O directed by Nelson (E30B)
Manipulation
Signposts
Symbols
Motifs
Moral/Ethical Decision Making
Plot
Characters
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Odin James
Coach Duke Golding
Hawks
Power, jealousy, resentment. Predatory.
Hugo Golding
Roger
Desi
Hugo manipluating Roger by saying if he really wants to date Desi, he should call the dean
Michael
Birds (a symbol showing power dynamics)
AGAIN & AGAIN
Jealousy
Dean. Brabel
Emily
Control
Emily --> Desi+Odin Relationship
Coach Golding manipulating Dean Brabell by saying how odin is a good kid, he did not assult desi
Jealous of Odin as he gets all the attention
Hugo manipulating people to control the outcome he wants; hawks
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The award ceremony after the basketball game is where a conflict between Hugo, his dad, and Odin is first introduced: Odin got MVP, and Hugo but Hugo was hoping to get it.
Hugo is trying to breakup Odin and Desi: Uses roger to accuse Odin of sexual assault.
Opening scene basketball game
Rodger
Separation
Hugo vs the world
Coaches Son
Appears in the opening and represents being above others
Aha moments
Hugo is doping but Odin is clean
Bias
Odin manipulating Roger by beating him up after finding out he called, threatening him to stop doing stuff like that again.
Hugo -- Desi (Son to Dad, MVP)
Loyal: Has never cheated on Desi and is loyal to only her
Desi's family; racism
Hugo manipulating Michael at the hospital when talking to his girl
figuring out why hugo is jealous of odin, because his dad loves odin as his own kid. and why he is going to such lengths to get odin in trouble
Hugo manipulating couples to call Roger at hospital
Hugo>hawk>Odin
Odin's girlfriend
Rodger teases Michael at the party, causing Michael to react - leading to chain of reactions which started from Roger
senior
Rodger willingly calls the Dean (AT HUGO's behest) to accuse Odin of raping Desi (the dean's daughter)
Shows up whenever they win a game. Symbol of victory.
Hugo
After Odin wins MVP (from Hugo's father), Hugo makes a plan to break up Desi and Odin out of spite of him even though they are friends → this shows what his morals are because its clear he doesn't value relationships over his own personal gain
Contrasts & Contradictions
Motivation: Hugo wants to be a Hawk (soaring above all others who are doves innocent and pure) HUGO IS JEALOUS
Scarf Heirloom
Tough Questions
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Odin has a criminal history of drugs, and trouble with the police.
Why is Hugo not included?
Hugo's Girlfriend
Why does Coach like Odin more than his own son?
Odin/Desi
Feels jealous of Odin's relationship
Dean's daughter
Memory Moment (Flashbacks)
Odin is in the school via scholarship. The school "busted their ass to get him"
Doves V. Hawks, Hawks = predatory Doves = pure, passive, peaceful
Jealousy
Hugo Jealous of Odin
Emily Jealous of Desi and Odin
Dean
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Duke
Keeps planing ways to sabotage Odin
symbol of love, trust, family, commitment
tells micheal to get close with desi, knowing that it would ruin micheal and odins relationship
WORDS OF THE WISER
(Wiser or more experienced character giving advice)
then he manipulates the situation with hugo. hugo goes to his dads office for dinner with his dad and is excited, until he only wants to talk about odin. when his questions are answered he leave the office and hugo alone
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Hugo plants seeds of doubt in Odin
Reputation
Odin
Hugo pressuring Roger to call the Dean
Division
Desi and Odin
manipulates michael to start being good friends with Desi, so he can get back to playing on the basketball team
"Gotta watch your girl" because Michael is getting close
Odin finds out that roger was the one who reported him of SA and jumps him.
Coach considers Odin as his own son publicly (doesn't even acknowledge Hugo)
Doorway/windows
Odin and Michael
Suspicion, distrust, dishonesty
Gets very angry with what happened at the party with Roger: Yelling, He gets mad and clears his desk when Hugo is still in the room
Says Desi is good at keeping secrets, i.e with her dad
Hugo drives a benz
Hugo is doing steroids to get better at basketball
Hugo and Duke
Hugo brings characters to the Hawk room (hugo represents hawk, people he brings in are doves)
Deception
hugo manipulates odin by planting the idea in his head that michael and desi are in kahoots with eachother. hugo wants to do this because he wants desi and odin to break up
"If she talks about Michael, be careful"
Hugo - deceiving Micheal, Odin, Duke
beilieves his daughter is innocent
Flirt
Odin sneak in to Desi's dorm room and givers her a priceless family hairloom
Odin gave emily a new CD so he could have intimate time with Desi: had a meaningful conversation that showed trust and meaning with eachother
Hugo watching fights and altercations that he created, Odin watching Desi and Michael get closer
Convinces Roger to fight Michael - but then takes Michael's side
"the only person you have to answer too is yourself" - Hugo to Micheal
Hugo manipulates his dad at the dinner table when asking a question about Odin
Follower
Desi deceiving her dad, didn't tell him about their relationship etc.
