Movie Review for 42: The Jackie Robinson Story and An Apology to Men With Color Other Than My Own

As I was writing the book review for To Kill a Mockingbird a particular instance which occurred when I was a busser in a restaurant kept cropping up in my mind. I went back and scanned through that book review and didn't deal with that instance there. Watching this movie made me remember it again.

There was a man I worked with who was good looking, well put together and, as I was around him more, I began to think of as sort of a “Renaissance Man” of the restaurant business. If someone was sick or didn't show up, he seemed to be able to take anyone's place. He was hired as the dishwasher but he also filled in for the prep cooks, the cooks, and helped me as a busser a few times.

The first time he helped me with bussing he said something like, “I don't want to work this position, anything dealing with money. If something goes missing, they'll look at me.” He was nervous about the tips being left on the table, he felt that because he was black he would be suspect.

A couple weeks later one of my fellow bussers was fired for stealing tips...and he was black. Supposedly one of the waitresses saw him do it, but I still felt it was unfair that I didn't even seem to be a suspect, they didn't question me or anything.

Anyway, that situation gave me a personal experience into the fact that the work Atticus started on in To Kill a Mockingbird hasn't been finished yet, justice is still not blind and people are not blind in ways they should be. And I am sorry for that. I am sorry you are still more likely to be suspected because of the color of your skin. I am sorry we still see colors in ways we shouldn't, that we still attach certain attributes to people because of how they look. In other words, I am sorry prejudice is still a problem, even after all this time, even after all that has happened and all the supposed growth.

Onto the movie. I am not good at history, especially history regarding sports, but from the brief reading I did, it seems the movie stayed true to the story, even if all the particular instances in it were not exactly correct. Whether you like baseball or not, it's a movie worth watching because it was a wonderful story of courage, not just of Jackie, but of so many around him.

I don't know how accurate Branch Rickey's character was or the reasons behind what he did, if they were noble and for the love of the game or about eventually making more money. Whether they were noble or not, it took guts to do what he did and it took smarts to choose the right player for that historic role.

I admire Jackie's wife, admire her for loving him and supporting him, even though she probably worried every time he walked out the door, every time he stepped up to bat, every time he went on the road.

I admire the players on Jackie's team who, over the course of time, were united. Who started respecting Jackie as they got to know him and his abilities.

And, of course, I admire Jackie Robinson, who held true to his word and didn't fight back, and in so doing showed that he was more of a gentleman than those white men who hurled abuse at him.

The acting in the movie was superb. Chadwick Boseman did a wonderful job of playing strong and independent Jackie (which sounds true to the real man), Nicole Beharie was beautiful, fun, strong, and charming in her role as Jackie's wife, Harrison Ford perfectly mixed the gruff old man and someone who deeply cared about baseball and people, and the cast in general just did a splendid job.

It's a movie about baseball, yes, but it is also about so much more. It's about breaking down barriers, overcoming prejudices, having the courage to not fight back (when fighting back would only make things worse), changing mindsets and changing the world. Even if you're not particularly a baseball fan, I still highly recommend it.