42 - Another Moving On Film

I happened to have watched this movie with a good friend who recommended that we watched it one weekday evening in a theatre at Union Square in Manhattan. Inside the medium-size theatre during the screening, I found soon that it wasn't crowded although a size-able number of people showed up that time. I would soon find out that the movie's not all about sports, or about baseball per se. You don't really need to understand baseball to appreciate this movie.

The movie's about racial discrimination and prejudice, and I found certain scenes difficult to watch. I think it's because we all will soon realize that racial discrimination is something very illogical, even if we catch ourselves practicing a form of discrimination each day of our lives. It's one of those games that our minds make ourselves play around with, and find out soon we've all been terribly wrong for having participated, indirectly or indirectly, in a very bad form of discrimination. 

Of course, we still do need to freely discriminate or else, we simply can't function well in our daily tasks. However, racial discrimination is one type of discrimination that needs to be erased totally in our social interactions. And we have to actively engage in ensuring that this very bad kind of discrimination is not going to be and not being suffered by all people anywhere in the world.

I enjoyed watching the film's narrative as it segued from the many events that happened in the lives of Jackie Robinson, the main protagonist, of those who loved him as well as those who hated him because of prejudices against skin color. I felt good towards the end of the film because I saw how it portrayed the situation about racial discrimination in sports like baseball being overcome and handled well by others whose eyes would soon see hurting truths that are being hidden away by racial discrimination. As the movie unfolds, it would tell the viewer that racial discrimination starts somewhere and with someone, and that soon others will realize that this kind of discrimination is illogical. They, hopefully, will take lead and follow others in eradicating racial discrimination in human affairs and relations. 

But do take time to watch this movie because it has an interesting storyline. It's a cute experience watching on the big screen how people dressed many decades ago, and how stupid they were over certain freedoms that we now take for granted. I thought the 'whites only' bathroom signs were shocking and stupid. I would have not chosen to live in the USA if by the time I started living here years ago I saw those signs on public bathroom doors. I can't imagine segregation completely, but with movies like this one, stories about terrible events and developments in history can be better appreciated. And I'm happy most of us have moved on from this set up that was prevalent decades ago. And now we're facing and braving a fight against discrimination being pursued by others who think the love between individuals of the same sex is not worthy of recognition and the rites and benefits of marriage can't be bestowed upon them by the community. Well, we'll probably have to wait a little longer more. But it's not going to be that loooong anymore.