shington 2002).
Antwone has faced a variety of risk factors in his life, including abandonment by his mother, the death of his father, and the death of his closest friend who resorted to crime. Antwone also suffered from an abusive culture in a foster home. However, despite all of these risk factors that put him more at risk for developmental issues, Antwone eventually gravitated to more protective factors that helped him develop resiliency. One of these factors was joining the Navy, a means of developing discipline and resiliency, as well as opening up greater access for him to opportunities. In the past, films about aggressive black males often posited the problem as solely that of the black maleÆs. However, in the person of Dr. Davenport, Antwone comes to understand what unconditional positive regard and support are and their value. Military service provides him with the opportunities for personal growth and enhanced self-esteem that society and his childhood have not.
In Girlfight, we see that Diana also suffers from a variety of risk factors in her environment, many of them related to norms of culture and gender. Culturally, she is exposed to a machismo environment which is common within the Latino culture. As a girl, she is expected to do things like join the cheerleading squad due to rigidly defined roles of sex and gender. These risk factors lead her to become aggressive and violent. She gets in fistfights at school, and feels like the whole world is against her. As she says at one point, ôNow that IÆve got school covered, I only have the world outside these walls to fuck upö (Kusama 2000). Despite such risk factors, Diana learns discipline and self-esteem through her love of boxing. She has the support of her trainer, Hector. She also has the love of Adrian, even though they are competitive. Her brother is willing to take the heat from their father, so she can pursue her dream. Films that show minori...