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Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Losing Purpose: Reflection on Running Brave

Running Brave

Last week in our English class we saw a movie called "Running Brave". In this movie the protagonist, Billy Mills, is long distance Indian runner, yet half Indian, half white.  It portrays the internal and external journeys of the runner whose dream is to reach the Olympics.


In the beginning of the movie we can appreciate Billy's life in the reservation. Over there, what is his home till that point, he feels comfort and a peace.  With his father by his side to shown him how to follow his heart and Frank to show him what to do with his feet Billy finds the strength to run.  His first internal journey was shown through the death of his father. He was now left alone to face the world and chase his dreams without his father support. Yet he had one thought that never left his mind, and it was the ‘want’ to live among the white, as his father once said he should even though it was going to be hard.  Maybe this is why, when the opportunity arisen he showed his ability to the coach of Kansas University.

Then the next journey began, the one that involve leaving what he knew to chase his dream; live among the white and head for the Olympics. Once in Kansas, Billy noticed the looks, the difference in treatment towards him and the way many ‘white’ men want to benefit from him and don’t care about him, like the insurance seller and how he perceives his coach. Some scenes that may exemplify the differentiation are the following: when he introduces himself to his roommate Denise, the questions the press asks him, the way he wasn’t permitted in the fraternity, and the way the national team coach had zero faith in him at the last run. Even the Coach of KU was not pleased when he first saw he was an Indian. Worse, the Coach even though gave Billy the opportunity of being in KU, he still wasn’t convinced that Billy would last and make it to the big league. Yet he kept coaching and pushing Billy to run, but always with ambiguous tone.  I never quite understood the real feeling of the coach towards Billy. Sometimes, his tone could have been taken as despiteful or as in ungrateful or unsatisfied with Billy’s performance, race and way of being.  Yet when he was left alone you could noticed how he knew Billy was indeed a good runner and maybe felt doubtful about the way he was treating him.

As time passed, and Billy got more and more submerged in the ‘white’ society, one could see how, little by little, he was bloating.  The differentiation of treatment, the comments, and the prejudice and the scene where his family came to visit and showed rejection toward his new adopted life, brought him to doubt his own beliefs and dreams. He no longer understood why he was running nor why was he going through all those obstacles. He felt without purpose. As he lost purpose he began to lose; finally he broke by yelling to his coach “I don’t know what wining means. Hell I don’t know what running is anymore.” In this conversation Billy admits he is facing through a difficult moment where he needs a break and decides to go back to the reservation.

The same way the rejection from his family towards his new adopted life brought him to explode, that same way Franks death and the little Indian boy’s admiration toward Billy, brought back purpose to his life, running. He understood that running wasn’t only to win but he represented the dreams and goals of many in the reservation. He some way brought hope to the reservation. Even though some of the Indian had some sort of rancor towards Billy, it was mix with pride.

From left to right: Real life Billy Mills and actor Robby Benson (played as Billy Mills in Running Brave)



3 comments:

  1. Great Blog! It's not about who you are doing it for, but who you truly are. Billy Mills wasn't running for his coach, he was running to represent himself and his Indian culture.

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  2. For what I can see here you just need to fight your own fight, just do it for you, that's the only way you're gonna be able to reach all your goals.

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  3. Its in our hands to fight for our individual goals, even though we might need to sacrifice some things on the way, just like Billy Mills

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