The Development of the Post-Classical Hollywood Sports Business Film Trend: A Socio- Historic Approach By Copyright 2016 David M. Sutera Submitted to the graduate degree program in the Film and Media Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Chairperson: ____________________________ Ronald Wilson, Ph.D. Co-Chairperson: ____________________________ Michael Baskett, Ph.D. ____________________________ John Tibbetts, Ph.D. ____________________________ Kevin Willmott, M.F.A. ____________________________ Max Utsler, Ph.D. Date Defended: May 9, 2016 The Dissertation Committee for David M. Sutera certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: The Development of the Post-Classical Hollywood Sports Business Film Trend: A Socio- Historic Approach Chairperson: ____________________________ Ronald Wilson, Ph.D. Co-Chairperson: ____________________________ Michael Baskett, Ph.D. Date Approved: May 9, 2016 ii ABSTRACT The Development of the Post-Classical Hollywood Sports Business Film Trend: A Socio- Historic Approach This dissertation examines the development of an emerging trend in contemporary sports film production identified as the post-classical Hollywood sports business film. Post-classical Hollywood sports business films stand in contrast to their classical Hollywood sports film predecessors based on some distinguishing characteristics relating to different points of narrative emphasis, themes, and character types. Initially, post-classical sports business film narratives focus primarily on the business side of professional team sports rather than themes devoted to athletes achieving on the field of play in the world of sports. As a result, much of the filmic action in post-classical Hollywood sports business films occurs in business setting such as offices and board rooms rather than in sports stadiums, arenas, or playing fields typical of classical era sports films. Finally, non-athlete sports film protagonists (NASP) in post-classical Hollywood sports business films have supplanted athlete protagonists as the main characters in this new sports film trend, with athlete characters occupying supporting roles in the overall narratives. The focus of this study concentrates on two stages of development in the post-classical Hollywood sports business film. After providing a brief history classical sports films, the first stage of development in this new trend is identified as taking place starting from the late 1960s and continuing to the mid 1990s. During this time period, an increasing number of Hollywood sports business films featured matters of sports economics and other off-the-field matters related to professional team sports as significant components of the narrative. In addition, athlete protagonists, in contrast to their classical era predecessors, began to show greater concern for iii their personal careers rather than helping their teams win championships. The second stage of development initiated with the film Jerry Maguire in the mid 1990s, which signaled the appearance of the non-athlete sports film protagonist (NASP) as one of the most distinguishing traits of the post-classical Hollywood sports business film trend that continues into the 21st century. Moreover, Jerry Maguire (1996) exists as the prototypical sports business film, and marks a crucial turning point in Hollywood production leading to the development of the ensuing trend and potential sports film sub-genre. This study takes a socio-historic approach drawing on Robert C. Allen and Douglas Gomery’s historiographical methods from Film History: Theory and Practice (1985) in examining a range of contemporaneous economic, political, and social generative mechanisms is facilitating the rise of the post-classical Hollywood sports business film trend. Using discursive textual analysis of certain post-classical Hollywood sports business films, this study positions the spread of neoliberalism and free market principles as significant generative mechanisms in the appearance of distinctive representations, themes, and narrative elements evident in post- classical Hollywood sports business film trend. Film such as Bang the Drum Slowly (John D. Hancock, 1973), North Dallas Forty (Ted Kotcheff, 1979), Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe, 1996), and Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011) among others, are examined as examples of post- classical Hollywood sports business films exhibiting these new themes and narrative patterns. