Deserving In The Film 'White Men Can T Jump'

Undeserving, Underserved, or the Most Deserving?

In White Men Can't Jump, Ron Shelton uses the streetball scene in a poor LA neighborhood to examine the friendship of Billy Hoyle and Sidney Deane. Examining the ways in which the two financially struggling protagonists treat each other, Shelton challenges the viewer to reflect on whether to value the cutthroat “smoke or be smoked” mentality or prioritize one's honor above all else. The former characterizes most of their actions in the first half of the movie, while the latter is a way of thinking they adopt only by the end. This change results in their development of a true “bromance.” In the competitive, egocentric environment of the LA streetball courts, Shelton glorifies the transition

Everyone is expected to know The Code for their own safety, so regardless of a resident's judgment of it, their children must know about it. Due to its accessibility and pervasiveness, it is considered to be fair. In an environment where people feel oppressed by forces out of their control, respect is a sensitive matter. The Code, heavily influenced by lack of police accountability, rewards those believed capable of taking care of themselves, people whose entire being—facial expressions, gait, verbal expressions, clothing, jewelry—“deters transgressions.”1 The status of jewelry within The Code stems not just from the fact that it represents wealth, but from the willingness to show off something worth defending, as if wearing jewelry is, by definition, a challenge to the status of others. Given that the idea of respect and manhood are predicated on one's ability to dominate socially, the system is inherently aggressive.2 The Code values impulse and honor over deliberate, rational thinking, as shown blatantly by the song “Still Fly” by Big Tymers, in which Big Tymers show no regard for their lack of jobs

Poverty is certainly present in the movies' portrayal of LA. In a scene where Sidney is debating whether or not to purchase a new house, there are children in the background jumping rope and singing a disturbing nursery rhyme: “Mommas in the kitchen cooking rock, daddies outside shooting the dice.” It is this level of poverty where parents are desperate enough to turn to drugs and gambling that causes a fragility of respect, mentioned prior as a reason The Code takes on so much power. On the courts, all it takes is Player 1 to deliver the slightest insult to the opposing Player 2 for Player 2's respect to be in jeopardy. As a result, the two often end up face to face trading “Yo Mama” jokes. While the outrageousness of their jokes presents the interaction as comedic (“Yo mama so poor I seen her kicking a can down the road. I said: 'what you doing?' She said: 'moving.'”), a larger, more serious issue is being depicted where the smallest perceived confrontation can quickly escalate into a serious conflict. All it takes to invoke the reaction in the picture shown to the right is Sidney simply muttering a “Yo Mama” joke. In accordance with The Code, demonstrating one's ability to take care of oneself on the basketball courts is essential to being able to function within the