wants desi
This sets up the idea Odin has the life and future (i.e future in basketball, father's love, favouritism) that Hugo wants (and Hugo believes he has sacrificed more for it)
Goes to Hugo for the truth
Hugo manipulates emily into stealing the scarf so he can give it to michael
Hugo is always watching and not listening
Hugo tells Michael to hang out with Desi in order to convince Odin to get Michael back on the team. DRAMATIC IRONY
Asks Hugo to ask who hit the first punch in the fight
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Desi + Odin
Sophomore
Hugo: Why is there so much tension around the dinner table?
Freedom
Odin gets injured and they all go to the ER
Short Tempered
Being manipulated
hugo makes roger start a fight with michael, telling hi8m again if he wants desi he should do this thing
Hugo is never directly involved unless he choses to be
Roger keeps getting beat up due to Hugo's advice
Off campus party where roger starts a fight with Michael that was instigated by Hugo.
Dean readily wants to believe Rodger (automatically labels Odin as a criminal and guilty due to his past)
Odin --> Michael and Desi
Odin and Desi's relationship is likely going to end due to Hugo's manipulation
Rubber Band Ring (commitment)
Coach readily defends Odin against the Dean (because he defends his players or only his best player?)
Little bit racist
figuring out hugos intentions with everyone, how he manipulates everyone
Basketball
Provides Odin with power, fame, a chance at a better life
Proven later on that the coach only defends Odin and kicks Micheal off the team for 2 games (when Hugo questions if he would deliver the same punishment to Odin - DUKE DOESN'T ANSWER)
gave Desi a promise ring as a sign of his love
Hugo asked if Odin got in a fight would he also be suspended where his dad responded by avoiding the question. Lots of tension at the dinner table
To break up Desi and Odin, Hugo decides to have Roger call Desi's father and say that Odin sexually assaulted Desi → That's an extremely serious accusation so for Hugo to specifically use that, shows he gives no thought to how that may destroy someone's life/repuatation (representation of his morals/ethics)
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why does hugo's dad ignore his question when eating?
Dean wants daughter Desi to accuse Odin of assault whilst he's there (which is not only immoral but also unnethical)
Mistreatment
Coach Duke treats Hugo worse than the other players/students
Dean talks to odin and Desi and Desi lies about being with odin.
why is desi the only person who doesn't trust hugo?
Hugo talks to Micheal and tells him how reputation doesnt matter and he should only do things for himself.
Plants ideas into peoples head
Maniuplator: Makes everyone believe that he is better. Manipulates Odin into thinking that Desi is cheating on him with Micheal
does everything for selfish gain
Hugo gives Micheal the idea to talk to Desi to talk to Odin to talk to the coach to somehow get back on the team in less games.
symbolized by birds
how hugo is putting distance between peoples relations ships (o + d, o + m)
brains behind every conflict
Roger is yelling at Hugo, possibly losing trust
Hugo talks about it to Michael
manipulates odin again when hugo tells him he saw michael give brandy the scarf.
Micheal + Odin
womanizer
In Hugo's VO at the beginning
Hugo + his dad
At the game we can see that Micheal is starting to sit with Desi, we can see Odin already looks a bit incormfortable
Beat
Hugo is seen getting shot up with steroids ILLEGALY in order to achieve the basketball results and prowess that Odin has (in order to achieve his dream of reaching NCAA level)
Odin and Hugo are in the gym, where hugo starts to implant tituations in Odins mind about micheal and desi
Hugo prioritizes his plan over Emily (his girlfriend)
Trauma
Hugo + Duke
Emily
Being manipulated by Hugo
Hugo mistreats and manipulates his girlfriend Dez, and only gives her love and affection when she does something for him.
hugo manipulates emily. he makes her steal the scarf that odin gave desi, and only pays attention to her when she presents him with the scarf. he rewards good behaviour, bad
SCARF
Is mad at Micheal. Because he has the belief that he is going for Desi
When Odin and Desi were arguing about where the scarf is, Emily chose to not tell either of them that she gave it to Micheal. Shows that she cares more about pleasing Hugo, than pleasing Emily.
