by Natalie Knott
COLUMNIST
Feeling bored? Uninspired? Complacent? Here is the cure: go watch a sports movie. Yes, they’re formulaic, yes, they are idealistic and yes, there is always the obligatory sweaty training scene that usually serves absolutely no plot-related purpose. But all of these supposed “detractors” do nothing to diminish the beauty that is the sports flick.
Sports movies are about men and women who through their own strength of body and will (ok, and usually some help from innate talent…except in the case of “Rudy”) reshape their destinies and revive the hope in the lives of those around them.
As I write this I am watching “Cinderella Man,” one of the best films in this genre, for the second time in a row. Sure, there are problematic aspects to the film–the portrayal of Max Baer for one–but if you aren’t moved to tears when ‘Braddock’ beats ‘Baer’ you must be made of steel.
Sports movies are so fantastic because they put us in touch with our own agency. In an age when so much of our entertainment serves to numb or dumb us down, sports movies are an art form that stresses hard work, dedication, and sacrifice–sentiments that are in remarkable shortage in our society.
We are also facing a shortage of dreams. The most fulfilling part of any sports movie is when our hero finally achieves their life long goal of winning the gold medal or beating the German or playing for Notre Dame or realizing that there is more to life than their sport–these dreams are extraordinary for those of us watching and the characters dreaming them. I have a lot of cousins, younger and older, and one thing I never hear from the younger ones any more is, “I want to be an astronaut,” or “I want to run in the Olympics.” Or even, “I want to invent the flying car.” No, today, my cousins have trouble seeing past the instant gratification of the next hour let alone greatness that will take years to achieve. Sports movies have the power to revive the dreamer in all of us. I challenge all of you to watch “Pride of the Yankees,” and NOT set some sweeping goals for your life.
Finally, sports movies kick ass because of the obligatory, sweaty training scene. Gentlemen, please refer to the spandex-clad Moira Kelly in “The Cutting Edge” or any of the ladies in “Bring it On.” Ladies, pick a football movie, any football movie. Nothing spurs a lazy ass off the couch and into the gym faster than watching people we’d like to sleep with flex, sweat and (pretend) to push themselves to their glistening physical limits. It’s viscerally inspirational.
Sports movies, like a good war movie (see: “Stalag 17” or “Schindler’s List”) remind us of something we’ve lost as individuals and as a society. When we cry at the end (or middle or beginning), we cry because we are rediscovering a hope we thought was lost. Seniors, as you start to imagine your lives beyond Whitman and plan your futures I urge you to spend some time with Lou Gehrig, James Braddock, Rudy Ruttiger, Rocky Balboa, the Hoosiers in “Hoosiers” and the ladies in “A League of Their Own,” and dream big, giant, impossible. You can have more than a quiet life in a cubicle and a television in a cookie cutter house in the suburbs.
Ok, that’s enough from me, I promised my dog we’d watch “Any Given Sunday” before bed tonight. And by my dog, I mean myself.
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