The New Netflix Movie “Amateur” Reflects The Past, Present and Future
Amateur goes through the corrupt and ruthless recruiting process that many young black athletes go through every year.
Young “Power” star, Michael Rainey Jr. stars as Terron Forte in the Netflix film “Amateur.” A 14-year-old basketball phenom that has hoops dreams like millions of young black boys across the country. But what sets Forte apart from some of his competition is that he struggles with dyscalculia.
Dyscalculia is numerical blindness or number impairment that inhibits the person to understand or put numbers in use. With the term meaning bad counting, this condition affects three to six percent of people. For Terron this condition not only affects him in the classroom, it affects him on the court as well.
His shooting, ball-handling and finishing around the rim are impeccable but his condition makes it a detriment. Terron can not read the shot clock or call plays that deal with numbers and it makes him look like a backyard player. But this is only part of his troubles.
His father Vince ,played by Brian White, is a former athlete himself and has experienced the harsh affects of contact sports. But the potential he sees in Terron causes him to dangerously deal his son’s potential for monetary value.
Vince is the perfect example of this new age of crazed parents that will push their child to the limit to get them to the pros. Examples of Vince’s tactic were recording his games to get him national attention and would go even further and try him to take last minute shots in close game situations. He basically preaches an all for one attitude to Terron.
Terron is also on a sub par team at his Riverside High School which drives his father to shop his services to a prep school program called Librety. And this is where Coach Gaines come is, played by Josh Charles.
The moment that Coach Gaines initially meets Terron, that is where the current climate of recruiting in sports come true. The coach exploits the players shortcoming and convinced them that the sport they love will bring them out of their situation.
True as they may be, but they never discuss the realities of playing professionally. Which was an interesting point because an early scene was in Terron’s math class. The teacher use the probability of making it to the NBA through each level of competition.
Eventually Terron was sold onto the idea thus helping his father and Gaines to get his mother, played by Sharon Leal, on board. As a teacher and knowing of her son’s learning condition it took her awhile to commit.
She was promised by Coach Gaines that Terron would get a world class education and into a top college. But that world was soon crushed for both parties.
As his coach referenced , “you are out of the bush league”. Terron faced other, much more physical, older teammates, while facing knowledge that he was basically sold for his talents and not his dreams. Ultimately to be taking away by his father’s negligence.
Amateur is a coming out age film that caters to this new age of athletes and the sports that exploits them. As Coach Gaines said in the film, “you are the ones they should be helping the most instead of hurting.” This is a great story that can be related to many people and should be a notice to not only players, but parents and coaches.
Roderick Diamond II, Junior at Morehouse College
