Race Film Review from A Sociological Perspective (Movie Review Sample)

Race (2016) Film Review from A Sociological Perspective
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Race (2016) Film Review from A Sociological Perspective
“Race” film gives viewers the horrific experiences encountered by Blacks among Jews in Germany and Americans. The main character in the film is Jesse Owens, whose heroism is depicted. The film fails to mention race and discrimination, but the actions of Americans and Jews in Germany brought out the two themes. In the movie, Jesse Owens, a black American runner, joins Ohio State University, where he faces racial discrimination after joining a team of white athletes (Panthi, 2018). Despite the racial discrimination, his capability attracts coach Larr Snyder, who trains Owens to become a better athlete. Snyder proposes Owens to join the 1963 Belin Olympic Games, but Owens hesitates because of the famous racial propaganda in Germany.
Owens does a part-time job at a service station to support his girlfriend Ruth and child. His job interferes with his training, and when Snyder discovers where Owens spends his time, he gets hi a no-show work enabling Owens to concentrate on his running. Through commitment in training, Owens breaks numerous records leading him to have an affair with a woman. Ruth threatens to file a lawsuit against Owens, who then becomes preoccupied with his relationship, losing a race to Eulace Peacock. After Owens reconciles with Ruth and marries her, Peacock encourages Owens to join the berlin race to challenge Nazi racial ideology (Panthi, 2018). In Berlin, Owens attains his first gold medal where he was supposed to meet Adolf Hitler to congratulate him, but Hitler dodges him. Owens continues winning his race and other athletic competitions without meeting Adolf Hitler. In the movie, Owens portrays his perfect skills in athletics and continues to pursue his dreams despite his success being ignored by both the American and German governments.
From a sociological perspective, sport is a physical activity that brings together the global society. In Race film, athletic sports brought together governments of Germany and the United States. The two governments had diverse opinions on racial discrimination, with the American government supporting all races and the Nazi government upholds their racial belief. Despite the differences in racism, Jews in Germany and Americans interacted through sports. While competing, the American government took the opportunity to revoke Adolf Hitler’s racial discrimination. However, despite the attempts of the American government, breaking racial discrimination among the Jews in Germany proved to be a challenge leading to a social conflict between the two regimes (Sekot, 2017, p. 29). The social conflict was due to inequality faced by Black people.
Sociologists believe that sport is a field that changes people’s values, activities, and interests. Eulace Peacock was an American athlete who defeated Owens in a race when Owens was going through relationship challenges with Ruth. According to the American government, it was good for America’s image that Owens failed in the race. After Owens had fixed his relationship issues with Ruth, Eulace encouraged him to join the Berlin competition while The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) stopped him for Berlin political reasons. Eulace supported Owens to join him in the Berlin competition to challenge Nazi racial ideology. Eulace believed in Owens and deemed that Owens was fit to be in the race despite his color. Sport changed the perspective of American athlete Eulace over Black people. The functionalism perspective of sociology deems that social changes should be gradual and not rapid to prevent social concerns. Therefore, this theory claims that Owens should have ignored the Berlin race to avoid making the Nazi government feel that they were being pushed against their will.
Sociologically, sports can become a person's life directly or indirectly based on one's level of commitment. In Race, Owens took Sports beyond a professional level. His commitment made him dwell in Sports throughout his life in the movie. Most of Owens's social life is spent with athletes and Snyder. Owens got consumed with athletic sports and participated daily to make improvements. His commitment to training awarded him medals that were never accomplished in sports history during that time.
The symbolic interactionism concept claims that people recognize social issues from their contacts. In the Race movie, Owens did not realize a problem with him joining the American team until when he was faced with the Berlin race. The NAACP's reaction made him perceive that the racial problem was bigger than the race. S