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to first thank Dr. Ronald Wilson for all his assistance throughout my graduate program in helping me develop as a film scholar and academic writer. I am grateful to all the members of my dissertations committee: Dr. Michael Baskett, Dr. John Tibbetts, Professor Kevin Willmott, Dr. Ronald Wilson, and Dr. Max Utsler. Thanks to Dr. Chuck Berg who provided me with tremendous support and guidance both in developing the dissertation and my entire academic career at the University of Kansas. Thanks to the following faculty members and staff at the University of Kansas for their support and guidance: Dr. Jonathan Earle, Dr. Charles Eldredge, Dr. Tamara Falicov, Professor Madison Davis Lacy, Professor Robert Hurst, Professor Matt Jacobson, Professor Margaret Jamieson, Dr. Catherine Preston, Dr. Scott Reinardy, Lene Brooks, Che Butterfield, Karla Conrad, Marilyn Heath, and John McCluskey. Thanks to my fellow graduate students in the Film and Media Studies Program for their camaraderie and support, especially Zachary Ingle, Hispano Duron, Brian Faucette, Barbel Goebel-Stolz, Spencer Harkness, Christina Hodel, Najmeh Moradiyan Rizi, Amit Patel, Zach Saltz, Carl Swanson, Patrick Terry, Mike Van Esler, Isley Unruh, Joshua Wille, and Stephanie Woell-Wille. Thanks to the following faculty and staff at the University of Utah’s Film and Media Arts Department for giving me my start as a filmmaker and film scholar: Dr. Chris Lippard, Kevin Hanson, Darci Berg, Sam Dunn, Dale Elrod, Brian Patrick, Steve Pecchi-Bekkum, William Siska, Tom Sobchack, and Connie Wilkerson. Thanks to the following at Doane University for all their support during my first year of teaching while finishing my dissertation: Dr. John Burney, Frank Chacon, Robin McKercher, Jenei Skillett, David Swartzlander, and most especially, all my students. Finally, special thanks to Dr. Richard McFayden for setting me on v the path to becoming an educator and offering support as I navigated my way through the long process that has brought me to this point in my academic career. vi Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………… iii Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………….. v Chapter 1 Introduction ………………………………………………………………….. 1 Socio-Historic Events as Thematic Generative Mechanisms in American Sports Films ……………………………………………………. 6 Literature Review ……………………………………………………………. 10 Methodology ………………………………………………………………… 19 Chapter Outline ……………………………………………………………… 23 Chapter 2 Sports Business Films: Genre or Recognizable Pattern ……………………… 27 Classical Hollywood Sports Business Films: Exceptions to the Rule ……….. 29 Sports Business Film Origins (1970s-1990s): Personal Interests v. Corporate Operations ……………………………….... 33 Rollerball (1975): Sci-Fi Dystopian Corporate Society and the Futility of the Individual ……………………………………………. 36 The Curt Flood Case, Free Agency, and the Emergence of a New Sports Film Hero ...……………………………………………….. 39 Sports Hero Contrast: The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) v. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) ……………………………………………. 43 Number One (1969): Prototype of the Post-Classical Hollywood Sports Business Film ....................................................................................... 46 Archetype of the Post-Classical Hollywood Sports Business Film: North Dallas Forty (1979) ………………………………….……………….. 51 The Corporate Nature of Professional Sports as Represented in North Dallas Forty ………………………………………. 52 The Contemporary Professional Team Sports Athlete as a Cog in the Corporate Sports Machine ………………………………….. 55 Playing Time, Drug Use, and Athlete Manipulation in Pursuit of a Championship ………………………………………………... 59 Chapter 3 Effects of Neoliberal Philosophies on Post-Classical American Sports Business Films ……………………………………………. 62 Neoliberalism: A Brief History of its Political and Economic Developments in the U.S ………………………………………… 64 Deindustrialization of America in the 1970s as Represented in Sports Business Films ………………....…………………. 67 Slap Shot (1977): Working Class Anxiety in the Face of Downsizing in 1970s America ……………………………………………. 69 Bull Durham (1988): Aging Worker in Neoliberal American Society …….…. 74 vii Major League (1989): Aging Athletes, Corporate Antagonists, and Team Relocations ……………………………………………………….. 76 A New Species of Sports Business Film Hero: the Non-Athlete Sports Protagonist (NASP) ………………………………… 80 Homo economicus: The Self-Reliant Man in Post-Classical Sports Business Films ……………………………………………………...… 86 Jerry Maguire (1996): Enter the Non-Athlete Sports Film Protagonist in Popular Cinema …………………………………………..…... 90 “Mission Statement” for Non-Athlete Protagonists, Athletes, and the Neoliberal Citizen …………………………………………. 94 Gender Roles in Neoliberal Society: Representations in Hollywood Sports Business Films ………………………………………... 99 Chapter 4 Organized Labor and Unions in Mass Media: Thugs, Lazy Bums, and Overpaid Workers ………...……………………..... 106 Neoliberalism’s Battle with Labor Unions: A Brief Examination .………...… 109 1970s