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Football

Audible – Teen Angst in Silence

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The teen years can be a challenge. It is a time when people struggle with their identity and their place in the world. Even for the most “normal” of teens, these years can be a struggle. Add to that having to deal with a disability. In Matthew Ogens’s documentary short Audible, we meet a young football player at a school for the deaf as he struggles with teen angst, deafness, and the loss of a friend.

Amaree McKenstry-Hall plays for football for the Maryland School for the Deaf. At the beginning of the film we see the team losing its first game against a deaf school in sixteen years. It also breaks the 42-game winning streak against all teams. For regular high school athletes, this would be a difficult time. We watch as Amaree and his schoolmates deal not only with the defeat, but with the struggles of facing a world as a deaf person. When school is over Amaree and his classmates will face discrimination and isolation.

As we get to know Amaree, we learn that his father left when he became deaf, and the two are working on rebuilding a relationship. His father, a onetime drug dealer, is a minister in a local church. He also is a bit unsure of his relationship with a girlfriend. Amaree’s biggest emotional challenge is dealing with the suicide of a classmate.

All of these are issues that many teens face. As such this is very much a look at coming-of-age in America. But when you include the challenges of getting ready to move into living fully in a hearing world, it all becomes multiplied.

Because it is a short (running time:39 minutes), it doesn’t have a chance to go very deep into Amaree’s stuggles, but we do see enough to understand that like all teens, he has many pressures. But we also see that he has qualities that may be helpful as he moves on in life.

AUDIBLE/NETFLIX © 2021

Audible streams on Netflix.

Photos courtesy of Netflix.

Day 1 at AFI Docs

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Welcome to the real world.

Documentaries take us into the world to show us lives and issues that we might otherwise not know about. AFI Docs is a festival filled with documentaries to challenge us to see the world around us from a new perspective.

In the current American political environment, it seems like no one wants to talk to people they disagree with. The First Step, from Brandon Kramer, follows CNN political commentator Van Jones as he works for prison reforms. This is a story of strange political bedfellows. Jones, who was angered by the election of Donald Trump, found an ally in the issue in Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose father served time in federal prison. Together they worked for the passage of The First Step Act (which eventually was supported bipartisanly and signed by the President).

Much of the film is Jones trying to bring very opposite people together. For example, he creates a group made up of people from South L.A. and West Virginia around the common issue of how addiction has affected those communities. But there were many who were appalled that Jones would have anything to do with the Administration. Many in the Black community saw his work as a betrayal. They thought he gave validation to Trump and his people. The main point of the film is that such dialogue is essential to the working of a democracy. When we refuse to meet with those we may view as “the enemy”, it only adds to the polarization and the effective paralyzation of the political process.

The US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT) has been wildly successful. They have one four World Cups and four Olympic gold medals. The Men’s Team, not quite as successful—by any measure. But the Men get paid at a much higher rate than the women. Yeah, that’s not fair. But is it legal? LFG, from Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine, is the story of the USWNT’s legal battle against the US Soccer Federation over equal pay. While the film offers some wonderful soccer action as the women continue to win, the main focus is the legal process as it plays out over more than a year. (The case still is ongoing at the appeals level.)

When we think of professional athletes, we think that those who have made it to the highest level probably get paid in ways that reflect that. That certainly doesn’t apply to women athletes. The lawsuit reflects the basic pay disparity between men and women in the US. The film is filled with the personal emotions of the women who are fighting this battle. It also shows the arguments on both sides of the issue, although it certainly favors the USWNT’s perspective. (It should be noted that the US Soccer Federation opted not to be part of the film.) LFG is available to stream on HBO Max.

Fathom, by director Drew Xanthopoulos, focuses on two women scientists who are separately working on the calls and songs of Humpback whales. Dr. Michelle Fournet and her colleagues are trying to communicate with whales off Alaska, testing an hypothesis that a certain sound (a “whup”) is a greeting/introduction. Dr. Ellen Garland is trying to follow the pathway of how a song moves across the ocean to different groups.

Whales, especially humpbacks, are highly intelligent. The film notes that these animals had developed a culture before humans walked upright. Their sounds may not be what we would think of as language, but it seems to have a social and cultural aspect that connects the whales to each other.

