Nationalism and youth were just a few of the many sociological concepts we talked about throughout the semester offered in Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. One thing this movie did not have was good acting, or even mediocre acting but that is beside the point. In my opinion the movie strongly displays gender. If there is a movie about racing, of course male masculinity is going to be a large part of the movie. To have that strong idea of masculinity, you have to have the female’s role to complete the image. As I briefly stated earlier, the movie begins with the football jock and his perfect 10 girlfriend hanging out by his expensive Dodge Viper while the rest of the football team act like cavemen destroying an opponent’s mascot which happens to be a Native American mascot. The scene then leads to a disagreement between the jock and the main character, Sean, about their cars. The two men or should I say boys have an ego contest about cars and decide to race. They decide to race for the jocks perfect 10 girlfriend, who plays her gender role as the petite blonde bimbo. After racing, class plays a part when the boys are arrested for trespassing. The rich jock walks away without a slap on the wrist because his family upper class, while Sean’s mother comes in to bail her juvenile son out. Dressed poorly and without class, she flirts with the police officer. Sean is then shipped off to Tokyo to live with his father who serves the US Navy. Once in Tokyo, nationalism begins to play a strong role. Tokyo racing is represented by the small flashy enhanced agile cars opposed to the big simple looking muscle cars raced in America. Race is also displayed in the way of Sean’s new friend. Although they are both minority in Tokyo, Sean’s friend is African American. The friend’s role is the sneaky black-market hustler kind of city kid. Gender roles are sent to the viewers in many different ways throughout this movie. The best drifter has the best looking girl and his gang has the most girls. The girls are dressed in exposing outfits degrading them and displaying them as inferior or as property of the men. The men, on the other hand, are repeatedly displaying their attributes of strength, aggression, violence and competition. In Setting the Stage: Constructing ‘Normalized Citizenship in Red Sox Nation Through Film, you say, “Henry Giroux has suggest that film more than any other form of multi-media is so important to place under a critical lens, because ‘it is a compelling mode of communication and form of public pedagogy- a visual technology that functions as a powerful teaching machine that intentionally tries to influence the production of meaning, subject positions, identities, and experience’”(2001b, p.587) With movies being the biggest platform for sending a message, what kind of message are we sending to movie viewers? By dressing and displaying women in this degrading way, what kind of message are the female viewers receiving. They are being taught that this is their gender role and this is what is accepted. In Catherine Gray Deering’s article, Gender and Psychotherapy with Traditional Men, she talks about traditional men and their experiences with psychotherapy. She states, female therapists encounter the occurrence of transference and resistance when seeing males who identify themselves with the traditional American male gender role. In movies, like TokyoDrift men are ideally displayed as macho tough men while the women are ultra feminized. I believe female therapists encounter these issues when dealing with men because men believe they have to have this sort of manly persona which enables them to open up to therapists which is a perfect example of Will in Good Will Hunting.

In the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby nationalism is portrayed more than people realize. The most commonplace people would see this would be when the rival driver Jean Girard comes and challenges Ricky Bobby. When Girard challenges Ricky, Ricky takes it as a personal attack on him as an American and he will not stand by and let his country get attacked like that. The epic scene in the movie when Ricky goes to talk to Girard at Girard’s house and they talk about how each of their countries are great really shows nationalism. Ricky has taken the rivalry from racecar and turned it into a battle of whose country is better.

One of the most nationalistic part of the movie would be Ricky Bobby’s trademark quote, “If you ain’t first, you’re last.” This is the perfect representation of how American’s think of their country. It says that if we aren’t the best country in the world than we are the worst, so we must do everything in our power to be the best. Even when Ricky’s dad tries to tell Ricky that the saying doesn’t make sense because you could come in second, third, or even fourth but Ricky won’t believe him. He has been brought up to believe that if he isn’t the best than he is nothing so being first is really important to him.

“…more recent films like Black Hawk own, Jarhead, Seabiscuit, Cinderella Man, and Miracle that have been used to ideologically position the United States as an imagined nation-state that is to be unquestioningly revered.” (King-White, 2009, pg. 6) This quote connects perfectly with what Talladega Nights portrays. Ricky Bobby views America as the greatest country in the world and the quote says that these movies are trying to portray America as almost an untouchable country. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is full of nationalism from the colors of Ricky Bobby’s Car to the random commercial advertisements.

A number of controversial topics discussed in this class were perpetuated through the motion picture, Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. While at face value the movie is intended to be completely over the top, and obnoxious, it is important to dissect some of the ideas presented in the film and how the tie into this class. The most prevalent topic presented in the film is the idea of social class and the implications the movie had towards Nascar Nation, and how in my opinion the movie perpetuated the stereotypical, southern, “red neck” persona. Take the main character Ricky Bobby; he is the image of the stereotypical lower class, heterosexual, southern male. His wife; the tight waste, blond, well endowed, “trophy wife,” also perpetuates the southern, lower class persona. The fact that Ricky Bobby was raised by a single mother, in a household where his father was almost never around, also perpetuates that stereotypical southern “redneck” persona. I think another underlying theme throughout the movie that perpetuated this persona was the fact that most of the characters in the film appeared unintelligent. While some would argue this is the case for most of Will Ferrell’s characters, I think this theme was encoded with the idea to poke fun at members of Nascar Nation.

