The Natural Discussion Questions #7

7. The Natural not only offers a detailed rendering of the world of baseball; it also illustrates the business aspect of professional sports. How is the relationshipbetween pro sports and business characterized in this film? What about the relationship between pro sports and gambling? Do you think that either of these relationships would be characterized differently if the story was being told today?

In the film business is characterized by corruption over the baseball team The Knigts. The owner of The Knights, The Judge, is corrupt and even tries to convince Roy Hobbs to lose on purpose so he have full control over the team. The Judge even goes as far as hiring a gamblers associate, who was a girl, to distract Hobbs from baseball. Her name was Memo Paris and she began a romantic relationship with Hobbs. From the point they started dating to the point where they end marked the descent of Hobbs' baseball performance until Hobbs eventually sees his childhood sweetheart at a baseball game.

In every sports there is always gambling involved. Usually gambling in sports involves lots of money, but in "The Natural" i feel that Roy Hobbs gambled with his life in the game that won The Knights the Pennant. Hobbs could have died because of the bullet wound that he suffered when he was a teenager, but Hobbs did not want to let his team down. He ended up playing in the game and even scored the winning run with his towering homerun that he hit.

I think if the story was being told now in the present day it would not be characterized differently. The relationships that were occuring back in the old days are still occuring now and willmost likely never go away. There will always be corruption in sports and there will always be gambling in sports.