Any Given Sunday essays

Any Given Sunday essays On any given Sunday youre going to win or lose. The point is-can you win or lose like a man? This quotation from Oliver Stones Any Given Sunday is not only responsible for the films title; it relates to the movies theme of what it means to be a man. Unfortunately, Stone does not introduce a new masculinity but instead reinforces the manufactured consent of power relations between men that is hegemonic masculinity. Any Given Sunday is the story of a fictional football team (Miami Sharks) that is struggling after several losses and team conflicts to make a comeback with a rookie quarterback. Although the film criticizes the roles of class and race in football, it still supports masculine stereotypes through its comparisons between football and war, its limited character development of female roles, and sympathetic portrayal of Coach DAmatos classic masculinity. The opening scenes of Any Given Sunday dramatize action on the football field, offering obvious comparisons to fighting on a battlefield during a war. Players move in slow motion, grunting, their helmets clanking, and the sounds of colliding bodies echo. Players bark insults and threats at their opponents before knocking them to the ground and injuring them to the point that doctors have to carry them off the field in stretchers. Meanwhile, thousands of fans sit in the stands, cheering loudly as their team gives an opponent a concussion or rips out an opponents eye. Throughout the film, the football games are portrayed in a battle-like manner with a similar sense of drama. Players continue to severely injure each other while coaches and the audience encourage them to keep playing to the death. For example, after numerous concussions, the doctor tells the second string quarterback he could be putting his life on the line if he continues to play. Wh...