I will discuss the mental skills involved in the movie Space Jam for this paper. I’m addressing concentration and leadership as I believe these categories played a significant role in the development of this movie. In summary, Space Jam portrays an amusement park owner who intends to bring new attractions to his park by employing Looney Tune characters. He is tricked into having a basketball competition as a wager for their compliance. The amusement park owner has underlings who will compete in the competition. They steal the talent of various NBA stars and transform into giant muscular monster athletes, self-proclaimed as “Monstars.” The Looney Tune characters recruit Michael Jordan to aid in preparing for this competition, and together they …show more content…
must defeat the Monstars to ensure the freedom of their team. Michael Jordan was recruited into a leadership position which has been described in our class as “the process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.” The nature of how he was chosen would imply that he was a “prescribed leader,” which is someone who is appointed into a leadership role. Michael proved to be an influential leader while displaying concentration throughout the movie to ensure the success of his team. The term concentration is defined as “A person’s ability to exert deliberate mental effort on what is most important in a situation” and it’s somewhat expected of Michael to have optimal concentration capabilities as he is considered the best basketball player known to date. The book describes a good leader as one with a vision, who is also trustworthy, optimistic, and confident (reference).
Throughout the movie, Michael showed that he had a vision of beating the Monstars, and he was entrusted by the Looney Tune characters to lead them to victory; he was always upbeat and encouraged his team to believe they would win. Using the interactional approach it is apparent that Michael is a leader in numerous aspects throughout this movie. He was a leader to the Looney Toon characters, players on his basketball and baseball team, and as a father at home. He has a relationship-oriented temperament where even players of the opposing baseball team were willing to aid him while he was at bat during a game. When practicing for the basketball competition, it was evident nearly all of the Looney Tunes had no background for playing basketball. Michael used this as an opportunity to enforce a democratic coaching approach for his team. Since he was playing alongside his team, he had a direct influence on the outcome of the game. Due to being highly competent at basketball, he was able to provide positive feedback for his team when they performed well, and encouraged them to have fun while playing, instead of focusing on winning the game. His teammates were cartoons, but they resembled young athletes, which makes sense as democratic coaches are favored when working with younger individuals …show more content…
(reference). There were four components of concentration discussed in our class lectures and seen in this movie. These components include; focusing on the relevant cues in the environment, maintaining the attentional focus over time, having awareness of the situation and performance error, and shifting attentional focus when necessary (reference). During the foremost basketball game in Space Jam, the concentration of Michael Jordan was fully exposed. He was placed in a situation where he was competing in a high stakes game in a stadium that was packed full of spectators, and he was competing against giant monsters who were seemingly talented and intimidating. However, Michael didn’t let these distractions affect his gameplay; instead he thrived under the pressure and made impressive plays that worried the amusement park owner. He managed to maintain his attentional focus throughout the game despite being highly outscored in the first half and realized he needed to boost the confidence of his team. He told his team to “keep their head up” and used a placebo drink of “Michael’s secret stuff” which made his teammates believe they had increased performance. By being situationally aware, he was able to make adjustments to the mindset of his team, and they began to rally score-wise in the second half. He then used shifting attentional focus when making the last shot of the game; first, he assessed the court and where his opponents were. Next, he recalled that he can perform extraordinary actions in Looney Toon Land. Then, he narrowed his focus and stretched his arm further than humanly possible. Finally, he slam-dunked the ball to win the game. I believe Space Jam portrayed the qualities of a leader extremely well, specifically a leader who doubled as a coach and teammate.
The movie could have taken a different spin by making a distinction between these two roles. Michael Jordan could have taken the role of being a coach for the Looney Tunes instead of playing alongside them, and there may have been a difference in the influence made in regards to the level of skill among the Looney Tune characters. This would allow them to depend less on Michael to score points for their team as they faced the Monstars on their own. It was also evident that self-talk played a role in concentration during the basketball game. The movie addressed this by having the Looney Tune characters make statements such as “we should forfeit” or “we are chickens” during halftime, but instead of having someone say they shouldn’t think that way; the movie ignored addressing this problem and skipped to it being resolved. To overcome this obstacle which hinders concentration, players should strive to have nonjudgmental thinking. The mentality of evaluating situations and classifying it as good or bad during a game should be avoided, as it may lead to negative generalizations
(reference). This movie gave a visual presentation of how being concentrated and resembling a good leader may influence others. As I pursue my goals of becoming a family physician, these are indispensable qualities that are necessary for my patients to heed my advice. I also currently volunteer as a mentor for aspiring medical students who are in 8th grade. Taking the role of a leader with a vision, who is also trustworthy, optimistic, confident, and capable of concentrating on the moment, will benefit my relationships with my students in a positive manner. As a mentor it is essential to establish direction and a goal to pursue for our mentee’s so they don’t take our time for granted.
