Finding Forrester1
Submitted by Sylvia Zinser, Nov. 19 2003
1. Synopsis
Jamal, a 16 year old, African American boy from the Bronx plays Basketball with his friends. They notice that somebody (Forrester) watches them. Jamal’s friends dare him to break into the apartment of that person and bring something. He is surprised by Forrester, flees and forgets his backpack in the apartment. Forrester, who is a famous author living in seclusion, returns the backpack after correcting all of Jamal’s writings. Out of this meeting a deep friendship and a mentorship evolves. At the same time Jamal is tested for academic aptitude and scores high. A private school invites him to attend. The language arts teacher there is unsupportive and tries to remove Jamal from the new setting. In a writing contest Jamal delivers a piece which begins with words by Forrester. Forrester had allowed Jamal to use these words for his writing studies. Jamal’s teachers accuse him of fraud but still let him play basketball for the school (Jamal is an excellent player). Jamal has promised not to tell anybody of the whereabouts of Forrester and he does not break this promise even when he is accused. In the next basketball game Jamal fails to score. Forrester watches him in the television and recognizes that he has to leave anonymity to help Jamal. 1cm At the reading of the contest contributions Forrester appears at the school and reads another piece by Jamal, explaining to the audience and to the jury what had happened and that Jamal had the authority to use his words. The accusations are dropped and Jamal may stay at this school.
2. Jamal’s Background
Jamal is a sixteen year old African American gifted boy. Although he is a C-student he performs extraordinarily well on a screening assessment. His father had some problems with substance abuse and left the family. His mother works all day and is not too involved in his education. For example, she does not know about the assessment. His older brother is supervisor at a parking lot, earning some money for the family. Additionally to his cognitive gifts, Jamal is a very good basketball player. The family lives in a cheap, loud appartment in a very unsafe area in the Bronx.
3. Education
Jamal visits the regional high school. He finds his identity as a basketball player. He does not show his verbal gifts at school. Privately he is a fluent reader - his room is full of high quality books. Jamal also shows extraordinary general knowledge, such as familiarity with the exact history of German automobiles. Jamal seems to be a “selective consumer.” He learns what he wants to learn. A lot of his knowledge he acquired outside school.
4. Relation to Forrester
After Jamal gets his writing corrected by Forrester, he immediately recognizes that there is a great writing talent in this man whom he does not know yet. He feels drawn towards Forrester although Forrester behaves very rude toward Jamal. Jamal shows a healthy self-esteem; he is determined to learn from this man. He respects him as a mentor and as a teacher. When he later finds out that Forrester is a well known author he is not impressed by the celebrity and their relation does not change. Jamal promises that he will not ask personal questions as everybody else does. Jamal is a very responsible boy; he covers Forrester with a blanket after he fell asleep, he cares for Forrester when the trip outside his apartment is too much for him. He values his new friendship very highly and keeps his promise never to tell anybody about Forrester, even when he gets in trouble because of his honesty.
5. New school setting
Jamal is able to decide to take a huge risk. He does not know in advance what his new school will be like. He also knows that his old friends would not accept him in their midst anymore in case he returns from the new school to his old school. By deciding to take his chance he bars his way back into social life at his old school.
6. Problems in the new school
In the new school he is bullied by his language arts teacher (Crawford) who does not believe some black basketball player from the Bronx can write high quality literature. The basketball team and the best player there (Hartwell) do not accept Jamal at first. Jamal is determined to “show them.” He knows what he can do and does his best. When Crawford challenges a classmate of Jamal with a poem, Jamal is on the boy’s side; he helps him and afterwards challenges Crawford: He knows all literature citations his teacher gives him - until he is sent away.
When Crawford finds out that the beginning of Jamal’s contribution to the writing contest is written by Forrester, Jamal does not break the promise toward Forrester. Jamal does not mention his new friend at all. Given the chance to play basketball for the school in an essential match he cannot perform as usual. The pressure is too much for him. But he still is determined to stay in this school.
7. Application into the “real world”
Jamal is an introverted boy who appears extroverted to everybody. He socializes in basketball, but nobody really knows his real identity, not even his mother. He is ready to take a risk, if he believes that it is worth it. What happened to Jamal in this film is an ideal solution for a “selective consumer”- and “underground”- type of gifted child. Jamal’s intrinsic motivation is kindled by the knowledge that Forrester has something to give him, that he found a really good mentor. The new school setting also increases his motivation - he turns from an underchallenged underachiever towards a highly motivated student - finding an academic identity. The comparison with his probably also gifted older brother shows that Jamal might have dropped out of high school, if he had not had the chances he had. Before this change in Jamal’s life occured he was looking into a future having to suffer in a non-challenging job like his brother does. His positive self-esteem helps him coping with the bullies at school even when he gets very angry. He is determined to grab his chance: stay in the new school setting and keep learning from Forrester.
1 This movie is rated PG13 - because of some strong language. There are essentially no serious scenes of sex or violence in this movie.