The next topic of sport and society I would like to discuss is sport and film. In class this semester we watched “fast and the furious: Tokyo drift” which touched on many different aspects of sociology. The sociological topic I thought was the most prevalent in the movie was youth. Throughout the movie it is evident that the movie was designed to appeal to a younger generation.
The movie shows how the powers of society try and contain a pull down the youth. This can be seen in the movie when Sean is arrested for drag racing in Texas and is forced to move to Tokyo to avoid high fines or juvenile correction. Sean, unlike the rich football player, could not afford to pay the fines of the automobile accident because his family was poor. This shows how society favors the rich and exploits the poor. A quote from Henry Giroux says
“The system of reward and punishment is built on the premise that in the final analysis it is better for parents to seek reform by leaving such schools behind; that is, it is better for them to disengage from broad-based civic participation and struggle rather than fight to improve struggling schools” (Giroux 2001, pg.77).
This quote embodies Sean's experience perfectly. Instead of the government working with Sean's mother to come up with an acceptable plan to reform him, he was forced to relocate because it was economically and socially better for the government. Tokyo drift also continuously reflects the notion that youth should rise up against the powers of constraint. This alone is evident in the fact that the main plot of the movie is drift racing. Drift racing is a prime example of how the youth can rise up against the constraints of society because it breaks laws and crosses boundaries. In the movie the drift racers would break traffic laws, fire weapons, and injure people just to win the race. The stunts in the film were designed to look almost impossible. David Rowe says that this is one of the goals of sport films and he is quoted as saying
“The visibility, immediacy and spectacle of sport make it more cinematic than many other cultural practices. Sports quotidian and mythic and mythic qualities are particularly ameable to dramatic adaptation, with sport film crucially dealing with the relationship between the domain of sport and the greater world of which sport is part”(Rowe 2008, pg.1). This basically states that in sport films the producer will exaggerate the actions of the sport to make it look almost impossible to accomplish and non life-like. After all the goals of many sport films is to make the feat look unrepeatable which makes the event look even unremarkable. That theory is definitely conveyed in Tokyo Drift just by the way the drift racers drive.

As far as the spring move review of, Tokyo Drift, all issues talked about throughout the semester were relevant. Films are put out I order to inform society of social norms and political agendas. “ More to the point, Henry Giroux has suggested that film more than any other form of multi- media is so important tp place under critical lens, because ‘it is a compelling mode of communication and form of public pedagogy- a visual technology that functions as a powerful teaching machine that intentionallyt tries to influence the meaning, subject, positions, identities, and experience,’”(King- White ,2009).
The first, social class, was apparent in the main character John and his role in the film . He was not rich enough to buy in way out of trouble which ended him in Japan. The girl in the movie, took part in two social class. Before she was taken in by her “adapted familiy,” she was the daughter of a prostitute. This social stamding as imaged does not have appositive connation woth the social relam of any society including Japans. After she was taken in her social status changed immediately. She more respected because of where her loyalited were and became apart of the upper class. Although her movemrnt up the social ladder made her be seen in a different light, I think she will always have to carry around the shame of her mother. Youth was another social aspect that drived the movie ( no pun intended). There were never any adults around which gave the youth the freedom to run a mock. Without the adult supervision the youth engaged in sex, violence and illegal activities. When there was an adult around youth respected and honored them which had some to do with cultural norms. Gender roles were right on target with hegemonic masculity and empahzied femininity. The men were tough, violent with each other and won at any cost necessary. Women were high end trophies. The main girl character was a victim of sexploitation. She was never seen racing with the big boys ,and the only involved role she played in the racing scenes between the males ,was calling the start of the race. Lastly race and enthinicty of the Japanese culture was part of the “powerful teaching machine,(King- White, 2009)” the movie was. Like every movie, the “token” black guy was in place performing the duties of his character of comic relief. Japanese youth was shown in the light of sterotyopes. The dress, music, dast cars and the style of driving we race driven charactertics the movie perpetuated. The two major themes in the movie were youth and nationalism. Themes that all types of movies use to get their views across.
Movies a lot of the time national mythodize. We tell the stories of our own lives to make sure we are seen in a good light. Depending on what type of film ( American, French, Japanese) the film will try to clean of the messy history of its country. This is done so minorities are fit into normal society and peform that socities norms. Just as John did when he moved to Tokyo, he performed their style of racing. Just as we view movies in a acritical light we should do the dame with all aspects of media and culute. Mostly because a “particular or ‘selected’ (contested) versions of nation, that are conjured up at particular points in time, by powerful groups of people, for particular purposes that often privilege certain groups, (King- White, lecture 10)” and we should be aware of this in order to shape our own individuality.

Aleka Ross

After 9/11 Carl Rove made a lot of films that supported the United States, to show American's that “we are the best.” As stated in the King-White article (2009), “ Given then that most people’s connection to people and places are through mediated, hyper-real formations it is important then to understand that the meaning made for and about community through the media is dominated largely by the few individuals who spend time behind the camera lens,” (p. 2). The makers of these movies are able to make viewers see different aspects of life in the way that they want them to see it.

In the movie Tallageda Nights: the story of Ricky Bobby, corporate philanthropy was extended all through out the movie. When Ricky Bobby was working in the pit their driver was sponsored by different corporations. At one point in the movie the driver was doing horrible and one of the guys said that their sponsor was not going to like this very much. When Ricky Bobby started driving he started off with a few corporate sponsors and as he started winning more races he gained more sponsors. When Ricky Bobby was winning a lot of racers he was making tons of money. At the dinner table he was thanking Powerade, probably because he was getting millions of dollars from him just to promote their product.

The film was showing America different sponsors through out the movie, they even had an Applebee’s commercial in the middle of the movie. Yes, this movie was making fun of corporate sponsors but in a way they were helping the companies promote more. I would not be surprised if these corporations paid to be in the movie, considering all the advertising. The viewer is always analyzing parts of the movie, even if they do not realize it. The producers of the movies allow America to portray different stereotypes, places, races, gender, etc. in the way that they want the viewers to portray them.

