Movie Review: Glory Road

Man, I never thought that this movie would get me frustrated and thinking so much. I definitely left this movie not feeling good, which is the opposite of what Disney/sports movies are supposed to do I thought (ex. The Mighty Ducks). Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it for what it is - a movie telling the story about the Texas Western college basketball team that broke the color barrier and defied racial boundaries and hatred in the sport - but even though they won the game, it still wasn't "perfect" like Remember the Titans or Miracle.

After the movie, Dan, Deb, Karen, and I talked about it and I'm super glad for that because it helped me put my thoughts in order. Originally, I was frustrated because it wasn't perfect and that it should have been a feel-good movie - that there was still friction within the team's black and white players and I felt that the black players seemed like they were playing to win out of bitterness and not for something "bigger". But as Karen and Dan said, that's probably the reality of how it was back then. So then my frustration focused on something that I spent a better part of the movie thinking about - the fact that the racism that was depicted in the movie in our country still exists...and it gets me so fired up. I want so badly to do something, but I know that I just do my part by being myself and treat people the way I want everyone to treat each other. I know it's totally a passive approach, but I believe that you can't force people to tolerate race or any other kind of cultural difference.

I feel like I was real fortunate growing up in NYC where I was subjected to a diverse environment as a little kid and there is no such thing as racial biases. Kids are kids and you just play together. In fourth grade (I think), my teacher came into class and identified all of the left-handed kids in the class and said they had to stand up. She said that a new rule had just passed that made all left-handed students subject to a different set of rules - different school entrance, different seats in the class and lunchroom - totally crazy stuff and naturally we all believed her (come on, we were 9-10 years old). Looking back, the crazy part is how the class reacted - with disbelief and anger. And then the teacher gave in and told us it was a lesson in racial segregation. Obviously it meant a lot because I still remember it. Anyway.

Glory Road was good. I liked the basketball action and the story that it told. peace.