Finding Forrester Film Study
By Kristen Watson
1.
Give an example of a dilemma that Jamal faces
The large dilemma Jamal faces is when he is accused of plagiarism on an essay that he submitted for the essay-writing contest. He used Forrester’s title “A Season of
Faith’s perfection” without knowing that the article had been published in the New
Yorker. This causes Jamal to be faced with the decision to tell the school board that he had been helped by Forrester, read an apology letter to his class or be expelled from the academy. Jamal doesn’t want to confess to Forrester hidden secret nor does he wish to follow Crawford’s command by writing an apology letter, but he has to make a decision or else his bright future may become very dull.
Jamal is also faced with incredibly prejudice views throughout the movie until he begins to take Forrester’s the hinted at advice from the one of the first lesson’s William taught him. “You’re 16 and you’re black!” With this line Forrester presented Jamal with a test and asks, “If you tell me what you really want to tell me,
I might not read anymore of this. Bur if you let me run you down with this racist b.s., what does that make you?” From these comments Jamal suddenly understands that he must weigh pride and dignity vs. knowledge. Forrester teachers him that it is wrong of him to not stand up for himself against those who put him down.
2.
What is a soup question? Why is it significant?
When Jamal asks William why his soup usually doesn’t foam up, William gives him an answer, however when Jamal asks why Forrester never goes outside, he tells
Jamal to stick with the soup question. When Jamal is confused by this, Forrester explains that a “soup” question is one that provides the questionnaire with useful information (ex: how do you make this soup) as apposed to one that is meant to just satisfy one’s curiosity (ex: Do you ever go outside) This line is used throughout the movie to signify that Forrester is extremely private about his life, it isn’t until the end that Forrester answers Jamal’s non-“soup” question. Such as “did you ever get married?”
3.
What is ironic about Dr. Spence’s prejudice against Jamal?
Dr. Spence is guilt of stereotyping Jamal as a typical black kid from the Bronx who can play basketball very well. This is evident when he believes he is doing Jamal a favor when he suggests that Jamal is under a lot of pressure with too many academic courses. He tells Jamal that next year he could have a lighter academic load if he brings the school victory even adding the prejudicial statement, “Go finish up what up what you came here to do,” as Jamal is about to play the final basketball game.
However the irony lies in how Dr. Spence is prejudice towards Jamal, but he defeated gender prejudice at Mailor Callow so his daughter could attend school there.

4.
The director used many symbols of windows, frames, birds binoculars, and birds. List five examples. What do the windows symbolize in the movie? a) The binoculars that Forrester uses to watch the kids playing basketball. The audience sees how Forrester sees the boys and then a reflection is shown from the other side of the binoculars. b) The boys call Forrester “The Window.” This displays Forrester’s eccentric behavior and how people can perceive others based on only their reflection, not for who they truly are. c) When Jamal is playing basketball alone, before he is introduced to Forrester,
“The Window’s” light was on in his apartment. Perhaps at the time it represented the daunting dare that Jamal was faced with to get into “The
Window’s” house but as the story progresses perhaps that shot was added to show that Forrester’s place became a way for Jamal to see his future far brighter than what he would have had by just staying on the ground he was familiar with. d) Forrester frequently cleans his window, which is symbolic because that is the way in which he views his world around him. A clean window gives a person a clear vision, symbolizing his unique ability to analyze the world around him accurately. However it also symbolizes how cut off he is from the rest of the world, that the window gives him only what the world has to offer, he is only contributing his reflection. e) When Jamal is exploring Forrester’s place he looks out the window, to satisfy his curiosity of what exactly Forrester could see from that window. f) When Jamal looked up at Forrester’s window after his pack got stolen a bird flew into the shot, just missing Forrester’s window. Perhaps symbolizing that
Jamal was not yet welcomed into Forrester’s way of life. g) When Jamal first begins to write in Forrester’s home, Forrester is bird watching and says that a bird has strayed from the park. This hints that Jamal is like the bird who strayed from the park to an unknown territory. h) “What is the Scarlott Tanager?” When Jamal and Forrester are watching
Jeopardy, Forrester remembers a quote from a James Lowell poem and explains to Jamal that the poem is about “the song of the tanager, a song of new seasons, new life.” I bolded the word seasons because it may contain symbolism relating to the article Forrester did for The New Yorker in which he wrote on the Yankee’s World series of 1960. When Forrester was growing up his family rarely missed a game. In 1960 the Yankee’s lost the championship to the Pittsburgh pirates. The article itself is a metaphor of how there may be a season where faith can take a hold and produce hope, even in the midst of a grave disappointment. Which relates to Forrester’s sorrow and Jamal’s appearance that brings him hope and courage. Forrester brings those same gifts to Jamal as he faces many dilemma’s in which he has to battle to fight for his academic future. Jamal also asked if Forester had seen any of them around his apartment and forester replied, “they never stray too far away from the park.” Perhaps symbolizing how he himself never leaves his nest.