The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift can be considered a sports movie that is very stereotyped yet it illustrates many aspects of American society. The initial setting of the movie is in a parking lot of a high school. For some reason which was not very clear to me, there is a group of students destroying a Native American mascot. This reflects the lack of respect to this minority group since it is disturbing to watch some kids destroying a mascot that represents their culture. Then, we have the masculine and popular football player; he is white and has a perfectly athletic body. He performs his masculinity by showing off his perfect looking girlfriend, his fancy sports car; and his “toughness” when this other “average” guy shows up and talk to his girlfriend. He is admired in the school for performing his gender role. So, instead of actually fighting, they decide to race which got them in trouble. Well, the football kid belonged to the upper class so his family could prevent any supposed legal issue with the police whereas the other kid from the working class does not have the same luck and he actually gets in trouble. Since it was not his first time, he is forced to leave the country and so he moves to Japan , where his dad lives. Once in Japan he faces a completely different reality and culture. In his new high school, he is trying to adapt when he meets an African American kid, they represent the minority in a Japanese society that is somehow skeptical to minorities. The American protagonist is going to adapt incredibly quickly to their culture and then totally dominate it. He will get involved in racing and be able to beat the best drivers in Japan to become the new popular boy. Women, also have to play their gender. They are treated as “prices” for the winners; they are provocatively dressed which allows men to take advantage of them. I found very disturbing the fact that women are used as objects, they were presented as weak, powerless and completely inferior than men. Finally, the other social aspect addressed is youth which reflects a large group of kids that are constantly and purposely misbehaving. They do not seem to care about anything, not even about authorities such as the police. Only when they are surrounded by adults, do they behave appropriately, otherwise they are pretty much out of control. In conclusion, this movie if analyzed critically shows many social institutions and their socially learned ideologies that are usually taken for granted. It shows that each society shapes its own values, beliefs and habits.

Evelyn Izaguirre

After critically viewing Talladega nights: the story of Ricky Bobby, I realized it displayed a great amount of sexuality and nationalism. Ricky Bobby is the story of a classic American man being a professional race car driver in America. He loves to show and tell everyone how much he loves America. His nationalism is a big deal. When his arch nemesis Jean Girard comes to America to prove he is the best race car driver in the world, Ricky bobby becomes upset and hurt that a French man thinks he is the best. He actually takes offense to the French man saying he is a better racer and lets him break his arm for pretty much nationalism. Throughout the movie Ricky Bobby and the French man fight and make fun of each other’s country and because they have such little respect for each other’s country it makes them both look stupid. Before I took this class, I saw all these scenes as humorous and not even close to viewing it the way I do today. Now I see the making fun of country’s throughout the movie as a way to try and make America seem like the best. At the same time they do not realize they are making America look foolish and childish in these types of movies.
Sexuality is shown throughout the entire movie. Ricky Bobby marries his wife based on her rack. She is a stereotypical professional athlete wife. She marries Ricky for his money and consistent racing at the number one spot. Once Ricky becomes poor and loses his mind in racing, the wife leaves him for his best friend who is now the number one driver. The wife goes where ever the money is and she gets taken by the rich gentleman based on her sexuality. She does whatever her winning man says and does. She shows no respect for herself or even the women of America. People already think women in America are gold diggers and this movie helps support it. If she was a stronger and more confident woman she would not have to follow a man and could be her own person.

The sociological issue that stood out to me in" Talladega Nights the Ballad of Ricky Bobby" as the overt nationalism. NASCAR is an American sports started here in the south. NASCAR has a rich tradition in the south and many Americans consider it the best form of racing. NASCAR started out by racing cars that we as Americans could purchase ourselves. That is what brought the popularity to the sport. Now the cars are completely custom and and there is no way that we could have cars like that. They do still have the bodies though of familiar cars. Until recently all the car makers in NASCAR were American auto makers. Toyota joined NASCAR a few years back and the teams that used Toyotas caught a lot of grief from the NASCAR fans. In "Talladega Nights" the love for American dominance was prominantly on display. America is thought to be a get ahead at any cost and fast. This is portrayed by Ricky's dad. His dad comes in for career day at school and tells the class that school is for losers and the key to life is driving fast and winning. After he is thrown out of the school he peels out in his car and guns the down the street and all of the children cheer as he does so. Children in America are taught at a young age that winning is very important through the many sports and competitions that they participate in while growing up. Ricky's main rival in the movie is Jean Girard, a frenchmen that has come to America to beat the best that driver that America has to offer to prove his dominance. During their first encounter at a bar that is decorated in American symbols and plays American music, Girard is berated with hostility towards France. They make fun of his clothes, accent and the type of music that he listens to. Ricky completely dismisses the idea that Girard could be a good racecar driver because he is not from America. During their first race together Ricky approaches the bumper of Girard's car and says, "Here comes America." This sets up America as always ready to strike and win. Even Ricky's life is a portrayal of what some think is a typical southern working class life. A drunk dad who only comes around once and a while, being raised by a single mother, getting a "trophy" wife just because you are rich, and having poorly behaved children. "More to the point, and following David Harvey's (1999 claim that we are living in an ever-shrinking world due, in part, to the increase of time-space compression through globalization, the ability for and individual to actually physically experience different communities can be a difficult undertaking (King-White 2)." This is true because we are feed one minute long news stories from around the world on 24 hour news networks. These stories cand give us an impression about a certain area that are not the whole truth. We can never go to everyplace in the world an meet every culture there is. We are forced to gain knowledge of them by news media that is only giving the story that will draw the most interest and ratings. "Talladega Nights the Ballad of Ricky Bobby" is a movie that any outsider would think is a real depiction of the NASCAR community even though they have not experienced it for themselves.

“Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” offered all of the sociological concepts that we discussed throughout the semester, but perhaps the one that was most apparent in the film was gender and the roles that each character plays. Made in Japan, we find that the minorities this time around are American males. At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to the main character, Sean, and your typical high school jock that seems to have it all. He is the star of the football team, has a nice, expensive car, and the blond bombshell girlfriend. Through a battle of the male ego, the two find themselves racing for two things: pride and the girl. The pathetic part about it is that she put herself on the line as the ultimate prize. In the big picture, the gender roles being portrayed to the viewers here is that women can be won as if to say they were a trophy. It makes them seem less privileged than men. Throughout the entire film, we did not see any of the women racing to win a man or settle a dispute over who had the faster car. Further into the film, we again see a woman performing a gendered role by using her looks and charm to get her son out of a sticky situation. Sean’s mother flirts with a police officer, wears provocative clothing and acts as though she is the victim to save her son from seeing the court room. As the rest of the story unravels in Tokyo, another girl appears who captures the attention of our American delinquent. These situations seem to be repetitive throughout the entire movie. The men play the tough, protective drifting machines while the women sit back, look pretty and do what they are expected to do. These situations go hand in hand with Messner’s article, “The Televised Sports Manhood Formula” (2000) in that males are more privileged than women. “Males are the voices of authority” and “sports is a man’s world” (Page 382). Men are voice of sports, the face of sports, and the participants of the “good” games. Along with Messner, Jennifer Scanlon also explains that gender roles are learned at a young age. “Boys-R-Us” (2002) discusses the way the toys and board games that we grow up with influence the gender that we will perform at an older age. Girls are given Easy Bake Ovens, Mall Madness and Girl Talk, which all promote cooking and cleaning, shopping, and finding a male figure. Consumption is the key; spending money and shopping becomes embedded into their young minds. “By playing these board games, girls learn a central rule: they need boys to complete their self-definition” (Page 188). On the opposite end of the spectrum, boys are given more physically demanding games, ones that promote competition and sometimes violence.

One film in particular that portrays a strong sense of American nationalism is Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. King-White (2009) explains that “sporting events, television shows, and Hollywood films have long served to created and define lived spaces and communities under dominate societal ideologies.” This is perfectly depicted throughout the movie in Ricky Bobby’s arrogant and pompous attitude, especially with his belief that America is the greatest nation. He was very explicit in revealing his love for his country and his one-sided belief that it was the dominant force in the world. He immediately overlooks any negative that can be conceived of America and improves immature and irrational responses to any criticism of the nation. The American people are also blinded by the misconception that covers much of our nations turmoil and negative aspects.
Another aspect which this movie exemplifies is sexism and gender roles. Ricky Bobby tries to portray himself as the “dominant, masculine type” and needs to instill these roles on his sons. He teaches them violence and aggression which, as explained in lecture, is the misconception of what masculinity has become as defined by sports. His attitude in regard to money is also one that is misconstrued. He feels that being the “breadwinner” and “idol” give him more power and rank, thus causing him to be more physically and emotionally desirable by the opposite sex and superior to other males. His wife is depicted as a stereotypical trophy wife of beauty with no brains. She is practically his cheerleader, as long as he is successful, and does not do much but crave sex and money.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, a movie seen by millions of Americans is the perfect exaggerated portrayal of the sociological ideologies American society is associated with. This movie uses pop cultural to identify the existential, political, and analytical truths of our society in a comical way. The film is an abrupt depiction of the many stereotypes that exist today, specifically nationalism and class. In reality the humor in this film is offensive, so what makes it funny? The underbelly of humor is the truth it represents, for many individuals it is familiar because that is who they are, or it is familiar because its exaggerations of stereotypes are the same in which individuals judge members within those social communities. For many individuals the underlying cultural sentiments are invisible, for others the exaggerated humor and mythological representation of our nation is decoded literally. Films depictions within American social entities can become very problematic, because the use of semi mythological truths for humor have a larger affect on individuals perceptions of our Nation and cultures in general. King-White (2009) explains that “sporting events, television shows, and Hollywood films have long served to created and define lived spaces and communities under dominate societal ideologies” (p. 2). The issues represented by television and films by the mass media and film industry sadly enough are used as instructional tools by which Americans assimilate and acquire their as their values. These values and life styles are shown nationwide, thus individuals believe they are a part of normal society.
Nationalism and class are the two social issues Talladega Nights embodied most frequent, the movies depiction of the social problems within these entities fosters the many subconscious perceptions Americans have of the south related to class and pride of our country. The movie best depicted the well known ‘rags to riches’ within sports, lower class individuals excel and climb the class ladder through success in a sport. Once they reach success and money, they blow money on frivolous possessions. In the movie once Ricky Bobby had lost everything and his best friend had taken over his house, he gets a phone call from his friend asking him to come over and ‘hang out’. Cal asks Ricky which one of his six cars he should drive to pick him up, and then he asks how to work the hot tub that he owns. This particular scene may not blatantly show the issues of class, but more so the adjustment of class in relation to sports. The depiction of southern blue collar families embedded the movie. Starting with Ricky Bobby’s birth in the back of a car, to his drugged out uncaring father leaving his mother to raise Ricky all on her own. Mainly, the obvious stupidity of the conversations held throughout the movie.
Extreme nationalism is exhibited throughout the whole film. Starts with Ricky Bobby’s fathers American dream of ‘if you not first, your last’. Ricky followed this principle his whole life. When Ricky Bobby crashed and he catches on invisible fire he screams, "Help me baby Jesus, help me Jewish God, help me Allah, help me Tom Cruise," comparing Tom Cruise to Jesus and Allah is an example of the extreme nationalism existent today. As a country, America believes we are the best, thus our actors, our government, all that encompasses America is great. The focus is not necessarily on Nationalism as our society views it but how the south and their ‘redneck’ mentality views our nation. Which for some is the partial truth of the values and morals of certain southerners, but for humor. The movie as a whole is a comical example of the dysfunction of being an American.
-Katy Lawrence

