteen year old Jamal Wallace is a black teenager, and high school student growing up in the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, located south of Westchester County called the Bronx. He's a very intelligent student, but in order to fit in and have friends, he only does enough classwork to hold a C average in his classes, and alternatively concentrates his skills on the basketball court. The only thing he lets himself do education wise and succeedingly well is his writing, which he keeps secret. Then two things take place, almost at the same time, which force Jamal to reconsider the direction of his life. First, his outstanding scores on standardised tests brings the interest of a prestigious private school, which offers him a full scholarship and a chance at a very different life.

One may wonder why white and black people hate one another and are friends at the same time. Due to slavery and controversy surrounding it, white and black people hate and don’t get along with each other, but it doesn’t prevent them from becoming friends. In the movies “Finding Forester” Williams Forester is a white, middle-aged former professor, that lives in an isolated apartment. And Jamal Wallace is a black teenage student, who goes to a private school. Williams and Jamal are writers and share the same interest in writing, but their characteristics are different in terms of their personalities and living situations.

Stereotypes can be defined as viewing an entire group of people in a generalized way, and they impact our society in many ways (Stereotype). For example, in an interview with Guy Raz from NPR, Jamila Lyiscott says, “You have this lens where you're looking at yourself through the lens of other people the way that they're looking at you” (Staff). This evidence reveals support for the definition of a stereotype by showing how others viewed her because of outward appearance; however, Lyiscott should not look at herself through the lens of others because in the end their opinion doesn't matter. This also shows that stereotypes affect society by the amount of confidence a person has after being judged solely on the way they look, and the feeling that they need to change to please others. Without a doubt, stereotypes affect society in many ways just like they affected Jamila Lyiscott's life.