The Historical Accuracy of 42

Since I know very little about baseball, the Jackie Robinson movie 42 presented me with a flood of new information about the sport, the historical context within which Robinson was signed as the first Black player in the national leagues, and about his life and the trials and discrimination that he faced in pre-Civil Rights America. It is not always easy, however, to untangle the facts that are historically accurate from those that are exaggerated or hyper-dramatized in order to create a more visually and emotionally intense experience in the audience. The movie as a whole is very attentive to detail and historical accuracy, but replaces realistic dialogue with idealistic speeches and places the focus more on Jackies personal life and emotional reactions to the discrimination against him as a Black man instead of focusing on the social and historical significance of baseball in America and on Robinsons impact in the Black community, which is referenced many times in conversation but never discussed or explored. One question the movie raised for me was whether the Brooklyn Dodgers president Branch Rickey actually supported equal rights or if he was motivated completely by a different motive, such as money or media attention for the Dodgers. During one scene in 42, Rickey is talking to another coach as Robinson is in the process of try-outs, and tells the coach that he will be fired if he cant treat Robinson as an equal. There are several other scenes where Rickeys character speaks out against racism. While the movie focuses on money as the main motivator for almost all of the characters, second only to a deep love of the sport of baseball, it does cause the audience to fully sympathize with Robinson and quite a few lines in the movie criticize racism. It turns out that Rickey was indeed vocal about his support of Robinson and of equal rights, but that he was also motivated by business. He stated in a remark to the press that I signed Robinson in spite of the pressure-groups who are only exploiting the Negroes, instead of advancing their cause. I signed him because I knew of no reason why I shouldnt. I want to win baseball games, and baseball is a game that is played by human beings (1). In a later interview, he revealed that his belief in equal rights was also a strong motive in signing African Americans to the Dodgers (2) as was his deep belief in Christianity, which the movie correctly depicts. The movie also accurately portrays the mixed reactions of Robinsons teammates to his joining the team. One of the most dramatic scenes in the movie depicts the game between the Dodgers and the Phillies where manager Ben Chapman taunts Robinson and tries to distract him from the game with racial remarks and slurs. While I didnt question the accuracy of Chapmans open racism, I did wonder if the Dodgers did nothing when this event happened, or if some defended Robinson as they did in the movie. Once again, the movie stays true to the facts. Rickey told press reporters that "Chapman did more than anybody to unite the Dodgers, and that "when he poured out that stream of unconscionable abuse, he solidified and unified 30 men" (3). However, the movie is not a documentary, and thus Hollywood takes some liberties with the interpretation and presentation of the topic. Most of the dialogue, while it may be accurate, is overly idealistic and glamourized, especially the interactions between Robinson and Rickey and between Robinson and his wife. The movie also presents Robinson as being almost indifferent to his role in the Black community, saying several times that he is willing to deal with discrimination because he wants to make money or because he loves baseball, but not because he cares about equal rights, when in fact he was very conscious of his baseball career as a symbol of black opportunity (4). Breaking the color barrier in popular sports years before Brown v. Board was ruled unconstitutional, Robinson also eventually became a business executive and continued to champion the cause of civil rights, participating in voter-registration drives in the South, and working with Martin Luther King Jr. (5). The movie also glosses over Robinsons impact on American society and culture as a whole, and instead focuses on his personal struggle against the racism that he experienced within the world of baseball. The general public was in fact very interested in Robinson, whether or not they supported integrated sports teams, and he became an icon in American pop-culture (6). During the time of Robinsons career, baseball was also an extremely popular and important sport in the United States. It was created in the U.S. and so was used to represent American nationalism, innovation, and strength, but it is also a sport that emphasizes teamwork, logic, skill, and wholesome all-American play. Writer and cultural critic Gerald Early discusses at length the deep relationship between baseball and American culture and examines the mirroring of Democratic American values within the structure of the game itself (7). While the movie does not quite create realistic interactions or dialogue, and focuses on creating emotional reactions in the audience to Robinsons struggles rather than on his immense impact on American culture and the equal rights movement, 42 is very historically accurate in its portrayal of facts, events, and the general reactions of people in the baseball world to Robinson.

Sources

1http://historyengine.richmond.edu/episodes/view/4961

2,4,6http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/jr1947.html

3,5http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f 040207_Robinson

7http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/baseball.html