The Sport Psychology Movie Database
(SPMD)
Welcome to
the Sport Psychology Movie Database (SPMD)!
This website contains information about sports movies that have a sport
psychological theme. Either click the
links below to go to the listings of movies, or if you are a first time
visitor, you may want to read the information that is below the links.
What is the SPMD?
The Sport
Psychology Movie Database (SPMD) is a listing of movies that depict sport
psychology themes. The purpose is to
provide a resource for sport psychologists to find movies to enhance their
teaching and their consulting. The list
of titles was compiled from input by the members the SPORTPsy
discussion group. Each movie in the
database is indexed by the theme(s) depicted and by the sport or activity that
is central to the movie.
How do I use the SPMD?
The SPMD
has three indexes: an alphabetical listing, a theme listing, and a sport
listing. From each index you can go to
information on the specific movies. The
SPMD was designed so you can surf around between movies with the same theme,
the same sport, or just look at the movie listings. So play around and see what you can find!
What information does the SPMD contain?
The SPMD
currently lists about 150 movies. In
addition to the sport psychology theme(s) of each movie, the SPMD lists the
major sport or activity, a brief plot description, a rating from 1 to 5 running
shoes, and a link to the Internet Movie Database for more complete information
on the movie. There is also a link to
provide input about the movie or about other movies that you think should be
added to the SPMD.
What are the themes?
There are
about 25 themes that are used to index the movies. These themes were derived from input provided by users of an
initial version of this database. This
original input was categorized into the 25 themes, ranging from “Aggression” to
“Youth Sport”. A movie may have many
themes, as a movie usually depicts a variety of issues (A League of Their Own
has the most at 14). The themes
indicated for a movie in the database are not meant to be exhaustive, but they
should be indicative of the major themes in the movie. You may disagree with the themes listed for
any movie, as one viewer may see things in a movie that another does not. As the SPMD develops, these themes may
change. These themes are far from
exhaustive and are highly subjective.
What if I know of a movie that is not in the SPMD and I
think it is a good one?
There is a
form that you can complete to suggest movies for the SPMD or to offer your
opinions on movies already in the SPMD.
There a number of movies in the SPMD that I have not seen, are currently
not rated, and have no themes identified.
These movies are listed because someone provided the title as one that
should be in the database, but provided no other information. If you have information or opinions on these
movies, please complete the information
form. You should also feel free to
complete this form if you want to suggest an additional theme for a movie
already listed, or if you want to rate the movie.
How can I use the movies in the SPMD to enhance my
teaching and consulting?
Good
question. There are a variety of
resources for using film to illustrate psychological issues to either students
or clients. I hope to have a list of
these resources available soon. I
welcome any suggestions the users of the SPMD may have on how to best use the
movies in the database. Please e-mail
me at sportsmovies@yahoo.com.
The SPMD is
a work in progress and will evolve with your input. Please add your opinions
about movies to the database. If you
have suggestions for improving the SPMD, please contact me at sportsmovies@yahoo.com.
My thanks go to the members of the
SPORTPSY discussion list for their movie input, VideoHound's Golden Movie
Retriever and the IMDB for information on the movies, and the Athletic
Counseling students at Springfield College for help with creating the theme
categories.
The SPMD was
created and is maintained by Allen Cornelius