Among today’s shorts were Audible, the story of the football team at the Maryland School of the Deaf, as they come with the end of a winning streak and the death of a friend; Bug Farm, about some people who work on a farm that raises crickets, mealworms, and roaches for sale to pet stores and zoos as feed; and Invisible Monsters and Tomato Soup, in which twenty people have shared some of their dreams from early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Audible will be available to stream on Netflix in July.

One of the industry forums that was held in conjunction with AFI Docs was “Breaking the Silence: How Documentaries Can Shape Conversation on Racial Violence”. It focused on a study by that name done by the Center for Media and Social Impact, which used the documentary about lynching, Always in Season, as a focal point for conversation in several locations in different parts of the country. The key point is that such a documentary can be a helpful beginning to conversations, if done properly. The report and resource guide can be found at https://cmsimpact.org/report/breaking-silence-documentaries-can-shape-conversation-racial-violence-america-create-new-communities/

Photos courtesy of AFI.

Safety:

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Disney’s new film “Safety” is an autobiography on real-life NCAA player Ray McElrathbey (Jay Reeves), a struggling student on a football scholarship at Clemson University who must try to balance his life between school, work, football practice, and taking care of his younger brother. With their mother in rehab, Ray fights to persevere through the adversity and defies all odds.

As safety for the Clemson Tigers, Ray McElrathbey’s goal is to support his teammates as the last line of defense. In the same way, he must act as the last line of defense for his younger brother. With his mother in rehab and his father a criminal, Ray must choose between leaving his brother, Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson) in foster care or taking him in and risking his entire football scholarship. Being the loving brother he is, Ray decides to take him in. In the beginning of the film, Ray is relies only on himself, mentioning multiple times that he’s not a charity case. He lives his life clinging to the idea that total independence makes you strong and that you can’t rely on anyone but yourself. Over time, this idea has become embedded in his heart mainly due to his difficult upbringing and having to struggle so hard all his life to get to where he is now.

Overwhelmed and about to lose his brother to social workers, Ray’s team comes together to help take care of Fahmarr. Amazingly, his coaches and teammates create a community of support for the two brothers, taking turns taking care of Fahmarr and driving him to school as well as feeding him. While he may be the safety on the field, his team takes on the role of ‘last line of defence’ in his life and their support gives Ray the safe footing that he needs to push forward. 

Having said this, it’s important to note that, while the film carries a feel-good tone that’s appropriate for families, it does somehow feel like a missed opportunity to explore the types of challenges that Ray experienced. As a young African-American male struggling to survive, it may have been more appropriate at a moment like this to delve more into the lack of resources available to him and the loneliness that he would have experienced along his journey. Though the intent was clearly to provide a tale of uplifting joy, it also could be argued that it doesn’t always paint an accurate picture of life for students who have difficulty off the field as well.

Overall, Safety does amount to an inspiring film that charms its audience. As a student athlete, parent and working a full-time job, it’s fair to say that Ray’s journey is one filled with many roadblocks and challenges. Even so, what’s most inspiring is that Ray never thinks of giving up. As he pushes forward to do better, his sacrifice towards his brother is unwavering and his loyalty absolute. Though far from perfect, Safety ultimately ends up scoring as a true underdog story. 

Safety launches on Disney+ on Friday, December 11th, 2020.

Fall Kickoff: Sports; Future of College & Work; Meaning in Life

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your sunday drive podcast

Fall is here and with it the 150th season of college football in the U.S.!

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we use this occasion as a kick-off point to revisit the topic of spirituality in sports.

Then the conversation goes deep into the current state of higher education, and the future of college and work.

Finally, the concept of God’s image is used as a touchstone principle to connect these topics to larger questions about purpose and meaning in life.

Take a listen and let us know what you think! Want to interact with us? Comment here, or on Spreaker or Facebook!



the real problem with Streep’s Golden Globes speech

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some say celebs like Streep
should keep
their political rants
off camera when at
a purportedly non-political party,
such as the Golden Globes

meh. i didn’t mind her
speaking her mind.

Trumpsters, i suppose,
(and he, himself,
if Twitter matters)
are troubled by her
oh-so-subtle-and-clever
naming-without-naming
takedown of the prez elect

nah. seemed accurate to me.

she also called for a
“principled press”

check. no argument here.

so what *was* the problem?
this:
“Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners. If you kick ’em all out, you’ll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts.”

um. okay…?

