Head-butting

Rating: 8/10 (25 October 2017)

Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, and Arthur Brooks star in "Concussion" from 2015. Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, a Nigerian working in Pittsburgh as a coroner, who was the first to publish on the effect of multiple head injuries in football players, with players developing dementia, committing suicide, and using drugs. His boss is Dr. Cyril Wecht (Brooks).
Of course I read the comments from the obvious deniers but also supportive ones from some football players. First of all, it makes sense that multiple head injuries would lead to some kind of problem. Hello. Natasha Richardson was wearing a helmet, fell while skiing, and became brain dead. That was just one hit in the head.
The NFL didn't see it that way, satisfied I guess with throwing dogs down elevator shafts and coming to the conclusion that football wasn't dangerous. Omalu financed the testing on the brain of football player Mike Webster, who wound up homeless and demented, and saw the syndrome, which he named CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy
So Dr. Omalu was in a peck of trouble, particularly in a football town like Pittsburgh. He published his findings in 2002; the NFL never even acknowledged there was a connection between CTE and football until 2009. When they couldn't convince Omalu to retract his findings, Roger Goodell set up a commission but Omalu was not allowed in the room; instead, his findings were presented by a former NFL doctor (Baldwin) who is helping him. It was all a big set-up so they could act like they cared. They didn't. They do now but just barely.
I found this an excellent film with a wonderful performance by Will Smith. It was based on the eponymous book, which arose out of an article in GQ about what Omalu ran into with the NFL. The film takes certain dramatic licensing so some of the incidents or their timing is not accurate, but the general story is.
The film demonstrates, as if we didn't know, that the NFL considers itself God and uses its influence in all sorts of ways, some I'm sure good, and others not so good. Many years ago I was involved in a discussion with a group that wanted to present an award at a Superbowl, maybe a 30-second thing.
Basically they were told the NFL didn't have to do anything for them and why would they. After all, isn't the almighty dollar the only thing anyone in the U.S. cares about?
Watching the last scene in this film, I was left disgusted. I hope many parents have gotten the message. Then again, I suppose with the millions of dollars you can make, losing your mind is a small price to pay.