The Ken Burns’s film ‘Jackie Robinson’ is a documentary that studies in detail the life and achievements of the African-American athlete, in particular in baseball and the civil rights movement.
The film provided a lot of new and intriguing information on Jackie Robinson’s struggle. First of all, a lot of sources praise Robinson’s rise to stardom, and his simultaneous dedication to the civil rights cause, few sources fully disclose the role Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers manager, had in the development of the young star. He chose Jackie very carefully, for his skills as well as his willpower and views on equality. Before signing him up for the Major League, Branch coached Jackie about all of the hurdles he would face as a black baseball player, and not only taught him how to deal with it but also stood up for him, helping Jackie create the public image that made him famous and admired. Jackie signing a contract with Montreal Royals, Dodgers’ “farm club”, broke the color barrier, and became an integral victory for the civil rights movement.
Secondly, it was interesting to see that the changes weren’t immediate. Robinson was joined in the Major League by an African American pitcher John Right. Both men faced a lot of pressure due to their race, but Robinson was the star the people recognized, and Right was the one whom the media and his team could press down on. Right eventually left the team. Similarly, it was interesting to see just how direct and offensive the racial insults could be, with the Phillies manager Ben Chapman being the prime exemplar of the film, and just how resilient Jackie was in the face of them, despite clearly suffering.
Thirdly, the film did a good job at showing how quickly and aggressively the public responded when Jackie started to speak against the inequality, and how he maintained his views when everyone was against him, even other, more militant civil rights activists, even his body, stricken with diabetes.
Jackie Robinson was a fascinating person during his time, and the film does a exceptional job of showing what kind of a person it takes to achieve the recognition he received in the histories of sport and the civil rights movement.
Works Cited
Jackie Robinson. Dir. Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, and David McMahon. Public Broadcasting Service. Florentine Films, 2016. Film. Web.