Thesis
The 2010 film Lottery Ticket is a comedy that has much more underneath the surface than one would expect. Overall, it plays off of many stereotypes in an attempt to convey its message to the audience. It aims to cause viewers to think about many hard-hitting issues, such as urban struggles and how shallow humans can be.
Step One: Detection
Identification
In this critical review we will be looking at the entirety of the 2010 film Lottery Ticket. One could find this movie on DVD or through various streaming sites.
Step Two: Description
Detailed Description
The movie follows the story of the main character, Kevin Carson, who is played by Shad “Bow Wow” Moss. It takes place in the Fillmore Projects. Kevin’s true friends and family consist of his best friend Benny, his other best friend Stacie, and his grandmother.
Kevin is employed at the local Foot Locker shoe store. After an unfortunate encounter with the neighborhood bully, Lorenzo, he finds himself in a bit of a slump. Noticing this, Stacie gets him a fortune cookie in an attempt to lift his spirits. He uses the lucky numbers from this fortune cookie to purchase a lottery ticket, despite him not believing in it.
The next morning, to his surprise, he actually won. He tries to keep it a secret, and asks everybody who is aware to do the same. Much to his dismay, his grandmother lets the secret out. When Kevin tries to cash in his ticket, he sees a sign saying the store is closed for the weekend because of the July 4th holiday. Now, Kevin has to try to manage this lottery ticket until he can cash it in.
Kevin initially wants to deny actually getting a winning ticket. He quickly changes his mind after he realizes the power and respect it has given him. It even brings in one of the hottest girls around, Nikki Swazey. He plans to take her on an expensive date, however, he has no money. So one of Kevin’s newfound friends brings him to somebody else in order to get some extra cash from Sweet Tee. He is also assigned a bodyguard, Jimmy. Kevin and his friends quickly spend this newfound money. At the end of his night, he almost has a sexual relation with Nikki. She insists that he doesn’t use a condom, which he declines. He learns that this is because she wants to get pregnant from a rich man. Kevin, disappointed on his way home, meets Mr. Washington. He tells Kevin about how the riches that came with his career as a boxer only ruined his friendships.
The following day, Kevin attends a church. This church service, as everything else is turning out to be, ends up asking for some of Kevin’s funds. Kevin is understandably displeased with this. As he is leaving, he gets stopped by Lorenzo. He narrowly manages to escape. Jimmy, however, is greatly hurt.
Benny offers to hold the ticket in order to protect Kevin. Kevin takes this as another attempt at getting his money and gets offended. He then ends up at Stacie’s house. After having an epiphany about how he should spend his money, they almost have a passionate relation; it gets interrupted by Stacie’s mother. Kevin, with only one escape option, jumps out of the window. From the ground, he tells Stacie that he loves her.
Upon leaving, Kevin is promptly attacked and knocked out by Lorenzo. He is robbed of what has been both a blessing and curse: the ticket. Mr. Washington finds him and gets him home. He meets up with Benny the next morning, and the set out to find Lorenzo and get the ticket back. However, they are intercepted by Sweet Tee. Kevin is given a death threat by him if he doesn’t get his money back. He assures Sweet Tee that Lorenzo has the solution to his problems.
Sweet Tee ends up running into Lorenzo, and the two brawl. Kevin and Mr. Washington end up at the scene, and things get messy. In the end of it all, Mr. Washington hits Lorenzo and gives the ticket to Kevin. He can now finally get his money.
It now shifts to the future, and shows Kevin’s shoe company. His company gives back to the community and tries to make it a better place. The people in charge of his company, along with himself, are his true friends who stuck with him through everything. The movie ends with a scene of them all flying away in a new helicopter.
Creator/Creator’s Purpose
Erik White says in an interview with Voice of America News that he wrote Lottery Ticket with the intention of making a film with a deep meaning, but still components of comedy. He was quoted saying, “I really wanted to get across a story with some moral fiber to it, to give people something to think about when they leave the theater” (Silverman). He also says, “It’s more of a great story with funny stuff in it, which makes it a little bit different from the typical ‘urban’ film” (Silverman).
