Journal #9 Revised: A Hero's Scene

1.      Journal No. 9: A Hero’s Scene

In the movie 42, written and directed by Brian Hegleand, one scene of extreme importance is the scene where the Dodgers verse the Phillies. This scene is not important because of the conflict between the two baseball teams, but rather the conflict between Jackie Robinson and the Phillies manager, Ben Chapman. In this scene, Chapman stood at the dugout screaming plenty of racial slurs to get on Robinson's nerves. He would stand and scream "Hey nigger, nigger" over and over again to get a reaction from Robinson. He wanted to get him distracted so that he would strike out. Jackie, highly distracted by the manager, strikes out. It was clear in this scene that Jackie wasn't the only one to be effected by the manager’s actions. Jackie's wife was also clearly emotional in the scene when she saw her husband being screamed at by the manager. Some of Jackie's teammates also began to grow disappointed by how other players were treating their teammate. This scene is moving by how the derogatory terms finally began to affect everyone around Jackie, rather than just Jackie. Although this part of the scene is very influential, what comes next, in my opinion, is the most moving part of the entire scene and movie. After the manager screams at Jackie and he strikes out again; Jackie began to grow infuriated. Following the advice of Mr. Rickey, Jackie’s boss, Robinson holds his anger back. Instead of taking his anger out on the manager, Jackie steps into the dugout and proceeds to scream and smash a bat into the wall. He does this so he doesn't show the press and his fans how much it affects him. This scene portrays Jackie's strength throughout his journey as a major league baseball player. I believe this scene is important because it shows how strong Jackie had to be in the eyes of the press. Chapman was just one of many men who picked on Jackie because of the color of his skin. This scene summarizes Jackie as a hero, in my opinion. He shows the world that nothing will shake him despite thousands of people being against him. I felt personally connected because coming from a small town it is easy to see racism. It is hard to stand against it, but in this movie and scene the portrayal of the many people standing up for Jackie was amazing. This scene truly conveys Jackie Robinson's heroism!