Veronika Kalugina

9/25/21

Report #1: Apply Theories to a Movie

A.1.The movie I watched is Men of Honor. I chose this movie because I value movies based on a

true story, especially about the past and history.

2. Interpretive paradigm is knowledge or understanding of the surroundings based on a

person’s beliefs or experiences. I interpret the interaction between Carl Brashear “Cookie” and

Billy Sunday.

3. Positivist paradigm is an analysis of life events, obtained through observations, that can be

explained with logical reasoning or scientific knowledge. I will use the functionalism positivist

paradigm to analyze the movie and the functions and dysfunctions of education within the

movie.

B. 1. I enjoyed the movie because it shows an inequality within our society that we often do

not see or deal with. A man of color proved himself and archived a status of a Navy Master

Chief Diver for the first time in history.

2. I had strong reactions to the ways people were treated in the movie. There were many

times when the main character was being discriminated against, disrespected, or left out and

when it happened, I felt anxious and annoyed because the inequality between races still exists

at this time and most of our society is not willing to do anything to change it.
3. I understood Carl’s character the best because he has a very strong moral character, he

never gives up and does everything that is in his power to archive a goal. I sympathize with his

character because he has a kind heart and hard-working personality, he is ready to give his own

life to save others.

4. I don’t understand Navy classmate’s ignorance and harassment towards Carl because

they never had a direct conflict or argument and it seemed that all of them tried to make things

harder for Carl.

1. I understand Carl’s social status, personality, emotional reactions, behavior, and

motivation. He seems happy when he proves himself to others that he is just like everyone else.

When he studies day and night, then passes the Navy requirement test, even though he has

only eight grades of education. He wants to make a difference and serve his country by being

the best man he can be.

2. Billy, Carl’s Navy Dive school teacher, is an agent of socialization for him. In their

relationship, Carl’s status is a student and Billy is a teacher.

3. They interacted in person when Carl arrived at Navy Dive school and was walking

through the entrance, while Master Chief Billy was driving and stopped at the entrance post to

the Navy school. Carl acted with a respect towards the master chief, he greeted and saluted

him, when Billy reacted disrespectfully by first asking if he already got a drink today, then telling

him that he is going to buy him a bus ticket to go home.

Their words, body language, and facial expressions were important symbols in this interaction.

Billy was showing superiority with his body language by smoking the pipe and casually seating
in his car, where Carl was giving respect to his teacher by standing straight with no expression

on his face, he did not show any emotions. Billy was being disrespectful with his words and his

dissatisfied facial expression, showing Carl that he doesn’t want him at school.

The teacher and his student shared meanings about the words but had different interpretations

of Carl’s actions. Carl believed he can become a Navy Diver and be one of the best at it and Billy

thought that would not happen because of his race.

4. When they were in the front stage, they interacted more formally and did not say much

to each other. In the backstage, Carl interacted in a formal and Billy was more open with his

disrespectful opinion and feelings towards Carl. There was a scene in a movie right before Carl’s

final test, where Billy said “Just don’t show up tomorrow, we will not make you pass “(Men of

Honor).

5. By the end of the movie, I believe that both changed their sense of self. Carl was proud

that he proved himself to others and did what others told him he couldn’t do, and Billy was

proud of himself for doing the right thing and letting Carl pass the exam, even though he was

fired from his job for it.

C. 1. The movie takes place in the United States. First, the movie shows the State of Kentucky,

where Carl is from, then the movie shows Bayonne, New Jersey where Navy Dive school is

located. At the end of the movie, the action takes place on the coast of Spain. We can see the

evidence of the location in begging of the movie, where it shows the name of the state and

time, then we can see the main entrance of the Dive school where the sign shows the name city

and state. And at the end of the movie, it lists Spain's location to inform the audience. Besides
that, in the movie, we see the evidence of a specific time frame such as old ratio, really heavy

metal diving equipment, cars from the 1950s, uniforms, etc.

2. The movie occurs from the 1930s to the 1950s time period. The movie shows the specific

time period at the beginning of the movie such as the 1930s, and 1950s, once the main

character enrolls in Navy dive school.

3. The movie shows a large-scale historical event such as post Second World War time

period, we can see it with heavy Navy recruitment and training, as well as a search of an

underwater bomb on the Spain coastline. Another large-scale historical trend is shown in a

movie changes in culture, where a black man became a master diver for the first time in history

before black men were only allowed to work in the kitchen in the Navy.

Option A - Durkheim and Functionalist Perspective:

1. I chose the functionalist perspective for my report because I see it as a framework that

analyzes society, social structures, and relationships within the society. It also does a micro-

analyses of power imbalances or race-related issues within the society, which is the main issue

in the movie.

2. The most important social institutions in this movie are family and education. It shows

the family that Carl was born into and the family that he and his wife Jo created. He worked

hard to be the best he can in the Navy so that his family would live a better life than he had.

Carl was in the Navy for several years and the movie shows the structure, and the rules of US

Navy training school are not quite equal for everyone.

3. I think the education social institution is most important in this movie. This movie shows

few US Navy Dive school's manifest functions such as the transmission of knowledge from one

generation to the next, teaching of skills and knowledge for specific jobs or careers, socializing

students into common norms and values.

Based on this movie, the social institution of education is both functional and dysfunctional.

Navy Dive school shown in a movie is one of the best places to learn everything a marine needs

to become a master diver, only if he is not an outsider with different skin color. The movie

shows discrimination within the education social institution, where all officers harass the

outsider Carl and make his life in a Dive school extremely difficult.

4. Carl performed his role as a student at US Navy Dive school for about a year. He did his

best to become an outstanding student, even though his teacher and the principal of Dive

school tried to make it impossible. During the final exam, principal Mr. Pappy was ready to let a

student die, just to make sure he will not become a master diver, he said “disregard that order,

do you hear me, don’t bring him up!” (Men of Honor). On the opposite side, Billy did not

perform his role of a teacher at US Navy school adequately because he was racist and did not

treat his students equally, once he told Carl “I’m here to put thought into your thick skull, that

things don’t change… you got fucked, cookie” (Men of Honor)

5. These social forces were important in the movie: division of labor, social regulation,

routines within institutions, anomie. In terms of education, routines within the institutions were

most obvious in the movie. The routine of the school remained more or less the same
throughout the movie. Students had the same daily routine with different exercises, classes,

and training to help them prepare for the final diving test.

Routines within the institution's social force positively affected Carl and Billy. Carl learned

everything he needed to pass the diving school test and Billy gained respect for Carl during the

training program, especially when Carl stood his ground and risked his life to archive his goal.

D. 1. The functionalist perspective makes the most sense to me because I believe that each

aspect of society depends on each other and together it provides the functioning and stability

for our society, each one of the social aspects can not function on its own.

2. Symbolic-interaction perspective is the most confusing to me because I’m not

understanding how this theory focuses on a macro level of social interpretation, to me, it looks

like it only focuses on the micro-level of social interpretation.

3. I can apply the conflict theory perspective to many situations that involve people with

different social statuses. For example, the education system in the United States, where it

created its own classification system. Advanced students, ones that have financial resources

and time, are more likely to have skills and experience for high ranked universities and jobs,

comparing with an average or struggling students that do not have the financial resources and

opportunities to focus on learning, these students more likely will not obtain higher education

or have to obtain student loans to go to college. I think this conflict need to have a solution on

the national level and to be resolved to provide affordable and accessible higher education for

everyone.
References:

• Conley, Dalton. You May Ask Yourself. 5th ed., W.W. Norton, 2017.

• Men of Honor. Dir. George Tillman Jr., performances by Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding

Jr., 20th Century Fox, 2000. Film