[full disclosure interlude:
i’m a football fan,
and (specifically) a
mixed martial arts (mma) fan;
in other words: i have a dog in this fight;
i’ve come to the defense of mma before
(here) and pretty much always will;
mma still needing a defense is
part of the issue, of course;
however, i feel like
i’d feel the same way –
i hope i would –
even if said dog
were not my dog]

on the surface,
throwaway ones though
they seem,
these lines of Streep’s
are plenty problematic . . .

(there are no
“outsiders and foreigners”
in football or mma?
(of course there are))

(mixed martial arts
and/or
football “are not the arts”?
like as in some privileged,
elitist, ultimately arbitrary
definition of “the arts”
that includes (presumably)
cinema, but not sport?
says who? you?
or as in
“mixed martial arts is not art”?
says who? you?
i shudder to imagine
today’s mixed martial artists
or Bruce Lee
or 1,000 years of Shaolin monks
being told that their
arts are not art;
i’m saddened that someone
could watch what these
artists can do with their bodies
and not see it as art)

one level down,
the problem intensifies . . .
consider the tone:

what’s it sound like to you?
to me it sounds like disdain.
dismissal.
scoffery.
judgment in general.

this seems plainly problematic to me,
but again it intensifies
when the full speech
is considered;
particularly this tidbit:

“And this instinct to humiliate, when it’s modeled by someone in the public platform, by someone powerful, it filters down into everybody’s life, because it kind of gives permission for other people to do the same thing. Disrespect invites disrespect. Violence incites violence. When the powerful use their position to bully others, we all lose.”

now i know that these lines,
in context,
were part of the
(justified) Trump takedown;
and i know,
regarding the earlier lines,
that her carefully coded target
(also problematic), really,
was red state, republican,
uneducated, tea party, Trump voting
“white trash” . . .
you know: folks who also
watch Nascar maybe,
and probably listen to “country music”
and almost certainly
“cling to guns and religion”

but . . .
setting that aside . . .

i feel like Meryl Streep
attempted to
*humiliate* and
*bully* and
*disrespect*
any and all
footballers and/or mixed martial artists,
their fans, their respective
histories, cultures, etc. etc.

didn’t she?
i know i personally
felt that way, personally

and didn’t she just say
not to do that,
(from her
powerful public platform)?

this, to me,
was the real problem
with her speech:
the old
speck-and-plank problem;
that old problem where we all
want others to
do as we say not as we do,
where we’re all
hypocrites (Greek origin of the word: actor),
we all
love double standards,
we all
inhabit glass houses,
we all
fail and then fail by
telling others to not fail

you know: this one:

 

and even though
this Austin Powers joke is hilarious
(one of my faves),
and even though Jesus,
when he first told the
speck-and-plank story (here),
was intentionally being
funny via hyperbole,
really,
hypocrisy and double standards
aren’t funny, and constituted
the real problem
with Streep’s speech,
and constitute part of
a real potential problem
for humans in general:
that whenever we talk about others,
we also talk about ourselves

you know what else
Streep said in that speech? this:
“An actor’s only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us and let you feel what that feels like.”

yes.
yes, indeed.
a good thing
to aspire to for
any human,
actor or otherwise;
albeit difficult;
unfortunately,
demonstrably so
in this case

Greater: Burlsworth’s Legacy

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If you’re interested in a football film this weekend (the college season starts tomorrow and the NFL begins in two weeks), you may want to check out Greater.  It’s a true story about University of Arkansas defensive end Brandon Burlsworth, who joined the team as a walk-on and eventually earned All-American status through sheer determination, making a far greater impact with his life than even he could imagine.  It opens this Friday, so take a look at this trailer and let us know what you think.

My All American: Getting to Know Freddie

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myallamerican3The weekends are a wonderful time to get caught up on housework, take a trip to the beach or mountains, or grab a few extra hours of sleep.  There’s also the opportunity to sit down with some friends, grab some snacks, and enjoy a game of football (whether it’s high school on Friday, college on Saturday, or professional on Sunday). For a few hours, players do battle on the field to determine if their team is better than another in a game that’s a little over a century old. It’s often a test of courage and bravado for those playing—one that if passed, can bring honor and glory to a team (and perhaps an individual player who does well).  But we don’t often get to learn the backstory of these players.

Freddie Steinmark may not be a familiar name in college football history, but the University of Texas student has a story that exudes determination, commitment, courage, and hope.  In the new film My All American, director Angelo Pizzo brings his story to light. The viewer ends up discovering what it means to never give up on one’s dreams—even if there are some pitfalls along the way.

