title: Contesting Identities: Sports in American Film
author:  Aaron Baker 
description: "A must-read for cinephiles and sports fans alike. Aaron Baker cogently combines previous work on identities, sports, and media and moves discussion to new levels."
zlib_text: Sport and Film
  The sports film has become one of commercial cinema’s most recognizable 
  genres. From classic boxing films such as Raging Bull (1980) to soccer-themed 
  box office successes like Bend it Like Beckham (2002), the sports film stands at 
  the interface of two of our most important cultural forms. This book examines 
  the social, historical and ideological significance of representations of sport in 
  film internationally, an essential guide for all students and enthusiasts of sport, 
  film, media and culture.
  Sport and Film traces the history of the sports film, from the beginnings of 
  cinema in the 1890s, its consolidation as a distinct fiction genre in the mid 
  1920s in Hollywood films such as Harold Lloyd’s The Freshman (1925), to its 
  contemporary manifestation in Oscar-winning films such as Million Dollar Baby 
  (2004) and The Fighter (2010). Drawing on an extensive range of films as source 
  material, the book explores key issues in the study of sport, film and wider 
  societ