What is it about sports films that touch our heart? The sports film continues to make millions at the box office no matter how many times the sport has been covered in a film before. There are so many different twists and turns that make a sports film unique and strike a personal chord with an audience that make it successful, and therefore never go out of style. There is literally a sports movie for every sports fan. They can relate because they can find something in them depicted during the movie. In chapter 11 of our handbook, it says "The sports film genre is as prolific as it is popular." Meaning, there are a lot of sports movies produced, but they still have success with audiences. In the article I found in Variety Magazine titled "Hollywood Bets on a Few Good Sports" the author, Dave McNary, reiterates that same mantra. He interviewed producer-director Brian Robbins(Hardball, Coach Carter, Dreamer) who points out that "Like any genre, when films work, it winds up sparking a lot of development. The success of sports films makes people realize that there are a lot of great stories in sports that inherently touch people on a personal basis."
Despite popularity for the Sports film genre in the United States, sports films fail to do as well overseas. In McNary's article http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117910572.html?categoryid=1011&cs=1&query=hollywood+bets+on+a+few+good+sports he cites that the baseball film The Rookie made $75 million in the United States, but only accrued $5 million overseas. Miracle and Seabiscuit had similar fates outside of America. This article was printed in 2004, but I don't think sports films have had much better luck in the past 4 years internationally. My question for everyone is why do you believe sports films can thrive in the United States? How can there be so many films about the same sport and still have successful runs at the box office? Also, why do you think sports films don't do as well overseas? Why would a film like Bend It Like Beckham have more popularity than a film like The Rookie? Why wouldn't a film like Miracle do well even though hockey is very popular internationally?
Just as an extra tidbit, I just found another article written by McNary about the Sports film genre on March 7, 2008. He claims that the recent "so-so" performance of Will Ferrell's sports film Semi-Pro is nothing to worry about for the sports film genre. The sports genre will pick back up again with the upcoming George Clooney film Leatherheads. Producers aren't giving up on the genre just yet. Just because there is a small dip in box office success recently, it will come back around. Do you agree? http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982074.html?categoryid=1019&cs=1
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Sports films are my favorite type of genre. Every time I watch a sports film, it gets me pumped up and pushes me to go out on a field and play that sport. It involves all of your emotions and it’s just a feel good movie. There is a sports movie for every sports fan. Doesn’t matter what sport you are interested in—baseball, basketball, football, ice hockey etc.
Sports films don’t do well overseas because American sports are more watched and cared about. In my opinion, the American sport is baseball and every baseball movie does fantastic. Miracle wouldn’t do well overseas because it’s about the American team that won in 1980. Why would international people want to watch something that made the Americans look good?
According to our handbook on page 314, “…individuals tend to intentionally choose media content that is presumed to be, by and large, consistent with their attitudes, beliefs and thoughts.” TV channels like YES and NESN as well as sports films are more supported by Americans than other people in the world.
To answer Jill’s question about the upcoming George Clooney film Leatherheads, I definitely think it will stir up some fans. I think it will come around because Clooney is a great actor and the public will go see this movie. I want to see this film. I hope it does well.
Sports have a major impact on people ways of life. It plays a major role in how we see other sports fans, like Yankee fans dislike Sox fans and the other way around, as well as recently, Patriots fans dislike Giants fans. If sports didn’t have an impact on how we live, would it make people less hostile?
Wow I totally just got off track…back to sports films. How can sports thrive in the United States? There are so many films based on the same sport but they all do well in the box office. Why is that? Everyone is interested in different types of perspectives on things. The more variety of perspectives and attitudes shown, the better.
In response to Jill’s post, I believe sports films thrive in the US solely based on “our love for the game”. Sports films do so well in the states because sporting events are so successful. The fact that we have a 24 hour sports and entertainment network that provides sports coverage worldwide that has continued to be extremely successful over the years shows American’s dedication to sports. I also feel that the sports genre is so successful for the same reason sports are successful; most people dream of being a professional athlete and if they can’t be one, they want to know what it’s like to be one. With the advances in technology, sports films give you the feeling of being on the sidelines and are able to show you the emotions attached to the players. In Chapter 11 of the Handbook there is a short section on the themes and clichés of sports fiction and I could not agree more with the following statement: “sports films as a whole display an astonishing lack of thematic diversity and that every sports film ever made utilized one of only three repetitive themes: “the triumph of the underdog, the fall (and sometimes resurrection) of the mighty, and the sporting event as a pretext”.” These films are so successful because viewing audiences love the “feel good” aspect that most of these films represent.