Nationalism is also depicted through sport films. One film in particular that portrays a strong sense of American nationalism is Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. This movie incorporates the sport of NASCAR into a comedy showing all the different ways in which sport is involved in society. King-White states “..we exist in a world where few people actually are able to experience all of the spaces and communities described in and through visual media these events, shows, and movies- which exist in the hyper-real – actually become reality for much of the viewing experience.” This allows the majority of people who do not watch NASCAR to gain an idea of what it is all about. The film is fun and filled with stereotypes of the sort of people involved with NASCAR racing.
The main character in this film is Ricky Bobby, a white male raised by a single mother in the working class. When Ricky becomes one of the best race car drivers in NASCAR he marries his wife Carley and together they have two sons, Walker and Texas Ranger. When Jean Girard comes to America to show how great of a driver he is, Ricky’s nationalism really begins to stand out. We first meet the flamboyant French Formula One driver in a scene in a masculine sports bar, with pool tables and dart boards, smoke in the air and the juke box playing. Ricky states “America’s the greatest country”, yet he names Chinese food, pizza, and chimichangas as American foods. Sport films allow us to mythologize our nation by making us look better than we are, or think we are.
Ricky also says “you don’t even understand liberty and freedom.” This was interesting to me considering the Statue of Liberty, which stands tall in New York, symbolizes our liberty and freedom, was a gift to us from France. Throughout the film there are various instances where one can see our nation’s flag. Whether on Ricky’s jacket sleeve both before and after he has no sponsors, Cal's jacket sleeve, as well as waving behind Ricky after he beats Jean Girard in a race on foot to the finish line. Nationalism is emphasized when it come to sports, and sport films.

Kristen

As we watched the movie Talladega Nights I realized that the funny stereotypes that we saw actually happen in everyday life making them not stereotypes but the truth. I have analyzed this movie through corporate philanthropy because of the many companies that where showcased in the movie. Corporations from Coke, to Fig Newton were used in this film. In the beginning of Talladega Nights, Ricky Bobby was winning and so he was very popular; so the companies sponsoring him where the rich and popular companies. In the beginning of the movie when the family was sitting down for dinner the camera was positioned perfectly on the coke bottle. Showing the not any one can sponsor the best race car driver around. The sponsors in this movie were even seen on their hates. Ricky Bobby was wearing a hat that had Wonder Bread on it. Then his jacket also had all of the sponsors that sponsor him on it; it also had the American Flag on it, but that’s another analysis. Even his wife’s jacket had the wonder bread sponsor on it. During the middle of the movie Ricky Bobby apparently needed some extra money so he sold the front windshield to the Fig Newton Corporation. The producers of this movie obviously noticed how outrageous and out of control this sport has gotten. Also in the middle of the film there was an advertisement for Applebee’s. Then this restaurant was named multiple times and the actors in the movie kept mentioning how great the food was and how the place was amazing. If you look at it in depth you can see that if you want to have an happy family outing then you go to Applebee’s During the end of the movie when Ricky Bobby was not the best any more the only sponsors he was able to get were Men’s Thongs. I’m sure there were some other’s but that one stands out the most. So, these race car driver’s they race so they can get the best sponsors and so they can make the most money. And in turn the companies buy the spaces on these cars because they believe that if I am represented on the best race car driver’s car than in turn we will make more money. But in the end the only person you need to race for, is yourself. That is what Ricky Bobby learned at the end of the movie.
Alise mcDonald

Film portrays what’s going on in America, what messages are being sent to the public, and who these messages are coming from. Many of sport films give selectively altered facts to mythologize the sporting event and help bring the US together. King-White (2009) explains that “sporting events, television shows, and Hollywood films have long served to created and define lived spaces and communities under dominate societal ideologies” (p. 2). Therefore, critically analyzing film gives one a true perspective of current American culture. From this, the sporting film which I have analyzed in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
This film takes a satirical look into the sporting world, yet the comedy associated with the issues makes it socially acceptable. One of the major concepts throughout the film was Nationalism. Ricky Bobby was the typical Southern American who is brainwashed into the belief that America being the greatest country. At Bobby’s local bar, he was encountered by French driver Jean Girard. During the exchanged Girard explained how he was going to defeat Bobby in the upcoming race. Acting like the typical American, Bobby started making fun of Girard’s accent and then proceeded to explain how great America was. Bobby commented that the US invented the chimichanga, pizza, and the missionary position. After that Girard threatened to break Bobby’s arm, yet Bobby said, “Go ahead Pepe le Pew, these colors don’t bleed red, white, and blue.”
This situation portrays the ignorance of America, which was established through the media. American’s constantly express how great this country is by waiving American flags or placing a Support Our Troops ribbon on the back of their car. These individuals fail to realize all the problems with the government and our politics. The populous is only given selective information regarding political, social, and cultural US issues. This information and propaganda promotes the US interests and agendas.
Coinciding with the concept of American nationalism, is the American idea of winning at all costs. Once again, we see the Machiavellian ideas prevalent in our society. The idea of going fast to win, and winning to succeed is portrayed throughout the film. As a kid, Ricky’s father Reese comes in for career day. Reese explains to the class that in order to succeed in America one needs to go fast, win, and not listen to your teacher who wants you to go slow. Reese states that it’s the fastest that gets paid and the fastest that get laid. While getting kicked out Reese tells Bobby, “If you ain’t first, you’re last!”
This “First or Last” quote becomes Ricky’s life motto, motivating him to extreme success in his NASCAR career. American society is all about winning, success, and money. This attitude of winners get everything is saturated throughout our society.
Another major issue throughout the film is sexism and gender roles. Bobby’s character is the typical hegemonic masculine figure; being strong, aggressive, heterosexual, and the bread winner of the family. Popular American culture dictates that men support the family and women are accessories to men. Bobby’s wife Susan is portrayed as the typical hot, blonde girl. Throughout the film, Susan proceeds to “flash” Ricky and his crew. This situation depicts how women are exploited based off their good looks and sex appeal. In sport, women are only seen as sex objects. Women are supposed to support their man and cater to his needs. This concept gives the message that women need to be attractive, exploit their good looks, succumb to men, and be a “gold digger” to be successful in America.

