Beyond the Game

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2019)

The movie 42 is biographical recap of the life of famed baseball player Jackie Robinson. With Robinson being the first African American player to play in the major leagues, the movie revolves around his struggle to break the color barrier. The movie thus captures the national struggle of accepting and looking beyond skin color. Beyond the movie's deep rooted baseball origins, 42 appeals to a broader audience as it highlights Robinson's story of personal struggle with racism and how he managed to triumph despite all the naysayers.
Late in the movie, Robinson and the Brooklyn Dodgers warm up on the field for a game in Cincinnati. Meanwhile, a white father and his roughly seven or eight year old son are discussing what they wish to see from this game. While they both exhibit clear excitement to see fellow Brooklyn Dodger Pee Wee Reese, Robinson proceeds to walk on to the field. Calm in demeanor and minding his own business, Robinson is showered with racial slurs right when he steps foot on the field. Despite being in the presence of his child, even the white father proceeds to shout racial slurs at Robinson. Hearing the constant heckling and out pour of hateful slurs, the young child feels pressured to also join the crowd in hating on Robinson. So, the child then chimes in his own racially insensitive attempt to fit in with the then social norm. The camera then cuts to the field where Robinson and Pee Wee are warming up. Much to Robinson's surprise, Pee Wee suddenly interrupts the back and forth warm up to come over to Robinson and offer some of his thanks. Despite starting the conversation with a tricky and accidental slip up of a race related insult, Pee Wee quickly recovers, throwing his arm around Jackie in consolation, and delivering the line, "Thank you Jackie... I got family up there from Louisville and I need them to know. I need them to know who I am." The camera then quickly cuts right back to the child as the sound of reluctant applause begins to slowly fill the stadium. Seeing his idol Pee Wee making it publicly known of not only his acceptance but his good friendship with Robinson, the child proceeds to question his own actions. The manner in which the child looks down in shame makes it clear that he too even questions why do African American people get this hatred. Above all else, the scene accomplishes the movie's purpose: to highlight the personal struggle that Robinson seamlessly endured and that racism is learned rather than born with.
The movie's closing scene takes place against the Pittsburgh Pirates in which the Brooklyn Dodgers needed the win in order to clinch the National League pennant. Robinson, flourishing in his role as a rookie, steps up to bat but is met by the same pitcher, Austin Muller, that nailed him in the head earlier in the season. The pitcher proceeds to throw three balls before Robinson calls to him, "give me something I can hit." The pitcher, insistent on claiming that Robinson doesn't belong here both from a playability and racial standpoint, gives him a formidable pitch but is unsuccessful as Robinson hits the ball right out of the park. Robinson is then greeted with applause and a heartwarming welcome from his fellow teammates at home plate. In the mean time, Muller hung his head in shame after allowing Robinson to score the game and pennant clinching hit, disappointed to have to eat his own words. While appealing to the baseball junkies of the world, 42 allures even those who aren't as fond of baseball. Robinson's courage to perform under immense pressure and high scrutiny to defy all odds as the first African American baseball player is what makes this movie all the more powerful.
42 managed to perfectly capture the sheer amount of hatred Robinson had to face while first playing in the Major Leagues. Robinson's courage to overcome those obstacles, face life threats, and encounter tremendous amounts of hatred nearly without flinching makes him an American hero. In doing so, 42 manages to bring to light a message that goes beyond baseball: that hatred is learned and is not a part of human nature. Moreover, from start to end, the movie offers another message through Robinson's slow and steady way of wooing over a hostile audience through his scrappy and eye catching gameplay: believing in yourself during times of adversity makes you a winner in your own right. Thus, 42's inspirational story telling of Robinson's venture into the unknown makes a captivating experience that every person should get to enjoy.