Sports movies are often about coming together as a team and accepting others who are “different”. Two such movies come to mind (though there are many more). Remember the Titans is one of the classics. American Wrestler: The Wizard is newer movie that I just recently watched for the first time (I say “first” because I know it is a movie I can watch again and again).
Remember the Titans depicts a time of racial tension when T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, was being desegregated. It is full of scenes that inspire greatness and community. One of my favorite scenes is when Julius Campbell visit Gerry Bertier in the hospital after a car accident injured Gerry preventing him from playing in the championship. The nurse attempts to prevent Julius from visiting, telling him that “Only kin’s allowed in here.” Julius responds: “Alice, are you blind? Don’t you see the family resemblance? That’s my brother.”
And, of course, there is Coach Boone’s speech at Gettysburg:
“This is where they fought the battle of Gettysburg. Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we are still fighting among ourselves today. This green field right here, painted red, bubblin’ with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men. I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen, and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don’t come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don’t care if you like each other of not, but you will respect each other. And maybe… I don’t know, maybe we’ll learn to play this game like men.”
And in the final scenes when an older Sheryl Yost says: “People say that it can’t work, black and white. Here, we make it work every day. We still have our disagreements, of course, but before we reach for hate, always, always, we remember the Titans.”
The movie American Wrestler: The Wizard is a timely movie (intentionally, no doubt). It is about the struggle for acceptance by a teenage Iranian immigrant in Petaluma, California in 1980—at the height of the Hostage Crisis in Iran. He finds his place among the floundering wrestling team and, despite all the hostility, becomes a leader on the team and inspires them to rise to the occasion. The main character, Ali, works hard to prove himself as a person and as a wrestler. I will have to watch the movie a few more times to latch on to some memorable quotes, but it is indeed an inspiring movie and one that should give us pause as we leap to judge others based on labels. Life is a struggle for acceptance. Perhaps, it appears easier for some to find acceptance, but, in reality, it is a struggle for everyone. We must always remember to strive to make our mark as who we are and not what others want us to be. Hostility cannot be requited with hostility. Hostility is met with resolve and demonstration of one’s unique purpose.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
Image source: http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/rememberthetitans/tmpc.jpg