Exactly 25 years ago, “White Men Can’t Jump” opened to theaters.
Of the many 90’s basketball films ("Above The Rim", "Sunset Park", "Blue Chips", "He Got Game"), none had the importance, significance and relevance that WMCJ reached, for various reasons:
First, because more than portraying African American basketball culture (like, say, Spike Lee’s “He Got Game”), it reflects the mindset of the Generation X, better than their sports counterparts. More on that in a moment.
Second, because the stars of the movie are each one of different ethnicities, it appeals to a broad, general audience especially since their stars are of different ethnicities. Borders between races started to blur, and now white suburban kids listened to hip hop, liked Bill Cosby and had Michael Jordan as a hero.
Third, because the early 90’s is, probably, basketball’s finest moment: probably, that’s when most all-time best players, including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and “Magic” Johnson were playing at the same time –remember: that’s the year of the first Dream Team!-, and Jordan was his career’s peak.
It is a story that portrays the so-called “slacker” generation, young men and women that refuses to grow up, with a white boy (Woody Harrelson) dedicates his time playing streetballing to make some money. He meets a black player (Wesley Snipes) and both take advantage of the Harrelson character’s talent and of the prejudice among the African-American community that white guys are not-so-good basketball players. The character of Harrelson has a Latin girlfriend, played by Rosie Perez whose greatest dream is to appear in the "Jeopardy" TV show.
What makes WMCJ, along with "Singles" and "Reality Bites", the testament of a time when young people were in strange, difficult times and had existential problems and angst towards the future. And that’s where its greatest legacy lies.
This past January, Kenya Barris, the “Black-ish” creator and “America’s Next Top Model” producer, announced that he is developing a “White Men Can’t Jump” remake.