i) The class is studying Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven which acts as an allusion to Forrester’s way of living and his relationship with Jamal (see question 5 in literary terms) j) In the beginning there is a group of birds that fly off a rooftop as a man stands below them and waves them off. Or perhaps he waves them free. As they fly from the rooftop he too looks as if he longs to set for the sky.
Cinematic Shots:
What effect was the director trying to achieve with each of the following shots?
1.
The close-up shot of Jamal’s backpack
Jamal leaves his backpack at Forrester’s place and to put emphasis on it he has a clear shot of it being left on Forrester’s table. This allows the audience to follow the plot easier as they could then understand that Jamal had his journals and Forrester’s knife in his backpack. This moves the plot forward into Jamal’s relationship with
Forrester as he needs to get his backpack back, however Forrester does that for him by dropping his bag, however this only sparks Jamal’s curiosity. Which moves the plot forward again.
2.
Jamal standing and watching his friends playing basketball after having been away.
This shows Jamal’s isolation from his friends as he is shown to be standing outside the fence literally and metaphorically out of touch with his friends. This is the barrier that Jamal tried to avoid by trying to fit in and not show his intelligence in
English. His fear has become his reality as his friends ignore him.
Character Development:
1.
How is Jamal first introduced to the audience?
Jamal is first introduced to the audience in his slumber in his room full of books. In his room the noises of the Bronx can be heard over his asking him if he is going to get up. He awakens quickly and walks into his classroom by an empty hallway, hinting that he is late for school. By doing this the director points out that Jamal is literarily intelligent but also just a typical teenager who has slept pass his alarm.
However, the close up of his eyes when he first wakes up zooms the focus to him so that he audience realizes he is an important character. After this scene Jamal’s name is said as he begins to play basketball with his friends and he comes across a little bit arrogant as he trash talks his friend about his basketball abilities. Then the audience sees that Jamal’s talk lived up to his basketball technique as he dunks the basketball on his first try.
2.
How is Forrester first introduced to the audience? What hints do we get of
Forrester before we actually meet him? Why do we meet Forrester in stages?
The first time Forrester’s face is scene is through a pair of binoculars as he watches the boys play basketball. The first words he is, “you can’t give him that” which right after he says it one of the boys playing basketball exclaims the same line. This hints

that he understands the character and body language of people, which is what some writers use for inspiration for their writing. The audience soon sees that the boys playing basketball realize that they are being watched by Forrester, they call him
“The Window” one boy recalls that, “He has never seen The Window, but he sees
[them].” At lunch the boys come up with many hypothetical situations of why “The
Window” never comes out of his house. They even suggest that maybe he has killed somebody, but they even reason that out because, “you would have to kill an army to in this place to have to keep hidden.” When Jamal breaks into his apartment the large sum of books Forrester has hints at his love for reading the real hint that
Forrester is a writer however is when Jamal receives his bag from him and his journals have been written or shall I say edited by Forrester. When they begin to talk more about the Mailor school, Forrester predicts that Jamal will go there because he recalls that there was, “a question in [Jamal’s writing] about what [he] wants to do with his life.” It isn’t until Jamal sees the photo in Claire’s early printing that he realizes who “The Window” really is. A large hint is said by Forrester before the reveal that is when he comes across a page that has been doggy eared and he exclaims, “Show a little respect for the author!” The reasons why the audience never quite fully meets Forrester all at once is because he is suppose to have many veils of secrecy. Just as his character is, Forrester is a private man so the director portrays this by slowly unfolding his character throughout the film as Forrester becomes more open too.
Character Motivations:
1.
Why does Mrs. Joyce say that Poe was “strung out on coke?”
Poe never did have a confirmed addiction to drugs, however there was a biography published by one of Poe’s friends that advocated against drugs and alcohol and tried to use Poe’s odd character as a warning or lesson. Mrs. Joyce used this questionable fact to make Poe appear more “cool” so that her students may take more of an interest in the poem. However this shows that she will even propose that taking drugs is seen to be cool in order to get her kids to follow the lesson plan. The director does this to show that this schools teaching is not up to Jamal’s intellectual level.
2.
Why does Jamal tell his teacher he had never read “The Raven,” when we know he likely has.
When Mrs. Joyce asks Jamal this question the entire class had turned to him. Making him feel rather uncomfortable but the real pressure that he would have been feeling was executed before the question was asked. One of Jamal’s friends had made the entire class laugh by making fun of the poem, referring to it as a football team who always loses. Therefore he had already made fun of something that Jamal liked.
Jamal’s fear of not fitting in and his own prejudices that his friends wouldn’t understand if he had read the poem that is why Jamal answer Mrs. Joyce’s question with a no. The next seen also shows that Jamal is easily pressured by his friends as he agrees to sneak into “The Window’s” house. As Mrs. Joyce says later on, “Kids here don’t care what he can put down on paper.”

