Men of Honor : Movie Analysis

Running head: SOCIOLOGY
MEN OF HONOR ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

MEN OF HONOR ANALYSIS
1
Introduction
Films are often a reflection of our society which helps to show our values, socio-cultural
and economic aspects. Men of Honor was released in the year 2000, is an American drama set in
the 1940s which tells the story of a young African-American U.S Navy Diver Carl Brashear and
the person who trained him Master Billy Sunday (IMDb. com, 2020). The following report
analyses the film from a sociological point of view.
Beginning
During the very beginning of the story the conflict theory is evident. The American
society is divided economically, sociologically and culturally based on the colour. The socio-
cultural struggle of black lives is distinct in the movie (Simon, 2016). When Carl is recruited for
Navy he is hopeful; till he realises that he can only be a cook because he is black. From the
sociological theory of functionalism the American society was going through a change where the
segregation was just being eradicated however, from the cultural perspective the fact was that
blacks were still oppressed (Turner, 2017). On the other hand, Chief Billy Sunday is a white
privileged man in the society who is not ashamed of hating black people, he calls Carl cookie
because of the colour of his skin (King, 2017). He serves as the institutional and cultural
symbolism as even though he affirms to the changing laws and allows Carl to enter the academy
he maintains his cultural perspective of a white supremacy and always ensures to insult Carl for
his colour and never appreciates him.
The interaction between the Carl and Billy Sunday is never pleasant and is dominated by
the white supremacist ideology which also conforms the cultural view of the then American
society at large. The conflict among the members of a majority of white American is evident