I don’t think sports films do as well overseas because the promotion and entertainment aspect of the sporting world in the US is entirely different from that of other countries. Many countries have professional teams in the sports that are popular in the US but they do not have professional leagues; they may only have one country wide team where there is not as much competition within that country. In the states there are almost teams from all 50 states and some states have more than one which allows for fandom and camaraderie to have an impact on the sport itself. I also feel that other countries are not as susceptible to the “feel good” themes that most movies present. Cultural differences play an extremely important role and many things may get lost in translation.
Comparing Bend It Like Beckham to The Rookie is not a good comparison. Bend It Like Beckham did so well overseas because it presented an all English cast and starred actors from other nationalities. It is going to be more successful because soccer is a way of life in most European countries so viewers can relate much more to it than here in the US where international super star and heart throb David Beckham can’t get the Americans interested in soccer. The Rookie is a baseball film and the US considers baseball to be the all-American sport. Baseball is one of America’s favorite pastimes so it is only natural that a film based on that sport would be successful in the states. In Europe, baseball is not as popular so there are going to be less people that can relate to the game and in turn, the film.
Sports films do well in America because our society as a whole is saturated in sport. As Lindsay noted, we have a 24-hour telvision network devoted solely to sports and as children we are encouraged strongly to participate in them. The young ages in which children are introduced to sports in America is a cash cow for film makers. A large portion of the movies produced aimed at children are sports themed, and do very well.
In terms of sports movies doing well internationally, most movies made in America, portray America. We, at least I don't and I doubt more than a handful in the class do, don't watch European or foreign films. So why would they want to watch an American representation of a sport they could care less about? Lindsay makes a good point in bringing up how Bend It Like Beckham did much better overseas than others. But that's because soccer is life in every country but our own. Even a movie like Miracle which covers hockey (much more popular outside our country) didn't do well. Once again, it's a story of the American hockey team. We may love us, but the reality is not much of the rest of the world does. Does it necessarily matter? I don't think so. If a movie grosses 100 million dollars in the United States, isn't that enough? As the handbook tells us, "an Internet search for 'sports films' yields an abundance of 'top 10' lists, providing more evidence that the genre has an extremely loyal following..." So just because American sports films don't do well in other countries doesn't mean that the genre is dying or has become mundane. There just isn't a desire for American depictions of sport. I don't see many French soccer films taking American box offices by storm, so I think it's just how it is and how it always will be when it comes to sports films.
I have to agree with other posts that I have read on this topic. I love sports movies, they make me excited, feel good and pump me up.
On page 230 in Wenner he states, how often do we say, "it was indescribable," "beyond words?" The french have a word, "jouissance," to denote that engulfing, unsettling, orgasmic form of pleasure, that precisely disrupts the ability of language to describe and fix.
That is how people feel after watching a good sports movie. The reason that these sports movies do so well in the US and not internationally is just the reason that was stated in other posts as well. If a movie was made about the greatest cricket upset in the history of the game, that movie would probably be a huge box office hit in Europe, but how would a movie like that fair in the United States? It would be a bigger flop then Jennifer Lopez's "Gigli."
If you are not a U.S. citizen, why would you care about the 1980 Miricle on Ice? Who would care about Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and the Yankees?
Sports movies are great in the U.S., they make a lot of money and American sports fans love re-living great moments in the world of sports. I believe as long as there are sports movies, the U.S. public will continue to pay money to see them and they will always make more money in the U.S. then they will internationally.
The idea of sports films succedding in the United States and not overseas can have several factors to these results. The first thought that comes to mind is look at the films selected to make this point, you have The Rookie, a baseball film about a man who makes it through the minors and finally reaches the bigs. Around the world, baseball can only be found in Japan and maybe the Carribean, Europe and other nations are more interested in Cricket as opposed to baseball. As for Miracle, its a film based on American hockey. Who wants to watch a film about another country overcoming adversity and beating all odds. I'll you what I'm certainly not going to watch a film based on the Russian Soccer team overcome all odds, if that were the case.