In conclusion this is how these two allstars are beyond incredible and this is how they show their talents in different ways. This also shows how American culture has changed a lot. We see how Michael Jordan talent differs from Lebron James talent but they are compared too as both “The best to ever play the game of basketball”.
Golliver, Ben. “Spoelstra: Comparing LeBron James to Jordan is Impossible Because ‘Game is Different Now.’” Sports Illustrated. Time Inc. 6 Jun. 2013. Web. 8 Oct 2013.
Then baseball came along in his life, and he signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox. Michael had the great base running ability and defense, but couldn’t hit a lick of the ball. Then on April 2, 1995, he decided he couldn’t stay away from basketball. He came back in the middle of the season and the bulls were unable to achieve what they have done in recent years. During the off-season, Michael was approached by Warner Bros. for a movie with their characters the looney tunes. It would later become known as the movie Space Jam released in November 1996. This year the Bulls came back better than ever, setting an astounding 72-10 record. The day the Bulls clinched their 4th championship with Michael it was Father’s Day. This is the first time the Bulls would celebrate without James Jordan is there. Michael would have another astounding accomplishment by setting the first-ever triple double in the NBA all-star game. The Bulls had once again ended up making it to the Finals. The Bulls would split the first four games with the Utah Jazz. Then comes the fifth game of the Finals, which Michael is most famous for the flu game. There are many stories for why Michael looked sluggish on the court, but it was stated as flu like symptoms or the actual flu. Although Jordan was for sure weakened on the court, he rose to the occasion. The Bulls would go on
The coaches inflict lots of pressure onto Mike, so much pressure that he ended up being too burnt out to play in college. His dreams were crushed by the powers that controlled him as he grew into an adult.
...tain a fresh appreciation of the world around them. Socially, they are sensitive to others’ needs and enjoy rewarding interpersonal relations. At the Henry Horner Homes Project, Michael has written his legend. "It is sentimental to pretend that he can solve the many problems that beset this pace, irresponsible to imagine that he owes a greater responsibility to these kids than one owes them one’s self. But he could focus attention on these children’s problems simply by crossing the street. These kids, and others like them, are not Jordan’s obligation, but they are his opportunity. And with so much on the lives, who would you rather see with the ball?" (Naughton, 1992 Pg. 250-251)
Michael is a static character (unlike Molly he doesn’t change much throughout the show), a white male, and a talented computer hacker. Michael is significantly younger than the other main characters and serves as some of the comic relief for the show. He is the third character in the dysfunctional trio (Maya, Celina, Michael). Together they all have different strengths and though they’re reluctant to be grouped together sometimes, they round each other out. Michael comes from a middle-class background, does well in school, and does not have any of the barriers up against him that the other characters have had. Three words to describe Michael: gifted, immature,
Phyllis then calls out Michael for making fun of them every day. His insults consist of fat shaming his employees and mocking them on their appearances. He is abusing his role and as a manager, he is using irresponsible dialog to communicate with his employees. By humiliating his employees he is satisfying his own self-worth and ego. Michael shows lack of empathy towards his employees and he is unwilling to recognize or even take into consideration what their thoughts and feelings are. When he starts his “training” he makes his main focus on himself and his feelings, even though the main focus was geared towards everyone. Michael Scott stated in the Kai pod episode “ you cannot make fun of a person for something or action they have no control over” he then continues on by saying it is only acceptable to make fun of something they have control over. He calls out Oscar and tells everyone it's okay to make fun of him because he chose to be gay; on the other hand, it was not okay for Michael’s employees to make fun of him because he did not choose to fall in the Koi pond. He is concerned more about what others see in him rather than helping the situation. He is using his authority and displaying his authority as manager to persuade the others to think it’s okay if someone else gets made fun of but not
Coach Herman Boone, who is played by Denzel Washington, is a very influential person. He is a perfect leader. While it cannot be found out for sure, Coach Boone can be classified under the trait theory of management, that “Leaders are Born”. The type of leadership he displays cannot be taught, he is able to bring together two different types of groups to act as one, to respect each other and play together. He shows power in the movie, he has a large capacity to influence others. Using his power, he gets the players to conform and forget how others think they are supposed to act towards each other. The goal specificity is also clear in the movie. Coach Boone expects his team to be ‘perfect’, he expects them to win the Virginia State Championship. Former head coach and now assistant coach Bill Yoast, played by Will Patton, is also a very influential person and good leader. He is in charge...
