Finding Forrester

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I’m sure everyone has felt pressure from an external source - whether it be from family, friends, or any other people in your life. I know I have been told I need to act a certain way or do a certain thing by people I know because the things I like, am passionate about, or simply the way I act doesn’t fit into societal standards. People tend to be very judgmental and anyone who doesn’t fit into their narrow worldview gets shunned or cast aside. However, by pushing aside their thoughts and learning to not care about what others think, it is possible to break free from that and start living happily, leading to a better life. The film Finding Forrester, directed by Gus Van Sant, suggests that an individual tends to push away what they want for …show more content…
Jamal is an extremely gifted writer, but downplays his aptitude for the skill so that he can fit in with his peers. At Franklin High School, the school he attended at the beginning of the movie, your acceptance is based on your athletic ability, specifically in basketball, while academics were seen as unimportant and placed on the backburner. This is shown in the meeting with Jamal’s mom, Janice Wallace, and Mrs. Joyce. Mrs. Joyce tells Ms. Wallace about Jamal’s grades in English. While he maintains a C average in the class, he does extremely well in the standardized tests that are given to all the students by the state. Ms. Wallace seems surprised by the discrepancy between his class grades and his test scores because at home, she always sees him reading or writing, but the only thing he talks about is basketball. Mrs. Wallace says this is because “Basketball is where [Jamal] gets his acceptance. These kids here don’t care about what [Jamal] can put down on paper.” This shows how strong the basketball culture is at his school, and how it is affecting Jamal personally because he cannot be his real self. Jamal knows that he is a very good writer and could easily get an A in that class, but he purposely sells himself short, knowing that …show more content…
Music has always been a huge part of my life. I started playing my first instrument at 7 when I started learning the violin, and ever since then I have always been experimenting with and trying new instruments to play, improving my singing voice, or just getting better at music in general. From then to now, I’ve played the violin, piano, guitar, flute, and clarinet, and although I may not have played some of these instruments for very long, I do believe that every instrument I’ve tried has helped improve my talent as a musician. However, my love for music has not always been universally accepted by everyone. Although most people were fine with it, some people thought it odd that I was more interested in music than sports, since I’m a pretty big and decently tall guy. While I do enjoy playing and watching sports casually, I am not a huge fan of sports and I am not a big fan of any sports team, nor do I play competitively. However, this wasn’t really a problem for me until I entered high school. My school, like most other academic institutions, primarily focuses on their sports teams and a lot of money goes into these sports teams, like basketball, wrestling, soccer, and especially football. Football is one of the most important sports in my school to the student body because it has no tryouts, meaning anyone can join, and the players on the football team
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