Function/Purpose & Genre
Lottery Ticket, as a comedy films, is made to entertain the audience.
Step Three: Deconstruction
Underlying myths/stereotypes
The primary myth illustrated in Lottery Ticket is the way the African-American culture is portrayed. The movie takes place in a city, and the main setting is the neighborhood where Kevin lives. Stereotypes are viewed in most aspects of the setting, as the neighborhood is a stereotypical ghetto with a bunch of thug-looking guys wearing du-rags and blasting hip-hop music. It’s very stereotypical and not always true, making a very hasty generalization about the predominantly African-American neighborhoods in cities. Other stereotypes included was the bully-jailbird of the neighborhood, the slang and the way the actors in the movie were talking, and the use of the n-word between African-Americans.
Evidence for linking myths and stereotypes
Lottery Ticket takes place in a neighborhood that is a very stereotypical “hood” that would be in a predominantly African-American part of the city. There are a bunch of ratty, torn up, apartments and houses that all look the same. There’s people smoking and dressed in tank tops and du rags and baggy shorts. Everywhere the camera pans and changes scenes there’s hip-hop music playing in the background. It’s the same stereotypical “gangster rap era” persona that every rapper had in hip hop and how African-Americans are portrayed in other movies.
The slang used and the way the characters talked was another stereotype that was prevalent in the movie. The sound of the voices were stereotypical to how other African-Americans in the projects are portrayed in Hollywood. A few good examples of slang used and the way the characters speak stick out. For example, one of the characters says to Kevin, “N****, you can’t put rims on a helicopter. Ain’t got no damn wheels!” as well as another time when the stereotypical, fresh out of jail badboy, references other stereotypes in culture. “used to have to steal them off n****s’’ feet. Just rob them. But thanks to you, we got new shoes fresh out the box. That’s love, man,” is what Lorenzo says to Kevin, while making more stereotypical comments about crime culture in neighborhoods.
Another stereotype is that the women all dress in provocative, racy clothing and appear as sexy. This is a stereotype not limited to race, and shows up all over media outlets and makes women of all different races and ethnic groups seen as sex objects. The other stereotype about women in the movie is how they are viewed as gold diggers. After the neighborhood finds out about Kevin winning the lottery, all the girls, specifically Nikki, the attractive girl who has dated famous rappers, start to notice Kevin and wanting to date/sleep with him. Nikki and Kevin were about to have sex and Nikki basically told him she only wanted to have his baby to make money off of him. It makes women look bad as a whole, since not all women are gold diggers like the movie makes them out to be.
Significant Omissions
One significant event that was left out of the movie was what happened to Lorenzo after Mr. Washington knocks him out. The whole movie focused on how much of a bad boy Lorenzo was, and the fact that he just got out of prison. After he gets knocked out, that’s the last we seem of him. It leaves open interpretation to what happened, as he could have gone back to jail for assaulting Kevin and also attempting to steal his lottery ticket. The movie lets off and doesn’t say what happens next.
Another omission from the movie that leaves interpretation for the viewer is what else Kevin does with his money in the future. Obviously, it could lead for a sequel and we may find out. However, as a viewer I was curious to see what else Kevin might do with the money he won from the lottery.
Step 4: Diagnosis
Meanings and Possible Interpretations:Lottery Ticket portrays African Americans in a way that makes them look lazy and dangerous. The fact that everyone in their lower class neighborhood was African American gives them a bad reputation because it shows that all white people are too good to live there and only African Americans would live in such a place. Despite the negative stereotypes portrayed in this movie, there are some good messages that the movie teaches. It shows the importance of selflessness giving back to your community when they are in need. When Kevin ends up with his money in the end, he stresses the importance in using that money to improve his neighborhood and improve the community. He always stands by his neighborhood, even when the neighbors kept trying to get a piece of his fortune.
