Saturday, February 20, 2016

"You're white, Larry! You don't have to!" - RACE

Was going to write a proper review of this film, but I feel some type of way about writing about yet another sports film (three in a row! who am I?), it's Black History Month, and I'm tired.

Long story short: The fastest man in the world is a black man from Ohio. White folks stay mad and play too many games. Jesse Owens takes the pressure to perform up to his potential as an athlete, the pressure to represent his people well, the pressure to prove his worth to his country, and the hateful racist BS being thrown at him from both sides of the Atlantic, and turns all that into 4 gold medals. He is the GOAT even when most of the powers that be ain't want him to be great. And this is in 1936. Segregation, Nazi Germany, sports and politics merging even more than usual, and a black man showing up and showing out. 
 
Go see this film, though! It's very comprehensive in its aim to contextualize Jesse's Olympic accomplishments. The double meaning of the film title is not incidental. 'RACE' makes many salient points about lived experiences of racism and other forms of discrimination while giving Mr. Owens his shine.

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