The movie 42
Victoria Hall
Professor Dolinski
English 112
2 April 2014 42 The movie 42 is a fairly new non-fiction movie describing the life history of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Baseball League (MLB) in the modern era, and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 42 shows how hard it was in the 1940s to be a black man or woman, but Jackie Robinson and his team executive, Branch Rickey, did the unthinkable. The film 42 takes its audience on a journey through Jackie Robinson’s life as a professional baseball player and shows all of his accomplishments, along with all of his downfalls. Jackie Robinson’s team executive from the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, put himself and Jackie Robinson to the forefront of history. When Rickey signed Robinson he made a major decision, and broke the Major Baseball League’s “color barrier”. Not only did Branch Rickey put himself and Jackie Robinson in danger, but also other baseball players. Everyone was facing bashing racism from all sides. The film 42 shows how Jackie Robinson had to demonstrate tremendous amounts of courage and restraint. If Robinson would have reacted in anyway towards all of the racism he could of destroyed Rickey’s and his own dreams.
The story presented in 42 mostly focuses on Robinson’s season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and somewhat on his season with the Montreal Royals in 1946. His first season in 1946 with the Montreal Royals is where he battled a lot of racism from his audience. One scene from 42 stood out the most and was actually a hard scene to watch. Ben Chapmen, the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies at the time, repeatedly called Jackie Robinson a “nigger” loudly while he was up to bat. Of course Robinson had to remain calm, but it was so difficult. He then went back into the dugout and ended up smashing his bat into the walls and ground venting his anger. After Branch Rickey came to calm him down and explain that no one said what
Professor Dolinski
English 112
2 April 2014 42 The movie 42 is a fairly new non-fiction movie describing the life history of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the Major Baseball League (MLB) in the modern era, and his history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers. 42 shows how hard it was in the 1940s to be a black man or woman, but Jackie Robinson and his team executive, Branch Rickey, did the unthinkable. The film 42 takes its audience on a journey through Jackie Robinson’s life as a professional baseball player and shows all of his accomplishments, along with all of his downfalls. Jackie Robinson’s team executive from the Brooklyn Dodgers, Branch Rickey, put himself and Jackie Robinson to the forefront of history. When Rickey signed Robinson he made a major decision, and broke the Major Baseball League’s “color barrier”. Not only did Branch Rickey put himself and Jackie Robinson in danger, but also other baseball players. Everyone was facing bashing racism from all sides. The film 42 shows how Jackie Robinson had to demonstrate tremendous amounts of courage and restraint. If Robinson would have reacted in anyway towards all of the racism he could of destroyed Rickey’s and his own dreams.
The story presented in 42 mostly focuses on Robinson’s season with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 and somewhat on his season with the Montreal Royals in 1946. His first season in 1946 with the Montreal Royals is where he battled a lot of racism from his audience. One scene from 42 stood out the most and was actually a hard scene to watch. Ben Chapmen, the manager for the Philadelphia Phillies at the time, repeatedly called Jackie Robinson a “nigger” loudly while he was up to bat. Of course Robinson had to remain calm, but it was so difficult. He then went back into the dugout and ended up smashing his bat into the walls and ground venting his anger. After Branch Rickey came to calm him down and explain that no one said what
Cited: 42. Dir. Brian Helgeland. Perf. Brian Helgeland and Thomas Tull. Warner Bros. Pictures. 2013. Film.