Ryan Kannegieter

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby displayed many sociological concepts that we learned in class this past semester, with nationalism standing out the most. On numerous occasions in the movie the idea of nationalism was clearly evident, from the NASCAR fans and their American flags, to the main plot of Ricky Bobby, an pureblood American, wanting nothing more than to defeat his French, homosexual, and by all means “un-American” counterpart, Jean Girard. From the second Girard enters the movie, Ricky Bobby exerts his nationalistic views against Girard’s. While this makes for an extremely funny movie, it also depicts how Americans really think about their beloved country. Ricky Bobby is your stereotypical white redneck from down south, with extreme pride for his country. His pride is so strong that when Girard has Bobby in a position to break his arm and all he has to do is say that he loves crepes, a French food, but Bobby refuses, and has his arm broken. Another example comes near the end of the movie, when Girard asks Bobby to shake his hand. Bobby says he will not, but gives Girard a kiss. Girard replies by saying “you taste of America” and Ricky Bobby simply says thank you, like it was a compliment. Also, when Bobby pulls behind Girard in a race for the first time he says “Hey! It's me, America!” as if he represents the country by himself and the countries main purpose is to defeat Girard and France. Perhaps the best example is when Girard first arrives and begins talking to Bobby at the bar. They cannot understand anything he is saying, and asks if he has some peanut butter stuck on the roof of his mouth. Girard replies that he is French, and Bobby replies with “No, we are not French. We're American, because you're in America, okay? Greatest country on the planet.” Throughout the entire movie the message is trying to be sent that America is the greatest country in the world, and even if we suffer some setback, as Ricky Bobby did, we will inevitably rise back from them and reassert our dominance.

After watching the movie Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, there were many sociological topics that could be discussed upon but I think the most prominent one in the film was the youth concept. The movie was about street racing and drifting and Tokyo and it showed people from the local high school and others who were out of school but still very young participating in this very dangerous sport. Anybody who watched the movie could tell you that the audience that the movie was trying to appeal to was teenagers and very young adults because it had everything to problems in schools, attractive women, and all of the fast cars. Also it had a decent story line because there was major conflict between the 2 main characters showed sort of a rivalry between the 2 like there would be in high school to prove who was the best or who would win when it came down to the big race. The movie really wanted to show that street racing is more of a sport that young people partake in these types of thing because besides the main characters parents and a few other insignificant adults, the whole movie was a bunch of kids with their fast cars and cocky attitudes. Overall the movie was a good one and it touched on many other sociological aspects, but youth was definitely the one it hit on the most and I feel the makers of the movie did a good job sending the tight message to the right audience which is the street racing world is a sport dominated by the youth of this nation and adults and older people have no place in this sport.
Corey Cline

The film “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift” while on the surface might appear as a funny excuse for a serious movie, actually has some deeper meanings and observations that are reflective of everyday society. One example of this is the way sex and gender is portrayed. Women are viewed as inferior to men and are simply trophies of the men who compete in the races. Not only are the women stereotypically depicted in this film, but the men also are categorized in a typical fashion. The men are all about fast cars, power, and horsepower. Almost all of the significant male characters exude a sense of hyper-masculinity and they are always trying to out-do their opponent or rival, such is the case with Sean and DK. King-White has a great quote that exemplifies the role of women in relation to their male counterparts in this film, “to the victor goes the (sexual) spoils' serves to reify the distinctly masculinist ideology that by acting the part of an alpha-male one will be more attractive to a heterosexual woman”. The men are always trying to prove their worth by beating other males in every aspect of life, and in most cases with this movie, drift racing, because that shows their desirability to the women they are trying to attract.

