42 and racism

I went to see "42" tonight but first some background.  Jackie Robinson started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers the year I was born.  As I grew, I learned that for some odd reason my brother, Tom, was a Dodger fan.  So, I was too.  All the kids in Haskell were Yankee fans because of Mickey Mantle, but I was a Dodger fan. (great schooling for when I became an OSU fan, later.)  During the fifties we all collected baseball cards and since my other friends did not like my team, I soon had a large collection of Dodger cards. Later in the 80's my son started collecting ball cards and looking though his Becket book , I realized that a Jackie Robinson card was worth a fortune.  I went to my mother's house and climbed into the attic and found my toy box but the cards were gone, except......over in the corner was Jackie Robinson's 1956 card, except........it had been cut in half.......and I had one half of a very valuable card!

Back to the Movie:  It follows Lincoln with good timing.  It is about the first black man to play professional sports.  The Dodger Owner, Branch Rickey, (played by Harrison Ford)broke the barrier with the signing of Jackie.

This film pulls no punches about the racism that existed in the USA.  It shows the pain he suffered in being the first.  It also laid bare the stupidity that existed AND STILL EXISTS.

A great movie for baseball fans and a great movie for history buffs.

I give it 4 stars.

2013 movie #13