Finding Forrester
Before the Film
There are two very distinguishable ambients illustrated toward the beginning of the film. One is a typical street scene in a “black” part of the Bronx, New York City with a group of boys playing basketball. There are rows and rows of high rise apartment buildings. The other is inside an apartment of an older white gentleman observing outside with the use of binoculars. The boys call the older white man “window” since he is always at the window looking outwards, usually at them.
The protagonist of the film is Jamal who lives with his mother and older brother.
Class and race differences are discussed throughout the film. What is classism? What is racism? Discuss these forms of prejudice. Look for how these themes enter into the storyline?
The boys talk with an abbreviated English that you often hear from inner city youth, see if you can make out some of the lines. They have the tendency to drop the last “y” or “g” so coming becomes cumin', going becomes goin'. They also often leave out the vowels. And the “th”becomes “d” so “that is pronounced “dat.” Here are a couple of examples to get you started:
What's up? - How are you?
Yo Y'll - Hey there you all
You got somethin' for me? - Are you going to defend yourself while I try to
make a basket?
Draft Bozza
Two comma kids Referring to people who earn numbers with two
commas, as in 1,000,000$
See if you can make out other phrases particular to an inner city dialect. There's a very funny line when Jamal's older brother is insisting that Jamal and his friend stay out of trouble. He says “let me tell you in four words: BUS TON RED SOX (for the Boston Red Sox baseball team).
The boys are scared of the older white man and end up appointing Jamal to go up to his apartment in secret to check it out. He uses the fire exit ladder to climb upstairs. Be ready to describe the apartment of Sean Connery's character. Name some of the objects in the apartment.
Jamal is found with extremely high test results in an exam given to high school students all over America, one of several standardized tests given nationwide. One of the reputable Manhattan high schools came to recruit Jamal based on his scores. He would be awarded a scholarship (borsa di studio) to attend the school and would be welcome to play basketball.
Jamal is a success on both counts. He is exceptional in the classroom and on the basketball courts. Here the film enters a dynamic you find in many schools. Students of colour are recruited to a school to study but really they are recruited for their athletic ability. It is sometimes not clear if the student is present only to play sports or to study AND play. In Jamal's case he is able to do both but often in these circumstances it is not clear. Watch how this dynamic enters into the storyline of the film.
As the two protagonists are getting to know one another, their discussions are not always easy. When one asks the other a question that is too complicated or delicate, they respond, “that's a soup question.” See if you can hear these questions during the film. How did the name originate. What does a “soup question” mean?
After the Film
Why is Jamal, the protagonist of the film, unusual?
Did you understand the “BMW” discussion between the younger white delivery man and Jamal? Why were the two scared of one another? What did each have to prove to the other? What was the purpose of Jamal describing the history of BMW?
When the recruiter for the school in Manhattan comes to meet Jamal and Jamal's mother, he ends the conversation with “Graduation was rough on last year's team.” What does that comment mean?
Is Jamal seen as a regular recruited student to the school or do people, like the English teacher, think he is there only because he could play basketball? The English teacher goes as far as to say “his writing is too good.”
Explain the dynamic of the two black boys on the basketball team. Why were they competitive in your opinion? When Jamal says, “Am I taking your spot?” What was he referring to? And when the other more experienced black basketball player says “They think we're the same, but we're not.” What does this comment refer to?
Jamal takes the metro to school. He goes from his neighbourhood in the Bronx to Manhattan. How are the people in Manhattan different from those in his neighbourhood?
Describe Claire Spence, the student who is a guide for Jamal during his first days at school. Who is she? What is her attitude toward the school? The teachers? She says to Jamal, “Must be hard – new friends, new place.” And Jamal responds, “What's hard is the police don't want you out after dark. What's hard is not feeling safe.” What do you think about this dialogue? How do their perspectives differ?
When the two protagonists finally talk, Forrester says “and you're black.” Jamal responses “what do you mean by that?” Later when they have more time to talk Forrester explains he was merely taking note of all the problems Jamal mostly likely had to put up with in trying to be a studious writer as a young black man. What does this point mean? Can you explain what Forrester was saying?
The two protagonists talk a lot about writing. What do you think about the following comments?
1.You write the first draft with your heart and the second with your head.
- The key to writing is to write not to think.
- It's a simple movement that takes us from page one to page two and when you start to feel your own words, write them.A bitterly disappointed teacher can be very effective or very dangerous (when referring to the English teacher at Jamal's school.
- The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time.
What did you think of the English teacher. Why does he want to humiliate the students? Jamal?
The ending speech by Sean Connery's character states, “you are too young to know what your wishes will be.”
What do you think about this comment? What does it mean?
What is the message to the film in your opinion?