Representation Dodgeball

If You Can Dodge Maturity You Can Dodge Success

In today’s society, ones potential for a successful future is based on how they carry themselves on an ordinary basis. Whether it be through the way they dress, or the general way in which they choose to live their life, it is the overall level of maturity or lack thereof that plays the greatest role in how they are viewed, and consequently how seriously they are taken. In the film Dodgeball, protagonist Peter La Fleur is struggling to make rent and keep alive his meager gym. Peter is failing in some other aspect of his life that is transferring onto his career as well. This failure could be his inability to reach the level of maturity that is expected for a person in their mid-thirties. His apparent short comings in this field are made clear in the opening scene, when his apartment is panned over, and the viewer is able to glimpse into La Fleur’s home life. It is obvious from observing the paradigm he operates under, that a successful future is unlikely. Though it is up to interpretation, success is loosely measured on ones monetary value, as well as how well they are doing socially (i.e. significant other, friendships). Though the viewer is not immediately able to glance into his personal life, it becomes clear very quickly that La Fleur doesn’t often have company over judging by the state of his house. An immediate signifier that Peter doesn’t have a significant other is the fact that he wakes up on the couch. Unlike a bed which can be shared, and often is, a couch is only able to sleep one person. This could also mean that La Fleur is unable to afford a bed of his own which also reflects on how he is doing financially. The couch, which to our knowledge serves as his only sleeping arrangement, appears to also be relatively worn down, and mismatches the pillow he uses to sleep on. The mismatched pillow and couch are representative of the fact that he does not care much for the appearance of things because his