Hugo uses the scarf to trick Odin into thinking that Desi is cheating by saying that Michael has it
Initial incident: Hugo, our protagonist, becomes jealous and angry with Michael and Odin. He is jealous of Odin because Duke(Hugo's dad) called him his son when awarded MVP. He was angry with Odin because Odin delivered the second award to Michael despite Odin and Hugo being very close and Hugo believing he deserved it. This is the same reason he is jealous of Michael for getting that award. This is a rising incident because from now we can see all the ways Hugo starts to plot. We know he is jealous and mad because he vents to Roger about his feelings towards it.
how odin had started to get a little violent with desi after they planned a night in the hotel, odin sees himself as micheal
Hugo gives scarf to michael so that Odin asks desi about it
Odin beats Rodger up for alleging him of sexual assault against Desi
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Scarf becomes a symbol of control (Hugo controls what ppl see/ hear (represented by putting it over Emily's face and in her mouth))
Jealous of Odin as he gets all the attention
Emily steals the scarf for Hugo and is rewarded by him MANIPULATION
Doves
Purity and Peace
Trapped in opening scene
Trust
Odin smacks the scarf out of Desi's hand because he doesn't trust her anymore
He rewards behaviour
Doping and is taking steroids
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Dean + Desi
Sneaky and Two Faced
Desi + Odin
MANIPULATION
Emily stole the scarf from Desi (her best friend) to make Hugo happy so that he will give her attention → she prioritizes this over her best friend (representation of her morals/values)
Likes to stand back and watch
Hugo + Duke
Hugo has learned how to manipulate through his father (His father rewards him with suggested closeness for information on Odin)
After assault scene- Hugo corrupting his peers
O. says he would never sexually assault Desi
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Ends up sexually assaulting Desi later in the movie in the motel room, due to the divide created between him, Desi, and Micheal
gives Hugo money and material things he "needs"
Hugo manipulates Emma by rewarding her with affection for stealing scarf
Hugo + Odin. Roger, Micheal, Emily
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hugo gets his manipulation tactics from his dad
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Manipulation
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Starting to develop an attitude
Hugo Manipulates Emily into stealing the scarf for him and rewards her by giving her romance and love
Emily is trying to convince Desi that she got raped
Manipulates Hugo into thinking they will have dinner together only to question him about Odin (state of mind, any problems) - gives necessary physical contact and little affection to keep his son reeled
Odin + Desi
Wants to fight Mike
Hugo was manipulating Roger for money + car
he treats emily the same way his dad treats hugo
Only does stuff for people if they do something before he does
hurt Desi sexually due to Hugo's influence
Hugo tells Michael to hang out with Desi in order to get back on the team, but Odin now thinks that Desi is cheating on him with Michael
Hugo power in information he has (people tell him information)
Likes to stand back and watch
Stringing Emily along
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Hugo takes money from Roger, and uses him (because he is a donors son, therefore, cannot be expelled) for his plan.
Manipulates Hugo into keeping check on Odin
Odin and Desi fight
Odin accuses that Desi lost/gave away the scarf he gave her
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Accuses that she is cheating and that she wasn't a virgin ("doing all that freaky stuff and telling me to do whatever I want")
Manipulates Emily, and rewards her when she does somethinghe wants. In the room there was a huge mood swing of when she gave Desi's scarf to him
learnt manipulation from Duke
only black student at the school
Emily listened to the conversations of Odin and Desi when they would spend time together in bed (she just pretended to listen to the music Odin brought). She did this to get information for Hugo so she could benefit from this. → she didn't respect their privacy and only cared about herself in the situation (shows her morals)
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Climax: The climax happens near the end of the movie, during the whole moving Hugo had been plotting and manipulating everyone around him. Hugo's initial motive was to break up Odin and Desi and he does this by manipulating Odin into thinking Desi is cheating on him with his best friend Micheal. Hugo is very succesful to the point where he convinces Odin that Desi is cheating. Hugo convinced Odin to strangle Desi while he is killing Micheal. Roger messes up killing Micheal so Hugo has to kill both of them. Only after Odin has killed Desi does he realize he had been set up by Hugo so he ends up killing himself. This is the climax where everything unfolds and Hugo and Odin took action to the plan.
Motivation: Odin is Duke's ticket to coaching at College B-Ball level, and has provided Duke with recognition in high school basketball.
Boiler Room
Odens switch in emotions
Irrational actions
Emotions "boiling over"
Staircase
The steps Hugo goes to in order to manipulate
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Cocaine
Represents Oden hitting his breaking point and snappig