A Semiotic Analysis Of A Sports Medical Drama Movie: Concussion

Abstract

The increasing importance of concussion makes it necessary to read it from different perspectives within its reality. Therefore, this study aimed to comprehensively analyze the drama movie "Concussion" through Dr. Omalu's groundbreaking research lens. The study used semiotic analysis, a qualitative research method, to evaluate signifier-signified-sign and denotation-connotation in data analysis. In this context, The portraits of NFL, forensic pathologists, and team doctors were analyzed semiotically. The antecedents of athlete-rooted concussions and football participants' perceptions of American football were questioned. A study revealed that two phenomena become evident in the NLF's portrait: existential purpose and orientation toward threats. Another study result clarified that three main phenomena formed the portraits of the forensic pathologist and the team doctor: their behavior, mindset, and emotions. Research suggests that competition orientation is a leading factor for player-rooted concussion sequelae, characterized by the traits of war, hit, erase, fierceness, and endurance. Furthermore, American football was found to be depicted as a painful game that demands players' hardiness, winning will, awareness, strength, passion, forcefulness, and vigor. The connotation results maintained that American football is perceived as a battlefield, and a good footballer is interpreted as an assertive, resilient, aggressive, and challenging man overwhelming his opponents in any harsh way. In conclusion, the film invites viewers to consider how concussion affects football players and their families in the context of loss and trauma, how it inevitably exposes them to pain and death, and the struggle of a medical professional to prove a truth he has realized courageously.