The story begins with a student reporter in the office of legendary football coach Darrell Royal. She asks him who his favorite All-American was at the University of Texas.  When Coach Royal says it was Freddie Steinmark (played by Finn Wittrock), she reminds him that he was never selected for that honor. He comments that Steinmark was his All-American before the scene shifts to the state of Colorado.  Steinmark’s high school hadn’t won their division in a quarter century, but there was hope.  In addition to Freddie, the team had a new player from California named Bobby Mitchell (Rett Terrell) who was a great running back.  The team begins to do well, defeating their arch-rival and putting up a fantastic season.

myallamerican2Freddie is good at football, is smart, and is a devout Catholic. He has the trophy girlfriend in Linda (Sara Bolger) and he plans to play at Notre Dame, but isn’t built for the rigors of college football.  Schools tell his father (Michael Reilly Burke) that Freddie needs to go to a junior college first and bulk up before they’ll consider him. This frustrates his father, who, along with his wife Gloria (Robin Tunney), has pushed Freddie to be his best in all areas of life, although they’re quite poor. When the University of Texas asks to look at Bobbie, they take a look at Freddie–and offer both a scholarship.

Coach Royal (Aaron Eckhart) knows tons of guys want to play on UT’s football team, so he makes the practices rough and tough in order to weed out players.  At one point he looks at his charges and says, “Gentlemen . . . impress me” before putting them through a grueling practice. Freddie’s skill and sheer determination to try a new position (he was a running back in high school and is asked to play safety and kick returner) impresses Royal enough to put him on the field as a freshman.

The UT team is absolutely horrible but starts picking up wins once Coach Royal installs a new offensive scheme called the triple option. It is effective enough that UT begins to be considered for the national championship the following year. The wins keep piling up and eventually lead to a winner-take-all game between the Longhorns and the University of Arkansas in 1969. Freddie is still playing at a top level, but has noticed an infrequent pain in his leg.  Linda (who goes to UT as well) encourages him to see a doctor, but he doesn’t until after he has to be taken out of the national title game due to ineffectiveness.  The doctor’s findings suddenly render football a non-priority, forcing him to fight for his life.  This fight encapsulates who Freddie Steinmark is and cements his legacy in the eyes of Coach Royal.

myallamerican1My All-American, like all football players in high school, has the ability to become something bigger than the sum of its parts.  Does the film succeed in doing that?  For me, I’m not sure that it does.  Pizzo’s track record with sports-themed films has been nothing short of stellar (he directed the acclaimed titles Hoosiers and Rudy), but something doesn’t quite feel right about My All American. It’s not the cinematography, which is top-notch and provides an archival feel to the story.  It’s not the sports sequences, which showcase some bone-crunching tackles and fantastic build-up in the championship game.

The problem lies in the characters themselves. Freddie is fully fleshed out as a determined, courageous football player who fights to get where he is, but the others are very one-note. Steinmark’s girlfriend Linda is given very little to work with other than being a non-married companion. His parents aren’t given much more in the way of characterization.  Even some of the main football players (such as quarterback James Street (Juston Street)) are very static, giving the film a determined focus on Freddie and his life. This can work in some instances, but when the lead character is looked at by other characters as a role model, it diminishes the effectiveness of the overall product. It’s unfortunate, as My All American has the potential to line up with Pizzo’s other masterworks.  Instead, it comes off as uplifting but bland.

There is a scene in the film that merits discussion—one between Bobby and Freddie. After Bobby’s brother is killed while serving in Vietnam, he goes out and loses his mind, ripping a placard promoting the war.  Freddie calms Bobby down, gets him back to the room, and asks if he can pray for him. Bobby isn’t religious and reminds Freddie, “Just because you aren’t a religious person doesn’t mean you can’t pray at a time like this.” The scene ends with Freddie praying and Bobby fretting, only to start praying as well. Bobby has seen enough of Freddie’s life to know that he means what he says and that maybe prayer does work.

To me, this is why he gave in and called on God in his time of need. Peter says that followers of Jesus should seek to live such good lives among the rest of the world that people take notice and glorify God themselves (1 Peter 2:12).  When followers of Jesus make mockeries of the faith they claim through their actions, ideas, or even reactions to other believers (see the whole Starbucks red cup non-issue), it doesn’t help the cause of Christ. Freddie’s example was notable enough to challenge the lives of those who came into contact with him and make them better in the long run.  May we all do the same so the world can see Jesus in the right light.