black man's burden

Rating: 5/10 (18 May 2014)

There have been several African-American themed narratives to come out of Hollywood. They're either "first" movies - Pride, Red Tails, or the civil rights movement as seen thru the eyes of white folk - Mississippi Burning, the Help. There are others...
42 is a cross between those two trains of thought. 42, a "negro first" and "it's messed up how we threat these coloreds..." film. At the plates Jack Robinson, first black man to play major league ball in the 20th century. In the on deck circle, the Mahatma, Branch Ricky. He represents the "thru the eyes" part of the equation.
I'm going to throw a fastball... Larry Doby, who started playing with the Cleveland Indians in August of 1947. He wasn't mentioned in this film. Why?
Pasadena, California is a high tone city where rich railroad and oil men lived. It was segregated in the 1940s and still is today in 2014. If you take this picture at its "word" California was(and is) colour blind. We know that's a lie.
Honestly, this story was told in Ken Burns' documentary Baseball. And told better.
Ken Bruns covered this material in his great documentary Baseball.