Hoop Dreams
The documentary, "Hoop Dreams" was a very inspiring and touching movie back in the day and is continuing to inspire its viewers as we speak. Throughout this film, we witness the complicated lives of two male teenagers, Arthur Agee and William Gates who are both very talented basketball players. Each player lives in the inner-city of Chicago, Illinois. All throughout their lives they have had to deal with many harships/struggles and doing this as young children was not easy. They had to deal with financial problems, family issues, etc. As stated before, both of theses boys were phenomenal at basketball. They were both recruited and given the opportunity to attend St. Joseph's where they would play on their outstanding basketball team. William was exceptionally good at basketball and considering he made varsity as a freshman explains how good he really was. Arthur was an amazing player as well, but he only made the junior varsity team. Although they were both successful in making a team at St. Joseph's, they each endured a great amount of set backs.
Due to financial problems Arthur was not able to afford to go to school there, and he was forced to go back to his local high school (Marshall). At the time, it seemed to be the beginning of the end for Arthur because he felt that his dreams were being crushed. He lost all of his credits and was forced to start over. Nothing really mattered to him after that experience, and he just didn't really care about anything too much. In time, Arthur realized that even though he could not fulfill his dreams of going to St. Joseph's and becoming famous there, he could prove his talent at his current school. He ended up becoming one of Marshall High's biggest stars/players and improved his grades. After receiving a scholarship, Arthur first went to a junior college and then onto Arkansas State. William on the other hand, had an amazing freshman year at St. Joseph's. When he severely injured his knee during his junior year things seemed to go downhill from there. He was forced to sit out in several games, and lost the opportunity to showcase his talent to scouts. When William was just 17, he had a baby girl with his girlfriend Catherine. In my opinion William dealt with these hardships very responsibly and maturely. He did not let them hold him back however, and he was offered a scholarship to play at Marquette University. Like Arthur, William didn't get the best grades, so in order for him to go there he needed to get an 18 on his ACT test. He ended up overcoming his troubles and attending Marquette."Hoop Dreams" has a very distinct and powerful theme that is shown all throughout the documentary. One of the main things it teaches it's viewers is to follow your dreams no matter what may get in your way. Determination and perseverance are two huge things that this movie encouraged it viewers to have. In order to succeed in life, you have to earn it and you most importantly have to want it. It taught us that you have to work hard to fulfill your dreams even through the struggles that you may face. In the documentary we see many example of how both William and Arthur overcame their hardships and followed their dreams. Not having his dad in his life, missing out on a huge opportunity to remain attending St. Joseph's, and being in the presence of drugs and alcohol were all unfortunate things that Arthur had to cope with. Even though Arthur was going through rough times, he strove to make his dreams come true. William also had to deal with an absence of his father, severe knee injuries, and having at baby at a very young age. At first. he truly did struggle to find his way back to being the player he used to be after his injury. However, William knew what he had to do for himself and now for his family so he surmounted to his hardships and began persevering toward becoming a better player and student. By and large, "Hoop Dreams" was a very inspiring and touching documentary that taught its viewers to always follow their dreams no matter what got in the way of that.
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