I saw "42" this past weekend and I went in worried they would sanitize his story and Hollywood-ize to make it some feel good piece. I was wrong because it was quite solid.
While the movie didn't introduce anything new to me, it did show the strength Jackie had as well as how much he needed the support of his wife, Rachel, to be his rock. It showed that Jackie often had to go it alone and despite having Rachel, a few teammates and legendary newspaper scribe Wendell Smith by his side, he had to face the abuse and loneliness in 1947.
I loved how it showed that Jackie only didn't fight back because he was told to, not because it was his nature. We have a way of thinking that our civil rights icons were passive aggressive and it demeans their struggle by making them appear weak compared to folks like Malcolm X, Stokley Carmichael and the Black Panthers.
(Let's clear up that logic now. 1) He grew up in California and attended UCLA so he wasn't uncomfortable speaking up to White people. 2) He was court-martialed in the Army for refusing to moving to the back of the bus and later acquitted. 3) Branch Rickey told him that in 1949, he was free to be himself. Not fighting back is a tactic, not a sign of weakness or lack of passion)
