Ethics, Hypocrisy, and Transformation in the Film Jerry Maguire
Jerry Maguire is a film set in the 1990's which shows the clear differences between idealism and ethical thinking and the hypocrisy of the workplace, where lip service is paid to doing the right thing, but actions contradict the rhetoric. A clear theme in this film is therefore hypocrisy, with the feel good factor of redemption through transformation (Gayules & Bird, 2005). This romantic comedy -- drama is set in the 1990s, starring Tom Cruise as the title character who evolves though the film, who has difficult in adopting ethical perspectives as they undermine his business position, making tis film an interesting anthropological study of the world of the sports agent (Gayles & Bird, 2005).
Jerry is a sports agent, in the movie he is portrayed as being at the top of his game, he is making a lot of money with a total of 72 clients. His success is supported not only with the imagery of the film; Cruise is shown dressed in smart suited associated with success, he is also shown as having a stressful life associated with his role as an agent, which includes receiving over 400 calls a day. Jerry's success may be that desired by many people, but he is also portrayed as having lacking ethics, with an uncaring attitude. This attitude is seen when he is in the hospital visiting a player that is suffering from severe concussion, and the players man theory to advise his father to stop playing in order to protect his health, Jerry dismisses the request, stating that nobody could stop him playing.
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This demonstrates his uncanny nature, which even Terry himself questions later in the film, when he asked himself if you just become another shock in a suit.
This evolution towards redemption occurs after this encounter, when he writes a mission statement for himself, regarding the way he would like to be as an agent and a person. Peers at his workplace applaud his apparent ethics, but this is lip service only, none appear to believe that is the correct way to behave, with many asking each other how long they think you will survive with that work ethic.
It is soon after this that Jerry loses his job, and his own life starts to fall apart, including the loss of his fiancee. Jerry manages to hold onto Rod Tidwell, his last client, it is his relationship with this player that formed the catalyst for his evolution and recovery.
The entire film portrays this clash of ethics and business practice. The acting style is highly representative of the aggressive nature portrayed in the business world, with the mise-en-scene supporting a perception of a cutthroat industry (Bordwell and Thompson, 2010). For example,….....
Bordwell, D; Thompson, K. (2010). Film Art: An Introduction, London, Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education
Cheever, A. (2006). "The Man He Almost Is": Jerry Maguire and Judith Butler. Arizona Quarterly: A Journal of American Literature, Culture, and Theory, 62(4), 71-91
Goodykoontz, B. Jacobs, C PO. (2011). Film: From Watching the Seen, San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Gayles, J; Bird, S E. (2005), Jerry Maguire as 'Expeditionary Discourse' in Holloway, D; Beck, J, (2005), American Visual Cultures, New York, Bloomsbury.