Comparison With Rational Models: This movie has so many universal stereotypes that we have seen so many times in portrayals of African American urban communities. People are unemployed, everyone has a gun, people go nuts at Church, and everyone asks Kevin for money when they heard about his new found wealth. The worst stereotype displayed is the gold digging woman who tries to act like she has feelings for Kevin, but really only wants to have sex with him without him using a condom so that he can get her pregnant and she can get money from him.
Potential Effects (Harm):Lottery Ticket can give people the wrong idea about the projects that Kevin lives in. The fact that every person they show in their community is an African American could make people think that that’s how all African Americans live. Also, the way people act around Kevin before and after he won the lottery gives people a bad impression of selfishness in the African American community. The truth is that there will always be lower class people living in the projects, and there will always be greedy people who only care about themselves. This movie just didn’t do a good job showing that those kind of people can be of any race or religion.
Judgement/Evaluation: I understand that this movie is meant to be a silly spoof on the lower class urban community and what happens when one person finds himself with $370 million. It was an all African American cast and it was supposed to appeal to an African American audience. It’s just that the stereotypes portrayed in this movie are so clichè and it doesn’t make African Americans look good at all. There are some good morals behind this movie that Kevin displays, such as knowing who your true friends are and never forgetting where you came from. Unfortunately those morals are hidden behind the many stereotypes shown in this movie.
Step 5: Design
Realistic Framing
At the end of the movie, Lorenzo confronts Kevin Carson, about the lottery ticket. After a fistfight erupts in the middle of a heavily populated area, Kevin is on the ground with Lorenzo standing over him. He pulls out a gun and asks Kevin to pick a number 1-10, he choses three. He is then given three seconds to hand over the lottery ticket, or else he will be shot. He quickly hands over the lottery ticket, and a short time passes until Mr. Washington comes out of nowhere and uppercuts him, saving the day. I thought this was cliché of the writers. In almost every movie the villain is stopped just in the nick of time, usually coming down to the final seconds. I also found the language extremely corny and poorly written in this scene.
I would rather have seen this go differently. If I were the director I would have chose a different way in which this scene could be recreated. I would have Kevin confronted by Lorenzo, and try to escape, with him shooting behind him. During the chase Mr. Washington, and the townspeople get involved, and bring him down. This ending is more original.
Likelihood of use
I don’t think that Hollywood would implement my idea, but I think they should consider making endings to movies more creative and less predictable.
Existing Reconstructions:
I know this has happened in a couple movies I have seen, but I cannot recall a specific one even after researching.
Step 6: Debriefing
Personal Impact Before/After: Fortunately, we all went into this movie with an informed knowledge of African American culture, because if we didn’t, we would get a very wrong impression. The fact that this movie featured many hip hop artists such Lil Bow Wow, Ice Cube, and T-Pain almost made it seem like a hip hop music video where all the girls act like objects and all the guys have to assert their masculinity. Fortunately this film was a spoof or else it could give a very negative portrayal of African Americans.
Personal Harm from Myth: These “myths” about African American culture can be harmful to our society and can lead to racism. The lack of diversity in this movie only gave people more of a reason to think less of African Americans when we shouldn’t be thinking that at all.
Step 7: Dissemination
Advocacy Action Plan:
I find stereotypes in movies to be disturbing, and unnecessary. As a society I think we are past this stage. We have seen what racism has done to the world, and what it still does. It causes further problems that are still affecting us today. I do not condone the use of stereotypes and think that they should go unused. Unfortunately, not everyone thinks this and there is no chance at completely abandoning them.
Timetable of specific activities (personal/public/professional):
There are some things to do to prevent the use of these. Not that we should have to, but we should make the harmfulness of stereotypes more known. Personally, I can do this by talking to people when I hear the use of a stereotype or racial slur. If I see similar things in other movies I can contact the media outlet and share my beliefs with them. I believe that if we make an effort we can curb the use of harmful stereotype that our society doesn’t need anymore.
Works Cited
Silverman, Alan. “Filled With Comedy ‘Lottery Ticket’ Portrays Poverty and Desperation.” Voice
of America. Federal Government of the United States, 19 Aug. 2010. Web. 28 July 2014.