-DJ Walker

In the movie Talladega Nights: the ballad of Ricky Bobby many different sociological concepts were used to create conflicts and reinforce stereotypes. Nationalism was a very strong concept used in the entire movie to hilarious effect. Ricky Bobby was portrayed in the movie as a stereotypical idiotic redneck racecar driver from North Carolina. His racing motto that he learned from his father as a kid was “if you’re not first, you’re last.” This motto is symbolic of the true spirit of America trying to be the biggest superpower on Earth and the best in every aspect of life. It reminds me of the medal count of the Olympics (USA is always #1), which NBC always uses to display America’s dominance over the world in selected athletic activities. The movie’s villain (Jean Girard) is portrayed as a snooty, intellectual, and homosexual Frenchmen. Every thing he represents is a possible enemy of America; his French heritage, homosexuality, and intellectualism. Ricky is the hero of the story and must beat him to prove that he and America are still number one and better than everyone else. Ricky on the other hand is the opposite of Girard is every way; he is heterosexual, American, and dumber than anything. It’s kind of like superman and his evil enemy bizarro superman where everything is the opposite of superman’s. Girard is also jeered because he likes jazz music and nobody at that movie’s redneck bar would ever listen to jazz because real Americans listen to rock, country, rap and anything even slightly masculine. Even though Ricky Bobby does not beat Girard in the end (except in the footrace finish), it doesn’t matter because Cal Naughton Jr. takes the win for America. The movie plays on American racing’s homogeneous culture that is all rural blue-collar white Americans. This movie tells the predictable tale of a rural American racecar driver’s rise to fame, his fall, and his remarkable resurgence. This symbolically states that America (as a nation) cannot be defeated and will always be the last one standing. These Nationalist feelings are similar to those in “more recent films like Black Hawk Down, Jarhead, Seabiscuit, Cinderella Man, and Miracle that have been used to ideologically position the United States as an imagined nation-state that is to be unquestioningly revered”(King-White, 2009, pg. 6). Films like these are very common in the post 9/11 world we live in that always enjoys and celebrates these typical coming of age tales of American success and recovery.

Evan Johnson

After learning about these different themes throughout the year it was very interesting to watch Talladega Nights. Through watching the movie it is evident that a lot of the themes we covered in class are used in this movie. Gender is certainly a theme in the movie portrayed through Ricky Bobby’s wife. Nationalism is also a very evident theme throughout. I think that the most obvious theme used in the movie is neoliberalism. The movie is about a NASCAR driver, which right away means that neoliberalism is going to be involved with all of the sponsorships. While the movie did not necessarily intend on being a commentary on neoliberalism through showing advertisements, they certainly showed it through mocking some of the sponsorship deals. Early in the movie, while saying grace, Ricky Bobby mentions PowerAde and how their agreement requires him to mention the product during every grace. He even has to mention that they are excited for the new PowerAde flavor to come out. Later in the movie, while driving with a broken arm, he has a Fig Newton advertisement placed across his windshield. This part of the movie mocks the neoliberalism within NASCAR. It pokes fun at how every car and every person has to be covered with advertisements and how the driver won’t even consider safety to make more money. At the end of the movie, when Ricky Bobby makes his comeback at Talladega, his new car just says me on it. It is explained to him that this is because he is there to drive for nobody but himself. He is not going out and driving for some sponsor who is paying to have their name on his car. This is how neoliberalism is used as a theme in Talladega nights. It is not just the fact that it is about NASCAR, but that they make fun of the over advertising within the sport.
-Josh McGrath

Not only the acting was laughable in Tokyo Drift. The extreme attempts to differentiate class, gender roles, and nationalism had me laughing at points. In the beginning of the film it was immediately apparent in the scene where the main character challenged the "rich football jock" to a race and as the prize to the winner? His girlfriend (obviously blonde and fit) would be awarded in object like fashion. Next, as he is moved to Tokyo, stereotypes and differences begin to arise. The entire plot of the movie "drifting" is a perfect example of how the producers pointed out subtle nationalistic differences. In America the cares were considered big and fast with no room for turning, then in Japan a completely different "rice rocket-y" style of driving ensued with fast turns, supped up civics, and of course....drifting. The main character mother was a perfect example of class and gender generalization, who apparently wasn't exactly wealthy and flirted with the cop in a promiscuous sense in order to be put in his good graces.

The movie "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" can be analyzed in relation to all of the sociological topics mentioned. The topic that stands out the most in this movie is race. The movie takes place primarily in Tokyo, Japan but, first starts out in Texas in the United States. In these two locations you can see the big difference in race. In Texas, the many character, Sean races and is just surrounded by primarily white people, there are few to no people of any other race, especially Asians. The main character, Sean blends in to the crowd in Texas. However, Tokyo is the total opposite of Texas. In Tokyo, Sean becomes the minority and is now around primarily people of Asian decent. Sean and his father are two of the few white males seen in Tokyo during the movie. In addition, Bow Wow’s character is the only African American character seen in Tokyo. Being minorities in Tokyo, Sean and Bow Wow are viewed as outsiders and are not accepted by many people. This is the total reverse of how they would be viewed in America; they would be ordinary members of the mainstream public. Along with the difference in race comes a difference in culture. Being a white male in Texas, Sean is only used to muscle car, straight ahead street tracing. In Japan he discovers that racing in involves drifting which requires different skills and techniques. Also Sean is not used to the language and customs. He must be told to change his shoes, what the Yakuza are, and how important family is in Japan.

The movie "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" portrays many of the social and cultural aspects that we are asked to critically analyze throughout the semester. One of the most prominent themes seen over the course of the film was the depiction of hyper masculinity. Even those who are not asked to notice this type of theme would not be able to deny the fact that it exists in throngs throughout "Tokyo Drift." The "athletes" who perform in the movie by driving their modified cars through parking garages and the streets of busy Tokyo are almost all male. They are cheered on by their peers, which include the "female cheerleading figures" who can easily be called promiscuous due to their lack of clothing. While "drifting" exists as more of a cult sport, a sense of nationalism has an extremely clear depiction in this movie as well. The strong Asian influence on sports of this type (modified racing) is what allows this movie to exist. Also, a clear divide between those who call Tokyo their home and those who are foreigners can be seen. This adds to the drama of the movie by placing national pride and culture against each other. One more of the prominent sociological topics seen throughout the movie is the depiction of the youth culture. "Tokyo Drift" gives the impression that being young is all about bending rules, running from authorities, and having a thrill-seeking mentality. "The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift" is an excellent piece of work to critically analyze for class. It encompasses so many of the sociological topics that we have seen over the course of the semester. However, being the third installment of “The Fast and The Furious” series, it is lacking many things to make it a worthwhile movie.

