The Basketball Diaries (1995)

Bias Rating

Analyzing...

Strong Right

Viewer Rating

Rating: 6.0

Overview

Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers a...

Starring Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio • Lorraine Bracco • Marilyn Sokol

Bias Dimensions

Political: Leans Right

Diversity: Low

LGBTQ: Negative

Overview

Starring Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio • Lorraine Bracco • Marilyn Sokol

Detailed Bias Analysis

Analyzing...

Strong Right

Primary

Political: Leans RightConfidence: High

The film's central conflict revolves around individual drug addiction, and its narrative champions a solution rooted in personal responsibility and individual redemption, rather than advocating for systemic changes or broader societal interventions.

Diversity: LowConfidence: High

The movie features primarily traditional casting, aligning with its source material and setting, without intentional race or gender swaps of established roles. Its narrative centers on individual struggles with addiction and institutional failures, rather than offering a critique of traditional identities or explicitly incorporating DEI themes.

Secondary

LGBTQ: NegativeConfidence: High

The film's portrayal of LGBTQ+ themes is overwhelmingly negative, featuring a disturbing scene of homophobic sexual assault. This depiction uses a queer character as a victim of degradation and harm, lacking any counterbalancing positive elements or narrative critique, resulting in a net negative impact.

FemPower: N/R

The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.

Gender Swap: NoConfidence: High

The film adapts Jim Carroll's autobiographical novel. All major characters, including Jim Carroll and his friends, maintain the same gender as established in the source material. No instances of a character canonically established as one gender being portrayed as another are present.

Race Swap: NoConfidence: High

The film adapts Jim Carroll's autobiographical novel. The main character, Jim Carroll, and his core group of friends are portrayed by actors matching their established race from the source material and real-world history. No characters who were canonically or historically established as one race are portrayed as a different race.