Populism goes multicultural

THE FEEL-GOOD GENRE of populism, often associated with such Frank Capra film classics as "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939) and "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), always has had some naysayers. The classic knock among cynics is populism's underdog victories are too sweet--viewers could get sugar diabetes watching these movies. Even in Capra's heyday, some critics gently mocked him and his oeuvre by calling it "Capra-corn."

In later years, revisionist Capra pictures such as "Field of Dreams" (1989), which Kevin Costner once described as a "baseball version of 'It's a Wonderful Life,'" have been criticized as being too white bread--minimalizing or misusing minorities. For instance, New Yorker critic Pauline Kael took "Field of Dreams" to task for employing black actor James Earl Jones as the seminal Terence Mann character, since the picture's historic Shoeless Joe Jackson figure (Ray Liotta) played in an era when blacks were barred from major league baseball.

Of course, one can defend the casting by noting that the film establishes early that Mann's love of baseball is tied to the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. Though nothing more is said on the subject, the student of the game knows that this team's greatest claim to fame was its willingness in the late 1940s to take a chance on Robinson--the man who broke the color barrier in the Major Leagues. Consequently, Mann's feeling for the game is given a historical legitimacy. Moreover, the fact that blacks long were deprived of playing in the majors might make Mann all the more likely to be fascinated by or sympathetic to a player (Shoeless Joe) who also was deprived of his playing career (via the 1919 "Black Sox" betting scandal).

Though Kael's race card criticism of "Field of Dreams" now seems thin, at one time she might have had a point about the white bread nature of populism. In recent years, though, the genre has been revitalized by a host of inspired minority focused films, including "Finding Forrester," "Remember the Titans," "Bend It Like Beckham," "The Legend of Bagger Vance," and "Barbershop,"--all made this decade.

What makes these movies especially interesting as new age populist showcases is that the genre's basic components remain the same--equally applicable to minority heroes. Classic pictures in this genre often embrace sports stories--a natural theme for films about underdog victories predicated upon teamwork and populism's ongoing celebration of people needing people. In Capra's "Meet John Doe" (1941), Gary Cooper's title character is a baseball player, a sport whose traditional values often surface in populism. Consequently, the following year's populist biography of Lou Gehrig, "Pride of the Yankees" (1942), had one critic calling it "Mr. Deeds Goes to Yankee Stadium."

Fittingly, sports play a key part in several of the previously highlighted revisionist populist pictures. In "Finding Forrester" a gifted young black basketball player (Rob Brown) uses his athletic skills to move from a Bronx high school to an upscale Manhattan private school, but a reclusive novelist (Sean Connery) mentors the boy's greater gift--to be a writer.

In "Remember the Titans," based upon a true story, a black man (Denzel Washington) is named to replace a legendary white coach at a West Virginia high school in the early 1970s. This already is a populist racial victory. However, Washington's coach uses this advancement to break down racial barriers among his players further. More importantly, the youngsters learn how to work together to achieve some unlikely victories. These are made all the more memorable given the film's true story foundation.

In "Bend It Like Beckham," a soccer-obsessed Anglo-Indian girl (Parminder Nagra) in West London comes in conflict with her traditional-minded parents. Though they initially forbid her to play, the girl's passionate need to express herself in this way ultimately wins the father over, and the family changes its position on what is appropriate for a young woman. Since populism quite often is about a child reconnecting with a parent, such as in "Field of Dreams," "Beckham" is an especially strong updated look at the genre--and with Kael also complaining about traditional populism being too male directed, having a young heroine in "Beckham" is doubly refreshing.

In "The Legend of Bagger Vance," a once-promising young golfer (Matt Damon) has his life shattered by World War I. Yet, he finds himself in an unlikely comeback match against two legendary players, Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. Both his golf game and his life then are given back to him through the mentoring of a populist caddie (Will Smith), who eventually is revealed to be an angel. Besides being yet another example of a life redeemed through sports, the fantasy component brings to mind Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."