To Michael playing basketball in the NBA “seemed something of a distant dream'; (Halberstam 20), but even after he was cut from the varsity team Michael still practiced every day. Michael’s practice paid off in his junior and senior years when he was the best player on the varsity team. After high school Michael was off to the University of North Carolina where for three years he would have some amazing accomplishments in basketball.
Once planted in the minds of individuals, ideas have a remarkable ability to grow with the strength and speed of the most powerful pathogens – possessing equal communicability as they spread to proximal centers of consciousness. How can this characteristic of ideas be utilized to benefit society? In the film Twelve Angry Men, we see a situation where Juror Eight – equipped with all the autonomy and wisdom of an ideal leader – appeals to logos in an attempt to promote the consideration of an idea, which he has planted in the minds of an otherwise unanimous jury; this idea being the mere possibility of innocence in the conviction of a boy charged with patricide. Ideally, leaders will possess an ability to transcend the allure of groupthink so prevalent in collective decision-making. However, when not coupled by the proper corresponding actions, such transcendental thoughts never become bigger than the brain-cells that they occupy. As Juror Eight leads his associates to consider the uncertainty of the case, we see an important skill in leadership: the ability to recognize disparity in individual cognition. Juror Eight appeals to this variance in thought patterns by guiding his peers through a journey of personal evaluation – allowing them to reach conclusions on their own, rather than explicitly dropping their minds into the terminal of his own logic.
Lord, R. (2000). Leadership. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology, vol. 4. (pp. 499-505). Doi:10.1037/10519-216
This report is an analysis of the movie Wall Street (1987), directed by Oliver Stone. This report explored the concept of leadership and how it is depicted in the movie. The reports explain a leader’s use of power and influence tactics. As the report proceeds it shows leader’s attributes and style and how it influences on movie character’s action and the environment in which they operate. In the end, it gives an analysis of the effectiveness of the leader. This report justifies an analysis based on existing theory, research evidence and empirically grounded data.
The movie, “Gladiator” is based on the life of a war hero in the Roman era. Maximus was the main character in the movie who led the northern army against the Germanic tribes near Vindobona. Maximus had to make major decisions throughout the storyline to survive and become as great as he was. He went from a war hero, to an enslaved gladiator who had to constantly fight for freedom to regain his respect. He wanted to become free again, so he put his heart into his actions. These concepts that we have learned through our organizational behavior course has shown throughout the characters. The main concepts of leadership styles, expectancy theory,team dynamics, and communication are prevalent in the movie.
1. The movie “Invictus” shows great examples of the trait leadership theory that Mandela portrayed as the President of South Africa. Mandela was able to influence the people of South Africa through his traits of being an extravert leader and having great integrity. According to the text, extraverts are sociable, assertive, and energetic people. Mandela displayed traits of an extravert leader. Whenever he would greet people he always had a genuine smile and good intentions towards everyone he met. Even the people who worked for him, especially his security, were expected and required to always have a smile to portray a welcoming atmosphere. Mandela was a very sociable person, he made sure to go to all the rugby tournaments and had a very magnetic personality that he portrayed to everyone he spoke with. At every rugby tournament Mandela went to shake the players’ hands, wished them good luck, and went into the stands to greet fans that attended the game. Mandela also led his country with great integrity. The text describes integrity as the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Mandela had strong believes and values which is one reason why he won the Presidency election of South Africa. Through his strong integrity he was able to unite his country. There were many hardships along the way of people not agreeing with his views or values, but that did not stop him from leading his people. Mandela even lost his family because unfortunately they did not agree with his belief or accepted what he was trying to accomplish. This shows that no matter who disagreed with Mandela’s viewpoint he did not let it affect who he was or the integrity of his goal to benefit the country of South Africa.
Throughout the course of history, individuals have enjoyed playing sports. Whether it is throwing a football, sprinting around the track, or kicking a soccer ball; sports have been a popular activity worldwide. The determination and expertise needed to play sports at the highest level has made it a challenging yet enjoyable activity. However, in the recent years, sports have slowly drifted off from it’s traditional roots of physical prowess and into competitions of mental proficiencies. With the exponential growth of technology worldwide, it is not uncommon for the average household to have a computer, PS4, Xbox One, or even a Nintendo 3DS.