3.
Why does Jamal get writing advice from a stranger instead of his teachers?
Jamal receives serious pressure from his friends at school, if he were to be seen going after school to get more writing advice he would risk that his friends would make fun of him. Jamal is extremely knowledgeable of many authors as well and considering his teacher taught her class that the writer Poe, “was strung out on coke,” he may have even questioned her teaching ability. Jamal enjoys his high intellectual conversations with Forrester and an atmosphere different from what he has known. In Forrester’s apartment you never usually hear the sounds of the Bronx as you could in Jamal’s. Jamal is intrigued as soon as he came into Forrester’s place as the walls were surrounded by novels, which of course captured his eyes being a becoming writer and excessive reader. Jamal also seems to see Forrester as a father figure as he is taught Jamal many lessons not just about writing but about life too.
This parallel relationship also become clear when Forrester leaves Jamal his apartment and leaves him to finish his novel at the end. Such a gift seems to be something that a father would leave behind an inspiring son.
Literary Terms
1.
Why is Matt Damon used for a cameo?
The director Gus Van Sant was wary of the similarity between Finding Forrester and another film by the name of Good Will Hunting. Both of which he directed Instead of an Irish American math wizkid from South Boston, in Finding Forrester we have a literary minded black whizkid from the Bronx. Instead of a talented therapist wrestling with his personal tragedies, we have a reclusive author wrestling with his tragedies. While Finding Forester is set at a private academy, Good Will Hunting is partially set at Harvard. These slight differences round both movies as the younger and older character help each other to redeem themselves. In the film Matt Damon talks to Jamal, which sparks humor as they both have played the similar whizkid role in one of Gus Van Sant’s films.
2.
Why does the director include the scene of the 50 hoop shots between Jamal and Mailor Callow’s number one player?
The director includes this shot to show that even though Jamal hasn’t played basketball in a fancy school with high standards of equipment and regulations he is a just as good as Hartwell. This shows again the prejudice that people may place on one another just because of their background or skin color. Gus Van Sant also provides an underlining meaning that you can be as good as what you chose to be, meaning that nobody is stopping you from achieving greatness other than you. On the other hand nobody is really forcing anybody to become put labels on people, but it is one’s self that does that.
3.
What is the title of Forrester’s book and its significance? Jamal’s letter that
Forrester reads to the class?
Forrester’s book is called Avalon Landing. It suggests to its reader that life never quite works out. With this message Forrester describes his fear of breaking out of

the despair that surrounded him after the war and his unfortunate deaths of his brother, mother and father. Instead of entering the world around him, Forrester becomes isolated and lives in fear. Jamal’s letter is titled
4.
What is a mentor? How does “mentor” differ from “teacher?”
Dictionary.com defined mentor and teacher as:
Mentor: An experienced and trusted advisor
Teacher: A person who teaches.
The blandly put teacher definition does however state the obvious about why Jamal really does prefer to learn from Forrester than his teachers. His teacher Mrs. Joyce doesn’t have the same experiences that Forrester does. Forrester has written not just only a best selling novel, but one that has continued to be talked about throughout his generation. This gives something that Jamal can inspire to be. Not only is Jamal captivated by Forrester but he also trust him. Their meetings and the secret that Jamal holds for Forrester gives their relationship substance. Not only do they share a secret but a similar background too. Forrester group up in the Bronx too, but was intelligent enough to gain more than what is expected from a kid from the Bronx. This gives Jamal a brighter thought for his future.
5.
With the one exception of his brief marriage, Edgar Allan Poe was a lonely man, if effect one who lived much of his life in solitude. When and why does this movie allude to Poe?
This movie certainly alludes to Poe, the allusion begins as soon as the teacher announces that the class will be studying a poem written by him, The Raven. In the poem, Poe is distracted from his grief and despair by an ebony raven tapping at his window. Similarly it is Jamal (who is darker in color) who first enters Forrester’s house by the window. In the poem, once Poe let’s in the Raven, it perches upon
Pallas, who is the Greek God of wisdom. This resembles how when Forrester let
Jamal finally come in, Jamal showed him his intelligence of writing. However, in the poem it expresses the Raven to be a symbol of depression and sadness that won’t go away because the hope that came with love has gone away. Finding Forrester plays on the poem a little differently suggesting that what if a renewed hope came with the Raven (Jamal). The answer is found, as forester is able to leave his apartment and eventually back home to Scotland because of the hope and courage Jamal brought to his life.
From the Movie:
Who says “I read The Times for Dinner, but [The National Enquirer] is my dessert?” what is occurring at this point in the film and why is this significant?

William Forrester says this line as Jamal asks him why he reads The National
Enquirer, “It’s garbage man!” With this Forrester gives him a smile and replies with line above. What he means is that The Enquirer is bad in such a sense that it is almost like a sweet or pleasurable desert to read because it is fun and not heavily written it’s like a little something extra/ maybe even in humorous extra that allows him to finish his meal in a good mood.