“Culture is the complex whole which includes all habits acquired by man as a member of society,” said Ruth Benedict in Patterns of Culture. I can think of no movie that proves that more than Director Scott Kalvert’s 1995 film, The Basketball Diaries. Based on the autobiography of rocker and former heroin addict Jimmy Caroll, the movie describes in horrific detail how the author passed in a few short months from being a Catholic high …showed first 75 words of 1276 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1276 total…being man’s primitive nature to be evil. The main character, Jimmy Caroll, is presented with several decisions and makes a lot of wrong choices. But through making mistakes and hitting rock bottom, he is able to overcome his heroin addiction and turn his life around. Life is all about making choices. The Basketball Diaries is, as Gerald Prince says in TV and Violence, “the perfect example of why people act the way they do.”