The movie I have selected for my film review is Field of Dreams. I feel that it is a great movie, and is an outstanding form of popular culture. There are many different events that take place throughout this film that show this.
Field of Dreams stars Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones. Costner plays a guy named Ray who, one day while working in his corn field, hears a voice. The voice tells him, If you build it, he will come. After he hears the voice a few times he tears down his corn field, and builds a baseball field. Jones plays a retired author named Thomas Mann.Mann hears these voices also, and understands what Ray is going through.
Reluctantly Mann goes along with Ray. After awhile old members of the White Sox, who got banned from baseball for life, appear out of the corn field. They now have a chance to play ball again. Mann ends up going back into the corn with the players in the end.This movie is more than just a movie about a sport.
It has many other significant meanings. First of all, this film shows loyalty between Rays wife and him. Most wives would think their husbands were crazy if they told them they heard voices, which were telling them to build a baseball field. Its going to take a ton of money, and also a lot of knowledge on how to go about doing it.It show how she believed in him when no one else would listen. She stuck by her husband like a wife is supposed to do, and gave him support when needed.
I believe a lot of Americans liked seeing that type of commitment between two people, especially in a world where its not as prevalent as it should be. The second point this film shows is how much Ray loves baseball. Baseball has been a major part of American society and culture since the late 1800s. It is known as Americas pastime. Throughout the film it is made very evident of the love Ray displays for the great game of baseball. The amount of money he spends to make the field says enough.
One scene shows Ray on a tractor as he is plowing a field in preparation for the building of the stadium. His daughter is sitting on his lap. She is asking him all kinds of questions about baseball, and Ray answers all of them in a way that you can tell he loves talking about it. Another scene shows him driving across the country to find help for what he is doing.
The sacrifices he makes for the game are incredible. Being a huge baseball fan this movie shows everything that is right about baseball. It shows that it is a game, and should be played for the fun of it.The third point this film makes is it allows the dreams of the players to live on. People having dreams is what makes the world happen.
Without having a dream no one goes anywhere. In this film members of the old White Sox team that got banned from baseball are able to get back into the game, and once again live out the dreams and fantasies of playing the game they love. It kind of gives people hope, in a sense, not to give up.Still another point this film makes is in the world of relationships. The film shows the relations between a father and son. Ray finds out that one of the players who comes back to play is his father.
He realizes that is what the voice was telling him. His father was the one who would come back if he built the field.While he was growing up he didnt have the greatest relationship with his father. His father died while he was at a rather young age. Ray is aware that it is his father.
Rays father is young so he has no idea he is his son. That didnt matter though.Just to know that his father is back once again is enough for Ray. This is a problem many people in the world face.
Lots of fathers and sons dont have good relationships with each other. There are many reasons for this. This movie is one that people can relate with in a way.Many times there are things left unsaid when one dies. This could influence people to make things happen while the opportunity is still there, and to not waste the time they have.
In conclusion I would just like to say that while there are many aspects of the film industry that are bad for society, this film shows nothing but good things about the film industry. Like I said previously, it is more than just a movie about a sport. It goes greater in depth with different situations. These are situations people can relate with, and that they care about.This is a good example of popular culture.
I do not feel as though it exploits or distracts people from other forms of culture, however. Some movies obviously do, but this is not that type of film. FIELD OF DREAMS written by: Andy Norris Rhetoric 102 1-15-99.
