The "'Race' Is Much More Than A Movie" Story

It was an ordinary day.  The movie just finished and Carol and I, along with our friends Jerry and Just Sue, are heading out of the movie theatre in State College, Pennsylvania.  The same movie theatre that we walked from in late summer of 2009.  Wasn't long afterwards that "Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy" began.  The movie that led to my blog fixation was "Julie & Julia" which told the story of Julia Child and her start in the cooking profession which becomes intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.  Well, that movie was very memorable and I must admit that today's movie left me with many of the same feelings as that movie six years ago.  

"Race" is the story of a man who showed that the son of a sharecropper and the grandson of a slave could become the fastest man on Earth.  It was President George H.W. Bush who said in his posthumous presentation of the Congressional Gold Medal to Jesse Owens in March in 1990 that it was an unrivaled athletic triumph, but it was more than that, it really was a triumph for all humanity.  Then I got to wondering why it took over 44 years before Jesse Owens was honored in Washington, D.C. by the President of the United States; and then it was after he died!  The answer is: Jesse Owens was a black man!  There can be no other answer.  I guess I should tell you at this point that maybe if you haven't seen the movie, and plan to go to view it, you may not want to read the rest of my story, for it may ruin the ending for you.  That being said, I was extremely moved by the film which featured Stephan James as Jesse and Jason Sudeikis as his college coach and loyal friend, Larry Snyder.  

Jesse Owens competing in the broad jump.

The majority of the filming took place in Montreal, Canada as well as on location at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany.  The film opens in the fall of 1933 in Cleveland, Ohio as Jesse prepares to head to Ohio State University where he meets coach Snyder for the first time.  Jesse leaves behind his sweetheart and mother of his child.  Coach Snyder sees the potential in his new recruit and pushes him to new heights culminating in his winning the 100-yard dash in 9.4 seconds, tying the world record.  He also set world records in three other events at the 1935 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  The mixture of black and white scenes with the color scenes made for a seemless representation of old to new and then back again.  
In 1936, at the Olympics held in Germany, his four gold medals proves to be a blow to the Nazis.  Hitler's superiority German "Aryan" race takes a back seat.  The film shows the divide that existed among the United States olympic officials who wanted to compete and those who wanted to boycott the games in protest Hitler's treatment of Jews, blacks and other oppressed under his rule.  

The real Jesse Owens with wife Minnie.

The love story between Jesse and his sweetheart- /wife winds throughout the movie and draws you into the lives of the Owens family.  Perhaps the scene that was the most emotional for the theatre-goers, was when Jesse returned to the U.S. after winning his record four gold medals and was to be the guest of honor at a Manhattan banquet and told he and his wife would have to enter through the hotel's kitchen and use the service elevator because he was black.  I believe, for many black Americans, it is still the same today.  I'm positive the reaction of the white crowd at the movie today would be entirely different had it been a black crowd.  And, I don't believe that 8 years of having a black President has changed much as far as race relations are concerned.  The movie "Race" was essentially a true story.  But, "Race" is more than a movie.  "Race" was an emotion.  "Race" was black and white.  So sad to have to type that!  But, it's the truth and easy to see.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Jesse and Minnie had three daughters who are still all living.  Parade magazine did an cover photo, article and video with the three sisters.  I have included the YouTube video showing the interview.


Postscript:  As I left the movie I leaned toward my wife and said, "If you remember, after the last movie here I was inspired to start my blog.  Well, after this movie I think I'm going to begin to broadjump."  She looked at me and laughed .... real loud, and said, "Yeah, right!!"