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Real Life Coach Carter vs. Sam Jackson 'tough black man'

posted 12 years ago by gdeangel
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After watching the bonus DVD interviews for this film, I was struck by how the real coach carter was a soft spoken, possibly even philosophical/spiritual intellectual/ guy.

While I really liked the film, I started to think about other directions that they could have taken with Coach Carter's portrayal. It seemed that Jackson did little more than channel a cross between Harold Humphries ("Unthinkable"), who can torture these kids doling out 1000 push-ups with impunity, and J Escalante ("Stand and Deliver"), who is not going to let these marginalized kids scrape by without pushing them to use their brains. The formula works, but then again, the film ends up largely forgotten in the Sam Jackson compendium. The recent NY Times spread on his professional accomplishments fails even to mention "Coach Carter", probably his most socially significant film (particularly with Jackson in a leading role).

In the confrontation scenes with the principal, the parents, or even the board of education, even when he loses the fight, Jackson's version of Carter retains the super-hero aura of Mace Window or Shaft, who we secretly know could beat down his opponents if only he would whip out his light saber or Glock. How would this film be remembered if instead of the usual self-confident, long striding, booming voiced black man, Jackson had given us a more soft spoken, deferential coach, a coach really at risk of being swept away by the tide of the "just pass them and let them play" community? Would it be remembered as "the black Hoosiers film", or could it have transcended the proselytizing genre of failing-school films and become a dramatic epic about a real coach's struggle?

[–] Kelea7 12 years ago

Well, just because Ken Carter was softspoken doesn't mean he wasn't also hard edged. The boys hated him for a reason I'm sure. Still I get what you're saying and I think it has more to do with the screenwriters/producers and/or studios. It's not too often that a black actor gets a script that allows him to not only be lead (where the plot surrounds him) but to also explore a character and to give a nuanced performance. Denzel as a coach barely got that with Remember the Titans and you see he had to share screentime with Will Patton. They usually have types in mind when casting movies and I think Sam Jackson was the "type" they wanted for this film. He's capable of more but they hired him to be Sam Jackson because I believe that's what they thought would sell. I don't think most studios would even consider certain actors for certain roles because a lot of the movie business is about typecasting. Especially concerning actors of color.

I thought Sam Jackson had some nice moments in there but I would compare his performance more to Morgan Freeman in Lean on Me if anybody. But while watching it I didn't really think of anyone.

Rest in Peace Al Freeman Jr. An underrated talent and lovely spirit.