After watching Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and critically viewing it, one would be able to find that the movie played up several different sociological topics. One major topic that was played up was the gender roles and sexuality in the movie. The gender roles that were filled were the masculine and feminine roles, filled by many of the characters. Ricky Bobby's, who was the lead man, showed his physical strength, his braveness, capacity for physical violence, and his sexual conquest. He showed his physical strength by being a race car driver and surviving a car accident. He also showed it through being able to want to drive even with his arm broken. He displayed braveness when he was sticking up to the french car driver and when he placed himself in the car with the cougar, and later on when he showed control of the cougar. When Ricky Bobby was in an argument with the French car driver, he displayed a capacity for violence. He wanted to fight him and show his dominance, and when was in a position where he could get hurt, told the other man to keep going. A final gender role that Ricky Bobby filled was in his sexual conquest. His first wife showed him her boobs and he married her and was seen through out the movie as the one in charge. The second way was with his assistant, when they were out to dinner. He was into her and decided to have sex with her right where they were in the restaurant. Another gender role that was filled was by the grandmother. She played up the feminine role by being the mother type figure who would be the one to fix her grand children. While Ricky Bobby was racing, she was the person watching his children. She was also the one who was able to hold the family together and create the rules. Gender isn't the only sociological factor but it was a prominent one throughout this movie.

After critically watching Taladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, there were a number of topics that we talked about that stuck out to me. Some were more obvious than others, but the most obvious to me was the use of neoliberalism and the way sponsors were stamped on anything and everything. The most ridiculous example that comes to mind for me was the fact that his contract with Powerade required that he mentions them at every grace. That just takes sponsorship to a whole new level. Another example would be when he gets a Fig Newton’s sponsorship on his windshield. NASCAR is already completely driven by sponsorships because the entire car is covered in various companies and products, but the fact that he puts a giant Fig Newton’s sticker on the windshield is over the top. I think the message the movie was trying to put out there is that sponsorships are getting a little out of control right now. Dr. King-White speaks to this when he says, “we exist in a world where few people actually are able to experience all of the spaces and communities described in and through visual media the events, shows and movies…actually become reality for much of the viewing audience” (King-White, 2009, pg. 2). This relates to the movie because while it is ridiculous that he would have some of those sponsorships, it is not out of the realm of possibility in our minds. Personally, after watching that, I thought to myself that I would not be surprised if they found a way to sell the windshield to a sponsor in the future. It “became a realty” for me.

In the movie Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, nationalism is on full display throughout the entire movie. Whether it is through Ricky Bobby trying to prove that America is the greatest country or making fun of French people by applying French stereotypes to Jean Girard, there is no shortage of nationalism being thrown at us. Throughout the movie it is as if Ricky Bobby represents America, while Jean Girard represents France and now instead of it being a race between two Nascar drivers, it becomes a competition between nations. The first example of this nationalism would be in their sponsors; Ricky Bobby is sponsored by Wonderbread, a very white, American product. Whereas Girard is sponsored by Perrier, a French bottled water company. Even while they are driving nationalism is on display. Ricky drives very aggressively with rock and roll music playing during those scenes most of the time, while Girard drinks a macchiato and listens to opera inside of his car. This kind of expresses American dominance over the French who are sometimes viewed as “soft”. They also make fun of French people by having Girard speak with a very French accent that is difficult for Ricky to understand and leads him to claim that Girard sounds like “a dog with peanut butter on the roof of your mouth”. There are about three times in the movie where they are trying to convey to us how Ricky Bobby represents America and it is done in an extremely blatant way. The first time Ricky and Girard race against each other Ricky comes up behind Girard and actually states “Hey it’s me, America” as if he himself represents our whole nation as he races against the Frenchman. Again later in the movie after Ricky beats Girard in a footrace to the finish line at Talladega he stands and pumps his fist in the air, all while the American flag waves behind him on camera. Again symbolizing that with Ricky’s win, America has also won. Finally, when Ricky and Girard kiss after the race, Girard claims that it is “the taste of America” as if somehow he had just kissed America because he kissed Ricky Bobby. Almost in the same way that Good Will Hunting and Fever Pitch “serve to define membership in the community” (King-White, 3), Talladega Nights does the same but for America. Ricky wouldn’t accept Girard as a Nascar driver because he was different and not American, but after Ricky beats him it is ok to now accept Girard because Ricky has asserted his American dominance over the Frenchman.

The sociological topic that stood out to me most in the movie “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift” is the role gender plays in the movie. The main character Sean is your stereotypical male displaying leadership, aggressiveness, strength, and sense of calm. Sean meets Twinkie who helps accentuate Sean’s qualities of leadership and a calm demeanor. Twinkie quickly becomes Sean’s sidekick. Sean is the strong silent type who has to come to the rescue of the loud eccentric Twinkie. Sean’s strength, power, and aggression are continually on display with continual altercations and races.
The women in the movie are either simply eye candy or a trophy for Sean to win. Sean ends up in Japan as consequence of a race where a girl was the grand prize. This theme continues when he gets to Japan and meets Neela, the girlfriend of Sean’s new rival. Sean has to learn to drift better than Takashi in order to eventually win Neela. As King-White states, “to the victor goes the (sexual) spoils’ serves to reify the distinctly masculinist ideology that by acting the part of an alpha-male one will be more attractive to a heterosexual woman”. It is also interesting that Neela goes straight from being with her old boyfriend to being with Sean. This implies that a woman needs a man to be complete. The other women in the movie are all model types dressed in revealing clothing, who over nothing to the movie besides being something pretty to look at.