The fact of the matter is, we appreciate these films because we can see ourselves in these atheletes or difficulties these team endure. We watch because we enjoy rooting for our own kind, so to say. There no way as a Mets fan I am going to turn on the Yes Network and watch Yankee classics, but I can withstand a Mets classic on SNY. It's a matter of interest and relation to the teams and the flim being focused on. This is why films about American sports succeed in the US, but fail miserably overseas.
I have to agree with pretty much everyone who has posted on here. Sports films thrive in our country because most of them reflect sports we've played, pastimes we're a part of, and stories that we have experienced. Most sports films do very well in our country because of this reason.
I think that Jill comparing "The Rookie" and "Bend it Like Beckham" is good because it opens up the question of exactly what is successful in this country and in other countries, and why. "The Rookie" is an American film about an American sport with an American actor, so it is obvious that it may not be as successful overseas. However, "Bend it Like Beckham" was a fairly popular movie not just in Europe but also in America. Even though it had a mostly European cast, it involved a sport that is quite popular in America. The sport is what connects the movies to their success in differing countries.
Regardless of the country or area that the movie is successful in, there is no doubt that most sports movies leave viewers with an emotional mark. It helps when we can compare ourselves or relate to the characters in the movie. Everyone has thought about it, what it would be like to score the winning goal, or basket or hit the perfect 10. Our handbook says on page 197 that "We simply do not identify with scientists or painters in the way we identify with athletes." I think that is the very core of why sports films are so successful in our country, because we can all relate to the characters who are in a way, living out a lot of our childhood dreams.
I think the reason sports films thrive in our country is simply that we, as a country, dedicate so much of our time to watching sports and rooting for our teams. More often than not, the sports movies that come out center on a cinderella story or a remarkable accomplishment by a team or individual. These are easy storylines and plots to be drawn to and in most cases, people are inspired by these kinds of movies.
It's almost too easy for movie producers because essentially all they're doing is re-creating the sports scenarios that we are drawn to on television.
As for the success of sports movies in the U.S. compared to overseas, I think the answer to that is quite simple. You mention a film like "The Rookie" or "Miracle" and the easy observation is that they are classic AMERICAN films. The storylines and major characters of both movies are hardcore American. A movie like Miracle touches so many people in the U.S. because it was a significant moment in the history of our country. In fact, Chapter 19 of the Handbook talks about how audiences turn to sports programming (games, coverage, films, etc.) to boost self-esteem. Movies like Miracle are perfect for something like that because it's such a feel-good theme and that's a main reason why we are drawn to these types of films.
Internationally, Hockey is a very popular sport throughout the world (especially in Europe). However, why would another country get into a movie about the U.S. National Hockey team shocking the world? Not that interesting for a foreigner if you ask me.
The same goes for a movie like The Rookie. Baseball is America's past time. Once again, the sport is very popular in other countries (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Japan, etc.) but that movie is about a middle-aged dude chasing after his boy-hood dream of playing major league baseball. It's easy for young Americans such as myself and the rest of our class to get into a movie like that but perhaps not as easy for someone who doesn't truly understand what the game of Baseball means in America. I very much believe this situation has to do with cultural differences and not necessarily the quality of the movie.
To further my point, I'll admit I can't get into Bend It Like Beckham because Soccer is not my thing and, despite the amount of young kids playing the game, I don't think Soccer is what America is all about either. That movie focuses on the obsession with European Soccer...a very hard theme for me as an American to really get into.
Sports movies do so well in our country because regardless of your gender, you have played a sport as a child, in a league or just in the street etc.
Movies are always exiting to watch and when you combine them with sports that the viewer has played or enjoy as a kid, it allows them to become that much more involved in the film, therefor deeming the movie to be a bigger success.
I also feel that people relate more to sports movies than movies of made up events. People enjoy having something to relate to, especially in a movie.
Although I usually enjoy most sports films that are made up, I do get tired of seeing the cliche endings, as talked about in the Handbook. I understand that everyone likes to see the underdog win and the bad guys loose. That doesn't always play out in real life though, there are plenty of times where the underdogs, get beat down, more often then not. For a movie to be really realistic sometimes they have to loose at the end.
In the end, sports films do well because they attract sports fans, obviously, and those viewers will most likely enjoy the movie due to the fact that they have possibly been in a similar situation and had similar experiences and can now relate more to the characters in the movie.
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